If you have a business and just a basic Pay Pal business account..........? -

can t you simply take your clients info over the phone or in person and plug the info in yourself so that you can accept credit cards without paying $30 a month for the virtual terminal?

No. You have to have a virtual terminal either through paypal or a merchant account provider to manually enter transactions.You can definitely find something cheaper as far as a flat monthly fee goes. What sort of products do you sell?