Paypal is like a "middle man". You buy things & pay Paypal. Then Paypal sends your money to wherever you're purchasing from. OR you sell something & that person pays you via their Paypal account. If there are any problems either way, Paypal can help you get your money from your buyer or they can refund your money if there's a problem with a purchase you made. You can fund paypal directly from your bank account or with a credit/debit card. Or if you sell, you can let money build up in your Paypal account. Or you can transfer money back & forth between your Paypal account and your bank account. As for the fees, that's a tangled web. You'd have to look at the fees page on their website. There's never a fee to send money. There are fees involved in receiving money, unless it's a "gift". It's a nice way to pay for things without having to put your credit card info on random sites. It's all stored with Paypal.