If you freelance, sell digital products or run a small online store, US clients will often ask "Can I pay with PayPal?". PayPal is the easiest option for the payer, which is why it closes deals. For the receiver outside the US it is one of the most expensive options: a receiving fee, a currency conversion spread and a withdrawal fee stack on top of each other.
PayPal publishes separate fee tables for each market. This guide uses the mainland China and Hong Kong tables as worked examples. If you live elsewhere, open the merchant fees page for your own country (the link pattern is paypal.com/<country code>/webapps/mpp/merchant-fees) and run the same calculation.
Commercial vs personal payments
PayPal splits incoming money into two types:
- Commercial transactions: selling goods or services, invoices, or using the "request money" feature. PayPal's China consumer fee page says money received through the request feature counts as a commercial transaction.
- Personal transfers between friends and family. Some markets restrict these heavily. For example, PayPal's help center says mainland China accounts cannot send money to another mainland China PayPal account; only international payments to accounts registered outside mainland China are supported.
Assume every client payment is charged at the commercial rate. Asking clients to pay for work as "friends and family" to avoid fees breaks PayPal's user agreement and removes seller protection.
Fee tables (as of November 2026)
Receiving fees
| Account market | International commercial payment | Domestic commercial payment |
|---|---|---|
| Mainland China | 4.40% + USD 0.30 | Not applicable (no CN-to-CN payments) |
| Hong Kong | 4.40% + USD 0.30 | 3.90% + USD 0.30 |
Hong Kong QR code payments are one percentage point cheaper (2.90% domestic, 3.40% international, plus the fixed fee), but they rarely apply to overseas clients.
Currency conversion spread (on top of the base rate)
| Account market | Receiving payments / converting balance | Other conversions |
|---|---|---|
| Mainland China | USD 3.50%; EUR, GBP, HKD and most others 4.00% | 2.5% |
| Hong Kong | 3.00% | 4.00% |
The spread kicks in when a client pays in a currency you don't hold, or when you convert a USD balance to withdraw in local currency. A 3–4% spread is easy to overlook and often costs more than the receiving fee.
Withdrawal fees
| Withdraw to | Mainland China account | Hong Kong account |
|---|---|---|
| Mainland China bank (wire) | USD 35 per withdrawal | — |
| Hong Kong bank | Free without conversion; HKD 3.50 if HKD 1,000 or less | Free for HKD 1,000+ without conversion; HKD 3.50 below that; instant 1% (HKD 10–100) |
| US bank | USD 35 per withdrawal | 3% |
Intermediary and receiving banks may also charge for incoming wires. Ask your bank before your first withdrawal.
Disputes
The merchant fee pages also list a USD 10 chargeback fee, a USD 8 standard dispute fee and a USD 16 high-volume dispute fee. Sellers of digital goods and subscriptions should watch their chargeback rate.
Worked example: what's left of USD 1,000
A mainland China account receives USD 1,000 from a US client:
| Step | Amount |
|---|---|
| Client pays | USD 1,000.00 |
| Receiving fee 4.40% + 0.30 | −USD 44.30 |
| PayPal balance | USD 955.70 |
| Wire to a mainland China bank | −USD 35.00 |
| Arrives (before bank charges) | about USD 920.70 |
That is roughly 7.9% in total. If you withdrew USD 200 at a time, the fixed USD 35 fee alone would be 17.5%, so batch your withdrawals.
How to pay less
- Offer an alternative. For repeat clients, ask them to pay by ACH or wire to a Wise USD account or a Payoneer receiving account. Both are usually much cheaper than 4.4%. See choosing a USD account.
- Price the cost in. Roughly 8% end-to-end should be reflected in your rates; agree with the client up front on the payment method and who bears which fees.
- Stay in USD. Ask clients to pay in USD and withdraw in USD where you can, to avoid the 3–4% spread.
- Withdraw in larger amounts. Fixed per-withdrawal fees shrink as a percentage.
- Hong Kong residents: withdrawing HKD 1,000 or more to a local bank without conversion is free, far cheaper than the mainland route; converting a USD balance to HKD still costs the 3% spread.
Rules to follow
- Withdraw only to a bank account in your own name (or your company's account for a business PayPal). Name mismatches are a common reason wires bounce, and PayPal charges USD 15 when a bank returns a failed withdrawal.
- Don't lend your account or collect money on behalf of others; this gets accounts limited and may break your country's FX rules.
- Report the income and follow your country's tax and currency rules. In mainland China, converting USD to RMB goes through your bank's FX settlement process, and individuals have an annual convenience quota.
FAQ
Can a mainland China account top up its balance from a bank? No. PayPal's help center says the bank top-up option is currently unavailable for mainland China. The balance can only come from payments or refunds.
Can I withdraw to Alipay or WeChat? PayPal's China fee table lists only three withdrawal routes: mainland China bank (wire), Hong Kong bank and US bank.
PayPal or Payoneer? Use both. If a client insists on PayPal, take PayPal; if they can send ACH or a wire, give them your Payoneer or Wise details.
Sources
- PayPal mainland China merchant fees (updated 2025-06-18), https://www.paypal.com/c2/webapps/mpp/merchant-fees
- PayPal mainland China consumer fees, https://www.paypal.com/c2/digital-wallet/paypal-consumer-fees
- PayPal Hong Kong merchant fees (updated 2025-08-07), https://www.paypal.com/hk/webapps/mpp/merchant-fees
- PayPal Help Center: How do I send money?, https://www.paypal.com/c2/cshelp/article/如何汇款？-help293
- PayPal Help Center: How do I add money to my PayPal balance from my bank?, https://history.paypal.com/c2/cshelp/article/如何使用银行账户向我的paypal余额充值？-help114
