Personal or business account for low-scale artists

[karacandraw]

I have a small Instagram account where I share my art. I occasionally sell commissions for a small price, once every few months. What type of account is better for me to accept payment, personal or business?

I can't find a lot of information on the differences between these two accounts, but it seems like with a business account I'm just being forced to pay a fee on payments received. Isn't it free to receive money with a personal account? I fail to see the advantages of having a business account.

Thanks.

[kernowlass]

@karacandraw

Looks as if you have already opened a business account??

User karacandraw: France Business Account

However if you are selling items then you pay a fee to receive a buyers payment irrespective of if you have a personal or business account.

So you pay the same basic fee with a business AND personal account.

Differences..........

We offer 2 kinds of accounts: Personal and Business. You can only open a Personal account from the PayPal mobile app.

• Personal accounts are ideal if you buy and sell online or if you want to send and receive money from friends and family.
• Business accounts have all the features of Personal accounts plus additional services for online merchants.

[karacandraw]

Yes, I opened a business account because that’s what I thought I “should” do, but now I’m starting to wonder what the benefit is as I am paying fees. When you have a personal account, can’t you request money from a friend/family and thus pay no fees? What is stopping people from doing this on the occasional sale?

[kernowlass · Accepted solution]

@karacandraw

You wouldn't pay a fee to accept friends / family payments however its against paypal rules to accept payment that way for 'sales'.

Paypal review friends / family payments and if they think you are using that option to negate paying your fees then you risk your paypal account being limited.

You would also have no paypal seller protection in the event of an unauthorised dispute OR a chargeback.