Adding a PayPal option (maybe)

[wbmkk1]

I am developing a website, where (I hope) business owners will pay me to advertise on it.

I was going to accept cheque payments only, but note from a few internet postings, this may put off some people, due to the hastle involved with cheques.

As there will only be two options ... pay yearly or pay monthly, i don't need a shopping cart, but need something to take online payment.

Looking up Paypal, it looks an easy way and the cost is only 3.4% + 20p per transaction.

I don't want to (and in fact don't know how to) get involved with databases of customers etc etc so this looks easy.

There will not be many customers, so my idea of posting off receipts after money is received, will be OK.

Would PayPal be the product for me ?

Are there any other options ?

Are there any serious disadvantages with PayPal ?

Thank you in advance for any advice given.

 

[bdw]

If you Google Paypal you will see that they receive lots of bad press and some of this is justified. Having said that, I have used them for years to do something similar to what you are proposing without any major problems.

You don't even have to put the payment option on your website. You can actually use their Paypal Invoicing system, which allows you to email clients your invoice for the amount owed. This invoice has a Paypal link making it easy for them to make the payment. I even do this with some of my web design clients who want pay with a credit card.

No doubt someone will come along and tell you otherwise but they really are OK for your purposes.

 

[Sky Racer]

Are there any serious disadvantages with PayPal ?

Seriously !!!

Just search this forum alone and I think you'll have your answer.

If that does not fill you in...google them

 

[Merchant UK]

I am developing a website, where (I hope) business owners will pay me to advertise on it.

I was going to accept cheque payments only, but note from a few internet postings, this may put off some people, due to the hastle involved with cheques.

As there will only be two options ... pay yearly or pay monthly, i don't need a shopping cart, but need something to take online payment.

Looking up Paypal, it looks an easy way and the cost is only 3.4% + 20p per transaction.

I don't want to (and in fact don't know how to) get involved with databases of customers etc etc so this looks easy.

There will not be many customers, so my idea of posting off receipts after money is received, will be OK.

Would PayPal be the product for me ?

Are there any other options ?

Are there any serious disadvantages with PayPal ?

Thank you in advance for any advice given.

Paypal is nice when it works and a flaming nightmare when it don't, i had a business account with Paypal and they robbed us of £700+ and it took me a further 3 months to finally get my money, so if you don't value your income or where it goes then, use them.

As you say your hoping businesses would pay you to advertise on your site?? then you need to know that most businesses just won't use paypal or have anything to do with them because of their T&C's and their reluctance to help you should things go wrong, people have had their accounts frozen for months on end as a result of Paypals slack attitude to peoples money.

The professional way to get payment would be to invoice the business and including your Bank details for BACS payment, if the payments are monthly or regular you could ask them to set up a standing order, both of these methods are free to you and would appear professional to your clients, worst case would be that they send you a cheque

 

[silvermusic]

I am developing a website, where (I hope) business owners will pay me to advertise on it.

I'd do a LOT more research into it's viability before you even consider payment methods. For what it's worth there's very few people I pay by cheque nowadays, one because they give me a discount and the other because I've been dealing with them for years and are a bit old-fashioned. With all other suppliers it's done by debit/credit card or direct bank transfer.

 

[shopintegrator]

I agree with everything said so far, both the negative and positive feeback above is true. Pay Pal is a massive payment processor which means it has many, many clients, the more clients means the more horror stories that make it out.

But, there are also many many people who have positive experiences, who don't tend to write about these on websites.

As you are talking about a low volume of transactions, I think Pay Pal will be a good choice for you because you have no monthly subscription to pay and it is a well know brand.

Are there any other options ?

Google Checkout is Google's answer to Pay Pal with a similar fee model as PayPal. You may also send invoices through email like Pay Pal as well.

 

[bdw]

... then you need to know that most businesses just won't use paypal or have anything to do with them because of their T&C's and their reluctance to help you should things go wrong, people have had their accounts frozen for months on end as a result of Paypals slack attitude to peoples money.

That is just plain wrong I am afraid. Whoever told you that most business won't use Paypal? I have been using them for about 8 years for B2B transactions and AFAICR never once has anyone refused to use them.

In actual fact I think the opposite may be true. Most <small> businesses are happy to receive a Paypal invoice as it is very quick, easy to process and hence convenient for both parties.

In the OP's situation this would be ideal because he could wait for payment and post the adverts as soon as it is received, much preferable to cheques.

 

[wbmkk1]

I just want to say thank you for all the informative answers .. I think I shall have to consider this matter in more detail.

Regards to all

 

[OliviaSSLGuru]

I am also one of those in the list of paypal service victims. They used to take more than the mentioned amount per transaction. I think google checkout is a better one. Or either way, you get the amount directly to your merchant account. But that would be a pretty big process, which i think will not be what you are wanting.

 

[abpublish]

I might be wrong but the main advantage of PayPal is that the purchaser does not need to open an account with them whereas with Google, it is mandatory.

As for cheques, aren't they going to be phased out in a couple of years?

 

[shopintegrator]

As for cheques, aren't they going to be phased out in a couple of years?

2018 is the official date for having completely phased out cheques in the UK, but I would expect to see many banks stop issuing cheque books ahead of this date.