Many people have their gripes about how PayPal works – it’s sending and receiving limitations, user-unfriendliness for newcomers, and more importantly, the fees it imposes on even the smallest transactions.

Here are some neat tips to make the most out of your PayPal experience:

1. Get Verified

Do not defer the possibility of getting your account verified. If you don’t have the guts or the money to open a credit card account, try opening a debit card account instead. FYI, an ATM card is also called a debit card. Ask your local bank if their debit cards support PayPal verification. Getting your account verified will instantly give you full access to PayPal’s important features and will practically remove all limits imposed on your account.

2. Link your bank account and withdraw a small amount to see if it’s working.

Almost all debit card accounts are backed by a savings account. If you have at least $10 in PayPal funds, you can withdraw them to your bank to see if you’ve entered the details correctly. This will also make you want to save more of your PayPal earnings into your bank account, instead of making you impulsive on how to dispense leftover funds in your account – which you probably garnered from your online affiliate earnings.

3. Think twice about upgrading to a Premier PayPal account.

If you are constantly receiving PayPal payments made via credit cards, you’ll be prompted by PayPal to either upgrade to a “Premier” account or stick to your default “Personal account” and bear higher transaction charges for subsequent credit card payments. Do note that a personal account can only receive five (5) credit card/debit card payments each year. Premier accounts retain all the core features a Personal account has, but every payment you receive, whether it be from a PayPal balance, a bank account, or a credit card/debit card account, will be charged a specific fee.

Personal accounts are preferable for people who don’t run an online business. Downgrading from a Premier to Personal account can be accomplished, but will be irreversible once the change has been made. Users are allowed two PayPal accounts: a combination of a Personal & Premiere, Personal & Business, or Premier & Business.

4. Never attempt to use your PayPal account in fraudulent activities.

Many people think that PayPal is just a website that lets scheming users breach through security. No matter how many routes a payment has undergone, PayPal will trace it and retrieve the money back to the sender if they find the recipient to have acquired it in bad faith. If you get suspended, it will be hard to re-register, as your credentials (name, address, and bank details) will automatically be blacklisted by the system, along with your IP address. Furthermore, frozen accounts seldom get appealed – that means the PayPal balance, along with everything else inclusive in your account are impossible to access.