What does it take to withdraw money from SL?

Ive been running through it loosely, focusing more on having some fun in SL and making things, but now that I have a sizable amount I would like a definant answer from someone who's done it before.

What does it take to take L$ and turn it into either cold cash in your hand or credit on a credit card? I seem to keep losing the way to get to were you transfer money to a paypal account, so could someone give me the basics steps or process it takes to get down to money that you can spend at your nearest store (in RL)? If anyone wishes to give an in-depth explanation, I would appreciate that too.

First you need a verified bank account on your paypal account. They usually transfer a minor amount to your bank, and after entering the exact amount your bank account is verified. It's needed in order for you to withdraw money from paypal. Of course, you can also use paypal to spend your money in online stores.

Selling and transferring L$ usually works like this:

1.) Access the SL homepage, log in if needed and go to "My Account"
2.) Use the "Sell L$" link on the left
3.) enter the amount of L$ to sell in the "Market Sell" field if you want to sell instantly (Limit Sell can get you a better rate, but can take a while)
4.) Confirm everything and go back to the My Account page (link in the upper right)
5.) You will now see a certain amount of US$ on your account. Click the "Process Credit" link behind the US$ value
6.) Choose paypal, enter your email address connected to your paypal account and confirm
7.) Wait some days, log on to paypal and click "Withdraw money", to transfer it to your bank account if needed

There are two minor hurdles along the way, if you start selling L$ on a regular base. First, you need a premium paypal account to accept payments. Still a free account, you just have to accept new terms of service. If your account is a basic one, you may need to log on to accept the new TOS after receiving the first payment, otherwise your account could be frozen.
Second, once your account balance reaches a certain limit (something around 2k US$, if I remember it correctly), you need to accept another TOS addition stating that money above this limit isn't insured. Unless you accept it, further payments will be put on hold and need to be accepted manually, otherwise they will be returned to LL.
/Edit: both of the cases above are referring to the paypal account only, not SL account.

And patience. Lots and lots of patience. Take the "0-5 business day" deposit time to mean 8-10 business days.

Isnt the 2 grand limit on a 30 day basis? So would I run into any problems if I withdrew money, then waited a month, and withdrew some more money?

So if I start a free basic pay pal account, I just need to accept a TOS after the first payment from SL goes into the account? And if I make sure that I dont reach my pay pal credit limit by withdrawing the money before it builds up, will I have any problems then?

Make that 2k first.

Paypal accounts have dollar limits on how much you can recieve in a month also, so check your limits. I think its $500 for unverified accounts. It takes time to get your paypal account verified, to start now.

You can have LL mail you a check also, they say it can take up to 15 business days before they send the check. The last one I requested on Oct. 28, and I did not recieve the check until Nov. 17, twenty days later.

In spite of the extra time it takes and the delay, there is something nice about holding a real check in your hand that represents real dollars made in a virtual world.

Oct 28 - Nov 17 *is* 15 business days (or only 14 business days if you don't include the day that it actually arrived... which isn't an uncommon practice).

Saturday and Sunday are NOT business days. Only Monday to Friday count.

Or, you can use SLExchange.

1. move the lindens to your SLExchange account - minutes
2. sell them on the SLExchange currency exchange (doesn't have the same limits as the Lindex) -minutes (if you use the "at market value" option)
3. transfer the USD to your paypal account (0-3 business days (bot mine in 1)
4. transfer the money from paypal to your bank of choice. (1-5 business days)
5. send me a pizza. (45 minutes or it's free)

please complete ALL steps.