Paypal, the online ecommerce transaction system owned by powerhouse eBay, has always broken down its customers into "regular" and "merchant" classes, but if you aren't a merchant, you might well not realize just how much more Paypal offers merchant account holders.

The newest added value of being a Paypal Merchant Account is that they now have a PayPal Merchant Referral Program that pays you out each time a new merchant signs up, up to $100 per signup.

It's an affiliate program, as you'd expect, so there are definitely some important terms of service to know about, but if you're helping people plug in and add ecommerce capabilities to their sites already (or adding ecommerce capabilities to your own!) then this program can be a real winner for you.

If you're wondering how smoothly you can integrate Paypal into your ecommerce site, you should realize that they've come a long way from the 'donate' buttons you see on some amateur sites. For example, consider this page from my own photography site. Click on one of the buy buttons and you're whisked directly into Paypal's shopping cart system and can complete the transaction even if you don't have a Paypal account.

This is but the tip of the iceberg with Paypal too, by the way. If you're really interested, I suggest you check out the upcoming book Paypal Hacks, coming soon from O'Reilly.

In typical friendly fashion, Paypal also offers a banner graphic you can include:

Click on it, and you'll be able to learn more about their affiliate program.

And how did I learn about their affiliate program? By paying attention to my email from them. This morning I received this message:

Dear Dave Taylor,

PayPal provides fast, easy, and secure solutions for growing your business online. The PayPal Merchant Referral Bonus Program is an easy way for you to tell other merchants why PayPal works well for your business. As an incentive, you can earn up to $100 for each new merchant you refer.

Learn more about how to get started in the program.

Start today and earn extra cash — it's easy!

Thank you for taking advantage of this opportunity.

Sincerely,

PayPal

It's as I've been saying all along here at Free Web Money: there are revenue opportunities for your Web site if you just keep your eyes open and explore a little bit.