How to Set Up Your Etsy Payment Methods

When you open a shop on Etsy, perhaps the most important policies you need to consider relate to payment. After all, you started your Etsy shop in the hopes of making money, right? As you craft your Etsy shop's payment policies, you want to cover these points:

• Payment methods: What forms of payment will you accept? PayPal? Personal checks? Money orders? Shiny beads?

• Sales tax: Are you obligated to collect sales tax? If so, you'll appreciate Etsy's tax calculator, which automatically assesses a sales tax for buyers in the specified area.

• Preferred currency: On Etsy, the default currency is U.S. dollars. However, you can price your items using any of 20 other currencies.

You also need to decide how much time you'll allow buyers to pay for items in your shop. Will you require immediate payment, or will you give buyers a little more leeway — say, 24 hours, three days, or some other period? After you decide, you need to post this info and all other payment-related policies on your shop's Shop Policies page.

You can set up your Etsy shop to accept the following forms of payment:

• PayPal: It's fast; electronic payments are instantly deposited into your PayPal account. Transferring money from your PayPal account to a bank account is a breeze — and free. PayPal offers protection from fraud for buyers and sellers alike, along with tools to expedite shipping.

  Not everyone loves PayPal — some fear it's vulnerable to fraud; others have a beef with its customer service.

  Don't have a PayPal account? Opening one is easy. Go to the PayPal website, click the Sign Up link at the top of the page, and follow the onscreen prompts. As a seller, consider opting for either a Premier or a Business account; that way, buyers will be able to use PayPal to buy your goodies with a credit card.

• Money order: Some people prefer the time-honored system of paying by money order over using newfangled digital solutions like PayPal. Fortunately, Etsy allows you to accommodate these buyers. Unlike with PayPal, payment isn't rendered immediately. You must wait for the buyer to snail-mail you the money order (or send it via some other type of delivery service).

• Personal check: Allowing payment by personal check offers the same basic advantages and disadvantages as permitting payment via money order.

• Other: If you want, you can accept additional payment methods — say, cashier's checks, Beanie Babies, or Beagle puppies. If you opt to accept other forms of payment, be sure to indicate on your Shop Policies page what types you accept.

If you choose to accept personal checks, money orders, or cashier's checks as payment, do so with care. These forms offer less protection from fraud. Never, never, ever, never ship an item to a buyer until her personal check, money order, or cashier's check clears, no matter how nicely she asks!

When you've decided what forms of payment to accept, you need to tell Etsy. Here's how:

1. While logged in to your Etsy account, click the Your Account link along the top.

   The Your Account page opens.

2. Click the Shipping & Payment link, under Shop Settings, on the left side of the page.

   

   The Shipping & Payment page opens.

3. Click the Payment Methods tab.

   The Payment Methods page opens.

4. Select the PayPal, Money Order, Personal Check, and/or Other check boxes.

5. If you selected the PayPal check box, type the e-mail account you use to access your PayPal account under PayPal Account E-mail.

6. If you'll accept personal checks, money orders, cashier's checks, or other forms of payment that must be mailed to you, enter your mailing address under Payment Mailing Address.

7. Click the Save button.

   Etsy saves your settings.

Note that this is a global shop setting. Any items that you list in your shop will offer these payment options.