Wondering whether to accept Paypal

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O

OptiRick

Free Member
Jun 4, 2010
321
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East Lancs
  • #1
    I have an e-commerce site. We take card payments through a gateway but I can't decide whether to add Paypal as an option.

    Advantages are that people know and feel secure with it, and may have money burning a hole in a Paypal account that they can use.

    Disadvantages are that the fees are comparitively high.

    Any input appreciated.
     
    P

    paaaaaaaaaa

  • #3
    I think it depends on the integration method. I don't really like the paypal standard method where it redirects to the paypal page. It's not clear that customers can pay with just credit cards. Also I think the customer has to sign up to paypal to use their credit card.
     
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    ManWithBagOverHisHead

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    Aug 3, 2010
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  • #6
    lots of other existing payment systems let you use paypal - eg worldpay, sagepay. So you might not have to modify your site to much to support accepting it.

    Choice can only increase sales if implemented correctly (ie you don't confuse users)... there are lots of people who build up money in paypal accounts through ebay etc and like to spend that on the web rather than giving out credit card info each time.
     
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    movietub

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    Nov 6, 2008
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  • #7
    ManWithBagOverHisHead said:
    lots of other existing payment systems let you use paypal - eg worldpay, sagepay. So you might not have to modify your site to much to support accepting it.

    Choice can only increase sales if implemented correctly (ie you don't confuse users)... there are lots of people who build up money in paypal accounts through ebay etc and like to spend that on the web rather than giving out credit card info each time.
    Click to expand...

    This is true and we used to offer paypal through sagepay. However, this method still seemed to put off some of the paypal die-hard customers that wanted to do it the exact way they are used to! Now we use paypal as a seperate payment option and more people use it than ever.

    Fees are now 2.1% which is fine. It's not as low as sagepay, but the fact is there are a great many people that look for paypal as an option, so these slightly lower margin sales are sales we otherwise wouldn't get at all.

    We also us Google Checkout, which appears to be growing massivley in popularity.
     
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    scottdsmith

    scottdsmith

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    Aug 4, 2010
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  • #8
    Personally I would offer it but put it below your normal payment options as people often pick the top option, this way you're motivating people to use the top option, thus less in fees whilst still having the option for those that love paying with just a few clicks via PayPal.
     
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    S

    silvermusic

  • #9
    emailexpert said:
    there is a big factor of 'paypal money burning holes in pockets'.
    Click to expand...

    Even if I didn't sell on eBay I can tell when there's been a free or cheap listing day period come to an end, as you rightly point out it's buring a hole in there pockets. Ten days or so after a cheap free ebay listing day when people have sold their stuff, I get a load of PayPal payments for sales. Tonight has been busy on my web site for this reason, plus flyers with my eBay sales helps and a voucher for 10% off their next purchase.

    It's quite amazing just how many big names take PayPal too now. eBay/PayPal is a great little economy for tapping into all those folk with money burning a hole in their pockets.
     
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    gordano

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    Jan 19, 2010
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    London
  • #10
    I use paypal as well as RBS Worldpay.

    Some of my commercial customers even prefer to use Paypal.

    Whilst Paypal fees are higher you get the funds immediately into your account for web payments.

    I would not recommend Paypal virtual terminal for credit card payments though, Paypal withhold a large proportion of your funds for 3 months!

    The bottom line is about customer experience, if some customers want to pay by Paypal then maybe you should give them the option.
     
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    emailexpert

    emailexpert

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    Jul 28, 2010
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    London - Auckland - Sydney
  • #13
    bdw said:
    I understood that Google Checkout continues to struggle against Paypal, which is the clear leader in this marketplace. Where did you hear that it was growing massively?
    Click to expand...

    Massive growth but still lag far behind Paypal...

    Paypals continued strength comes with their tie-in with Ebay in my opinion.

    if your interested, their next massive surge in growth will be down to online gaming....

    ---
    Google Checkout

    Without a doubt, Google Checkout lags far behind market leader PayPal, a subsidiary of EBay (EBAY). PayPal has been one of the huge bright spots for its parent company. But Google Checkout may be ramping up. Google's investment in social games giant Zynga likely presages a replacement of PayPal with Google's payment system in Zynga's games. And the rise of mobile commerce twinned with the rapid growth of Google's Android operating system (which of course integrates Google Checkout) could further help fuel growth in the PayPal competitor.

    See full article from DailyFinance: http://srph.it/bZqDeD
    ---

    Also recently from WikiInvest
    http://www.wikinvest.com/wikinvest/...ge=Stock:Google_(GOOG)&comments=0&format=html




    While Google’s payment system, Google Checkout, is not a giant in the online payments space, it is certainly not a failure, especially when compared to some of Google’s other product extensions. Launched in 2006, Google Checkout allows users to pay for an item using a preset log-in, similar to PayPal or Amazon Payments. The company claims that “hundreds of thousands” of merchants currently use Google Checkout. This seems modest compared to PayPal, which is growing by over 40 percent year over year, with total payment volume equaling $13.1 billion in Q2. While Google doesn’t reveal its transaction figures, it’s safe to assume that Checkout isn’t seeing nearly as much money flowing through its payment system as PayPal or even Amazon. But the landscape could look much differently if Google successfully makes three big plays.
    While Google’s payment system, Google Checkout, is not a giant in the online payments space, it is certainly not a failure, especially when compared to some of Google’s other product extensions. Launched in 2006, Google Checkout allows users to pay for an item using a preset log-in, similar to PayPal or Amazon Payments. The company claims that “hundreds of thousands” of merchants currently use Google Checkout. This seems modest compared to PayPal, which is growing by over 40 percent year over year, with total payment volume equaling $13.1 billion in Q2. While Google doesn’t reveal its transaction figures, it’s safe to assume that Checkout isn’t seeing nearly as much money flowing through its payment system as PayPal or even Amazon. But the landscape could look much differently if Google successfully makes three big plays..
     
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    movietub

    Free Member
    Nov 6, 2008
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  • #15
    bdw said:
    I understood that Google Checkout continues to struggle against Paypal, which is the clear leader in this marketplace. Where did you hear that it was growing massively?
    Click to expand...

    Paypal is growing at 40% year on year and is the clear market leader.

    But Checkout is also growing rapidly in its own right, although obviously not as rapidly.

    In the next 12 months google are launching their online digital media service, games, apps, music, video etc. Designed to compete with zenga, itunes and similar. This is a double win for google as it will increase the user base of checkout, whilst also bring them in to a new market. The shared rewards should help make both very competitive.

    here for more:

    http://techcrunch.com/2010/08/08/google-checkout/

    And for us personally, checkout is proving very succesful. Not least because using it drags in customers that have never used it, and never will...
     
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    movietub

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    Nov 6, 2008
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  • #16
    bdw said:
    Personally I think Google would be happy to get out of this particular market place but they can't. They have had four years to take on Paypal and they have failed. I can't see anything changing this.
    Click to expand...

    Be realisitic. No venture could overtake paypal within such a tiny space of time. If google were basing success on overtaking paypal they would never have bothered with checkout in the first place.

    You probably are not the biggest player in your market, so will you be giving up on that basis? :p
     
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    MrsPWN

    MrsPWN

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    Jul 25, 2009
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    Snowdonia
  • #17
    We have been going about 12 months and I would say 98% of sales are via Paypal, hard to tell if they would have used sagepay if there was no choice.
    As a customer I always look for paypal and have moved on to another supplier if I have to go look for my card which is probably going to be in the car and chances are it is raining lol
     
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    B

    Big Pete

  • #18
    MrsPWN said:
    We have been going about 12 months and I would say 98% of sales are via Paypal, hard to tell if they would have used sagepay if there was no choice.
    As a customer I always look for paypal and have moved on to another supplier if I have to go look for my card which is probably going to be in the car and chances are it is raining lol
    Click to expand...

    I can answer that easy peasy..
    I have the choice.. and every time i go Pay pal

    reason is.

    Damn easy ,no flaffing around getting your card , then messing around entering the details ..

    Just in with your email and hey presto goods paid for ..

    I love it...

    If 2 sites sell the same goods one uses PayPal one doesnt well i will go the Paypal one everytime..
     
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    M

    Merchant UK

  • #19
    Problem with using paypal for a business, is paypal will take the money back upon one complaint from a customer.

    I had an issue where a customer paid via paypal (£568.00) for an order and the order was dispatched next day by me, The customer called me 3 days later saying that they had not recieved their order. I directed them to my T&C's where it states the method to follow for non delivery.

    I do this so i can track and trace with the courier company in case of loss etc.

    But instead of doing this Paypal refunded the customer and i finally found out that they delivered the goods a week late because of Lorry shortages and staff off ill ??

    Now i'm having problems getting the customer to pay, paypal won't discuss it and although i have a clear T&C about non deliveries and how to process them, PayPal went against this and simply refunded the customer.

    Thats why its too risky to use paypal, so i've removed it from my site.

    Be warned
     
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    Nine Fish

    Nine Fish

    Free Member
    Sep 10, 2010
    19
    1
    Lincoln
  • #20
    I now accept paypal payments within several aspects of our online business.

    I dont like the fees and sometimes have small issues with the way its run, but unfortunately its a case "if you cant beat em join em" so many ebayers and other people use paypal these days that you need to provide this function other wise the customer will find a site that does.

    As for the fees its better in business to work on a slightly smaller profit margin that to miss the sale completely.

    Hope this helps
     
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    yooneeq

    yooneeq

    Free Member
    Jan 12, 2007
    59
    7
    Reading, UK
  • #21
    we offer paypal as an option as well as google check out and worldpay. PAypal is not my preferred processor due to their fees and issues we have had with chargebacks in the past but for some reason a lot of people still favour using it. it's worth having as an additional option, giving the customer more choice in my opinion
     
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    mikeh007

    mikeh007

    Free Member
    Sep 14, 2010
    7
    3
    London
  • #22
    I am about to set up eCommerce for the first time: and I am in two minds about using PayPal. I've read so many horror stories about them, ignoring T&Cs and summarily returning funds to customers on request and snatching them from business accounts, refusing to discuss chargebacks and so on.

    Yet some of you here seem moderately positive about them: MAY I ASK, please, for a short feedback comment in reply to this from any PalPal user who reads this ? It would make a useful "straw poll". I thought I was drifting back in their direction, but I've just read another horror story on another site.

    All comments will be most appreciated.
     
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    M

    Merchant UK

  • #23
    Like i said earlier,if your a business which sells high valued goods then its not viable to accept paypal, not just because of the expense of the fees etc.. but beacuse they ignore your terms and conditions of your business which your customer abides by when purchasing from you and in turn change it for theirs, which means its flaming difficult to get a word in edgeways when paypal makes it mind up.

    Fine for odds and sods on ebay, but if you value your business, then get a proper merchant account, its got a lot more respect and makes your site far more professional.

    I lost over £500+ because paypal decided to repay the customer instead of listening to what i had to say, When they email you can't answer or reply to their emails, They have pre answers with radio buttons, and you need to tick one of those, if they don't apply to you then there is no way you can respond and the customer gets their money back.

    Paypal won't sign up to the UK Banking Code of practice because it would make a lot of their practices illegal, so few years ago, they had to move to luxumborg as a result.

    Little Ebay sales ok, Business?? Forget it :mad:
     
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    L

    lorr

  • #24
    Hi
    We offer paypal as a payment method, customers always ring us and say they cant pay via pay pal they do not have a paypal account.They do not realise they can pay by credit card

    This has caused us a few problems we are now changing our payment methods

    regards
    lorr
     
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    mikeh007

    mikeh007

    Free Member
    Sep 14, 2010
    7
    3
    London
  • #25
    Merchant UK said:
    Like i said earlier, if you're a business which sells high valued goods then it's not viable to accept paypal, not just because of the expense of the fees etc.. but beacuse they ignore your terms and conditions of your business which your customer abides by when purchasing from you and in turn change it for theirs, which means its flaming difficult to get a word in edgeways when paypal makes it mind up.

    Fine for odds and sods on ebay, but if you value your business, then get a proper merchant account, its got a lot more respect and makes your site far more professional.
    ....
    Little Ebay sales ok, Business?? Forget it :mad:
    Click to expand...


    Hi MerchantUK
    - I don't doubt what you say, but it's not easy for everyone to get a 'proper merchant account'. From what I've seen so far, they only will give a merchant account to a business with directors whose credit records are utterly snow-white: mine is 'dented' somewhat, as a result of the recession, and any Merchant Acc application I put in will be turned down. Which is why people finish up back at PayPal.

    That shouldn't be the case of course - as my business is a limited company, and my rating should have nothing to do with it: and the card company no doubt takes a retention percentage to 'insure' for any chargeback risks. Nonetheless they all treat us as numbers and the answer will still be no. This is no help at all to businesses right after a recession.

    Can you comment / recommend any card processors with a more civilised outlook who will not instantly ditch an application when they get to director's credit ratings ?

    All advice much appreciated.
     
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    B

    bdw

  • #26
    As someone has already said, if the transactions are small then Paypal should be fine. In this case you can live with a few chargebacks. I don't do ecommerce per se but I have been selling some downloadable reports for more than seven years and I have not had any major dramas with them.

    Earlier this year one guy bought a report and paid twice - entirely his own stupid fault. He then claimed the money back from Paypal (£60) who took both payments back from my account. It took me about three months to get my £60 but obviously that was not a big problem. Had it been £6000 it may have been a different story.
     
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    Merchant UK

  • #27
    mikeh007 said:
    Hi MerchantUK
    - I don't doubt what you say, but it's not easy for everyone to get a 'proper merchant account'. From what I've seen so far, they only will give a merchant account to a business with directors whose credit records are utterly snow-white: mine is 'dented' somewhat, as a result of the recession, and any Merchant Acc application I put in will be turned down. Which is why people finish up back at PayPal.

    That shouldn't be the case of course - as my business is a limited company, and my rating should have nothing to do with it: and the card company no doubt takes a retention percentage to 'insure' for any chargeback risks. Nonetheless they all treat us as numbers and the answer will still be no. This is no help at all to businesses right after a recession.

    Can you comment / recommend any card processors with a more civilised outlook who will not instantly ditch an application when they get to director's credit ratings ?

    All advice much appreciated.
    Click to expand...

    RSBWorldpay is about the easiest one to set up with, You'll need an Internet merchant account to start off with and if your a member of the FSB, then you save at least £250 in setup charges and fee's

    You Make one phone call, get the forms and fill them in,
    You do not need

    Accounts, Credit Checks, Retention percentage, Deposit, Up front payments.

    Its so quick about 2 weeks and its all set up for you, with no upfront payments what so ever. i've helped set up loads of Merchant accounts with the FSB and RSBWorldpay with no problems at all what so ever.

    i've dropped you a PM
     
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    R

    Rhyl Lightworks

  • #28
    If you are selling to the public, PayPal Express, as opposed to the older PayPal standard seems to be by far the most popular method of payment, over cards and all other forms.
    PayPal technical experts will hellp you set it up as well on your site. Their commision rates are marginally higher than most cards, but the increased turnover and conversion more than pays for this.

    Barrie
     
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    X

    xinghu

  • #29
    I would offer PayPal as it has become popular. Some people love it, others hate it. I would however, consider using other methods of payment such as Google Checkout, Worldpay or Sage Pay (or all of them). If you do decide to go down the PayPal route, I would recommend PayPal Express Checkout as it has the function to integrate into your own website as oppose to setting up the standard account where customers are redirected onto PayPal's holding page where they can either pay by card or log into their PayPal account. I think it looks more professional if customers stay on your website for the whole purchase. However, it does surprise me that certain large online retailers still have customers redirected onto PayPal's page. The only downside to PayPal is their fees.



    I have taken some time away from my website since my wife and I are expecting our first child due anytime now. But when things get back to some degree of normality, I will be looking into offering other payments besides PayPal.
     
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    M

    Merchant UK

  • #30
    Rhyl Lightworks said:
    If you are selling to the public, PayPal Express, as opposed to the older PayPal standard seems to be by far the most popular method of payment, over cards and all other forms.
    PayPal technical experts will hellp you set it up as well on your site. Their commision rates are marginally higher than most cards, but the increased turnover and conversion more than pays for this.

    Barrie
    Click to expand...

    and when the customer Purchases, barrie, who's terms and conditions do they follow if they by with Paypal, Your sites or Paypal??

    Thats the problem some businesses are having with paypal, They have a set procedure for returns or reporting non delivery, But just one complaint to paypal and they take the amount from your bank, bypassing your T&C's

    :redface:
     
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    M

    Merchant UK

  • #31
    Rhyl Lightworks said:
    If you are selling to the public, PayPal Express, as opposed to the older PayPal standard seems to be by far the most popular method of payment, over cards and all other forms.
    PayPal technical experts will hellp you set it up as well on your site. Their commision rates are marginally higher than most cards, but the increased turnover and conversion more than pays for this.

    Barrie
    Click to expand...

    and when the customer Purchases, barrie, who's terms and conditions do they follow if they buy with Paypal, Your sites or Paypal??

    Thats the problem some businesses are having with paypal, They have a set procedure for returns or reporting non delivery, But just one complaint to paypal and they take the amount from your bank, bypassing your T&C's

    :redface:
     
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    R

    Rhyl Lightworks

  • #34
    Merchant UK said:
    and when the customer Purchases, barrie, who's terms and conditions do they follow if they by with Paypal, Your sites or Paypal??

    Thats the problem some businesses are having with paypal, They have a set procedure for returns or reporting non delivery, But just one complaint to paypal and they take the amount from your bank, bypassing your T&C's

    :redface:
    Click to expand...

    Doesn't the same thing occur with cards anyway?
    Personally, in 5 years of accepting payment with PayPal, we have never had them take anything from our bank. If customers have any grumbles, we encourage them to contact us first, and the matter can usually be resolved without their having to resort to contacting PayPal.

    Barrie
     
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    M

    Merchant UK

  • #35
    Rhyl Lightworks said:
    Doesn't the same thing occur with cards anyway?
    Personally, in 5 years of accepting payment with PayPal, we have never had them take anything from our bank. If customers have any grumbles, we encourage them to contact us first, and the matter can usually be resolved without their having to resort to contacting PayPal.

    Barrie
    Click to expand...

    Hi Barrie,

    we took an order for a customer (over £500) and the courier company were late in delivering. In our terms and conditions we have a set procedure for reporting non deliveries and losses, mainly because we need to know all the details, customer etc.

    by the customer using paypal, they went right to paypal from the start, and paypal took the money from our business account without us even nowing about it, I didn't find out until a further 2 days, but by that time i'd also found out that the courier company finally delivered the order, now we have No Goods and No money - Thanks Paypal,

    We finally recieved a cheque for the goods 3 weeks later from the customer after we told them that we were taking them to court to recover the money due.

    I've written to paypal 3 times without them even bothering to reply to me, as for emails, forget it they don't even answer them :mad:
     
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    B

    bdw

  • #38
    Thats the problem some businesses are having with paypal, They have a set procedure for returns or reporting non delivery, But just one complaint to paypal and they take the amount from your bank, bypassing your T&C's
    Click to expand...

    Paypal do not observe your T and C's and why should they? If you are using thier service then you must agree to their T and C's. There's nothing radical about that.

    There can be no doubt that problems can arise with Paypal. You must decide if it is worth the very small risk compared to the cost and hassle of sourcing a merchant account.

    It has worked for me with low volume/low cost transactions. If I was in either a either high volume or high cost situation I may use something else.

    It is also worth mentioning that as a buyer I always look for a Paypal button by preference. Paying by Paypal is just so much quicker and easier.
     
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    mikeh007

    mikeh007

    Free Member
    Sep 14, 2010
    7
    3
    London
  • #39
    bdw said:
    Paypal do not observe your T and C's and why should they? If you are using thier service then you must agree to their T and C's. There's nothing radical about that.

    There can be no doubt that problems can arise with Paypal. You must decide if it is worth the very small risk compared to the cost and hassle of sourcing a merchant account.

    It has worked for me with low volume/low cost transactions. If I was in either a either high volume or high cost situation I may use something else.

    It is also worth mentioning that as a buyer I always look for a Paypal button by preference. Paying by Paypal is just so much quicker and easier.
    Click to expand...

    Hello BDW

    I find that last comment of yours intruiguing: I had no idea, that people took that view of PayPal. It is the one powerful argument FOR having them on a site (considering all the apparent negatives).

    Could you expand a little on why you're so keen on PP as your preferred buying method ? What is it that makes it so preferable (I never use it / never occurs to me to want to - cards are easy enough.. aren't they ?)

    Your advice appreciated.
     
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    B

    bdw

  • #40
    Hi Mike, If you have a Paypal account and you can use it to make a purchase it makes the process so much easier. All you have to do is enter your user ID and password and you are done in a couple of clicks.

    If you are making a purchase with a credit card you have to enter all your personal and address details. You also have to have to enter your card details so you need to have these to hand. Invariably something will be wrong first time you submit and this will have to be corrected. You will have to wait for verification, etc. This takes much longer and it's much more complex and inconvenient than using Paypal.
     
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