A problem most freelance translators are faces with is how to receive payment. In particular: How to receive payment for small jobs. Many translation agencies are reluctant to pay small fees via wire transfer due to the transaction fees; often they will send you a check instead. And I suppose I don’t have to tell you: The banks charge an enormous commission when you come and want to cash in your check. Then along came PayPal . 

Basically PayPal lets you send and receive payment over the Internet. It bases its service on the existing bank and credit card networks, but it is not a bank in itself.Registering is free; all you need is an email address. Sending money is free - receiving money however, is not. You pay 3.4 % of the received amount unless you are receiving dollars; in this case you pay 2.9 % of the received amount. Then you have to pay a flat fee for each transaction: 0.35 Euros or 0.30 Dollars. In addition you have to pay a cross boarder fee of 0.5 % - 1.0 % if you receive payment from someone located in another country. Then you have to pay a small fee when you withdraw your money to your regular bank account. (Unless your bank is located in the United States; then you don’t have to pay this fee.) How much this is depends on the country you are located in. 

I for instance live in Switzerland and have to pay 0.50 CHF to withdraw to my account. Banks in countries within EU, except the United Kingdom, all charge 1.0 Euro. Lets have a look at an example. I perform a small translation and charge a minimum fee of 20 Euro. 3.4 % of 20 Euro is 0.68 Euro, plus the flat fee of 0.35 Euro. Add the cross boarder fee of 1%, which is 0.20 Euro. So, of my 20 Euros PayPal takes 1.20 Euros. In addition comes the fee of 0.50 CHF for withdrawing the money to my regular bank account. If the agency sent me a check instead of using PayPal, my bank would charge 7.50 CHF (4.80 Euros) for cashing the check for me. Each bank has its own fees for cashing checks and CCS Wire receiving wire transfers. But for smaller amounts PayPal is definitely the cheapest way of accepting payment. You will have to do a small calculation and see how large amounts you can receive before the PayPal fees exceed the fees your bank charges. 

But is it safe?Most freelance translators using this way of receiving payment are satisfied with the service and have had no problem with PayPal. I have only heard of one-two translators having their accounts frozen by PayPal for no legitimate reason. Some negative aspects of PayPalThe problems with PayPal only start when you have a problem, so to speak. Resolving a problem can be very time-consuming and frustrating, and in many cases no solution is reached. Their customer support is not exactly something to brag about. It is very difficult to get behind their wall of auto responders and answering machines! Another thing to be aware of are scams. There are numerous scams around, from people sending out emails pretending to be from PayPal asking you to confirm your credit card numbers, to hackers going in to your account and spending all your money.Other negative aspects of PayPal are that it is not available in all countries and you can only receive payment in a few currencies. By using PayPal you take a large risk compared to using the normal banking system. The chance of loosing your money is there. At the moment there are several lawsuits filed against PayPal and a lot of people who have lost money and not received any compensation. Have a look at these web sites: