Financial Matters • Managing Your Vacation Rental • Technology and Internet of Things

Using PayPal to Receive Vacationer Payments

3 Comments
by Elizabeth Weedon
Written by Elizabeth Weedon
5/5 - (11 votes)

Updated April 2023

Until recently, I have been a strong advocate of requiring that vacationers send rental funds by check rather than by credit card. I was concerned about having to pay extra fees and daunted by having to learn how the PayPal process works. Plus, I had never, in 30 years of renting, lost a booking because I didn’t accept credit cards.

But an eleventh-hour booking last year and learning more about PayPal have changed my stance a bit.

I still prefer to receive checks for all advanced bookings, but having a PayPal account does allow me to accept last-minute and international bookings more quickly and easily. And I was surprised to learn that not only are some transactions free of fees, but if fees are incurred, I can insist that they be paid by my prospective guests, or we can negotiate and perhaps split them. Here’s what else I learned:

There is no fee for you to set up a PayPal account or to maintain it annually. Just go to their website (www.PayPal.com) and set up an account. (It’s pretty quick and easy.)

Domestic personal transactions

For domestic transactions, the fee for credit/debit card payments is 2.9% of the amount of the transaction plus a fixed fee of 30¢. So, for example, if you are sent $2000 by credit card, the fee to the vacationer would be $58.30. Note: There are NO fees for utilizing a PayPal balance or bank account for payments or if sending money through an Amex Send account.

International personal transactions

Using PayPal can be very helpful for receiving funds from international vacationers. However, the fee is higher at 5% and a currency conversion rate will apply. Again, you will want to check with PayPal for the particulars and most recent fee updates. Also, read our other blog posts about International Bookings and Handling Payments from Canada.

Prior to accepting a booking using PayPal, you should be very clear with your vacationer about who is responsible for any fees.  Ideally, it should also be stipulated in the lease agreement who is responsible for paying these fees.

Do you accept credit card payments as well as personal checks? Do you have any other recommendations for taking rental payments?

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About the author

Elizabeth Weedon

Elizabeth Weedon - Although I’ve worked for WeNeedaVacation.com since 2008, I’ve been a loyal homeowner on the site since early 1998, just a few months after the website was launched by the Talmadges. I grew up summering on the Vineyard and managed my family's rental home there since the mid-1980’s. I’m passionately devoted to the Vineyard – and to WeNeedaVacation, which I credit with enabling me to hold onto the special property that has been in our family for nearly a century. An enthusiastic member of the WNAV Homeowner Support Team, I endeavor to keep my finger on the pulse of the Cape and Islands vacation rental industry so that I can provide homeowners advice about how to ensure their booking success with us. With owner Joan Talmadge, I am also responsible for editing and writing much of the text on our website, our monthly newsletters, and Homeowner Blog posts.

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3 Comments

  • Thanks, Elizabeth! Very helpful and informative! Just renewed my listing today. I was going to use PayPal to pay
    for it online, but didn’t want to bother creating a new account. I too, always felt daunted by PayPal and hence,
    I don’t take credit cards from prospective guests. If it is last minute, I just request that they show up with cash only, or a bank check.

    I’m old-fashioned, I guess!

  • Actually I found last year that so many of my tenants use online banking, many of them use the same big bank that I use. That meant to us that the easiest and fastest way is to do bank transfers. Really simple. Secure. Fast. Later, then it’s easy to return deposits, too!