Is PayPal necessary to bag an online job? In a word, yes. Getting a PayPal account is one of the unwritten rules of working from home.
The PayPal website did a good job of explaining the advantages of opening an account.
Advantage 1: The account allows you to receive (and send) payments securely. It's secure in a sense that you won't need to reveal your full identity, bank account information or credit card number to your client (or the other way around). The valid e-mail address you used to register with PayPal is the only thing that you will disclose.
Advantage 2: The account lets you receive (and send) payments easily. Funds will arrive in seconds, and you get a perky e-mail notification to go with that. I get excited whenever I read e-mail messages with the subject line "You've got funds." It's so PayPal!
Advantage 3: The account enables you to request for and issue refunds for damaged, substandard or undelivered goods acquired from online stores (like eBay) and paid for with PayPal. If you ask me, it's pretty neat even for the not-so-avid shopaholics (like myself).
I opened my PayPal account a few years ago and since then, I haven't had any major regrets. So here's how you do it:
