Rick,
I joined paypal several years ago, so this could have changed...but when I joined it was like this. For just buying you could open a personal account, which is free. I prefer to use my credit card for paying, as there is protection from the cc company in the event that I don't receive something. After $2,000 in credit card purchases, paypal forced me to give them a bank account number which made me a verified member (I think that's the term). I still use my credit card to pay for nearly everything. I've sold a couple of things on the board, and can receive payment thru paypal...but not credit card funded payments. I think I can receive a maximum of $500 per month with the personal account. I've never had to pay any kind of fee.

Hope this helps