Dropping PayPal as a payment option?

[Austin VT]

Hi there,

We run an ecommerce store turning over around 150k a year. We offer payments via Shopify Payments (Credit Card, Google Pay, and Apple Pay), and PayPal.

We're considering dropping PayPal as a payment method due to their high fees but we're wondering if this would lead to a drop in sales that would outweigh any savings on fees. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Or if anyone has done this themselves and could share their experience that would be appreciated.

Many thanks,

Austin

 

[Newchodge]

How many of your customers use paypal?

 

[Austin VT]

Hi there, about 20% of our customers checkout using PayPal. We're just wondering how many of those would not shop at a store that doesn't offer it as an option.

 

[Newchodge]

Hi there, about 20% of our customers checkout using PayPal. We're just wondering how many of those would not shop at a store that doesn't offer it as an option.

Ask them?

 

[Solve My Problem]

We dropped PayPal on a site doing about £50-£75k per month, made no impact on sales.

You will find it tends to be product / demographic dependant. If it's something people buy to treat themselves they tend to use PayPal more (or at least did as it was things like eBay sales, Facebook Marketplace) it's almost stash money.

Rather than debate it, split test it as an option, and monitor the bounce rate and conversion rate.

Then look at the cost savings vs the drop (if any) in sales, but take into account the LTV of customers, so if you lose say 5% of sales, what is that 5% worth for the next year +

Darren

 

[Austin VT]

We dropped PayPal on a site doing about £50-£75k per month, made no impact on sales.

You will find it tends to be product / demographic dependant. If it's something people buy to treat themselves they tend to use PayPal more (or at least did as it was things like eBay sales, Facebook Marketplace) it's almost stash money.

Rather than debate it, split test it as an option, and monitor the bounce rate and conversion rate.

Then look at the cost savings vs the drop (if any) in sales, but take into account the LTV of customers, so if you lose say 5% of sales, what is that 5% worth for the next year +

Darren

Many thanks for the response. We'll give that a go and do some customer surveys.

 

[Solve My Problem]

Many thanks for the response. We'll give that a go and do some customer surveys.

Use Google oprimize for the split testing and watch your metrics.

 

[tertius]

Commenting because I'm interested to join the thread.....?
If all the people on here, would you abandon the cart if you get to checkout and discover that PayPal isn't available? For me it would only be in the odd occasion when I can be bothered to go and find my card!

 

[paulears]

If I get offered it as a payment method I only sometimes take it, but I usually use a debit card, and use PayPal for riskier purchases or higher value ones from people I'm not certain about.

 

[Austin VT]

Commenting because I'm interested to join the thread.....?
If all the people on here, would you abandon the cart if you get to checkout and discover that PayPal isn't available? For me it would only be in the odd occasion when I can be bothered to go and find my card!

PayPal seems to be becoming less common (no longer the only option on eBay), so I'm used to paying by card more often. I suppose if it was a lesser-known, independent webshop I'd be more inclined to pay via PayPal but it wouldn't be a deal breaker.

 

[Solve My Problem]

PayPal seems to be becoming less common (no longer the only option on eBay), so I'm used to paying by card more often. I suppose if it was a lesser-known, independent webshop I'd be more inclined to pay via PayPal but it wouldn't be a deal breaker.

This is where so many smaller merchants fall down.

They fail to include all the important convincer details needed to take the edge of an unknown site. Contact pages with a form and nothing else, no clear shipping and returns information (if they do it's a long winded page that came from a template).

People don't think about the psychology behind purchasing.

Darren

 

[Austin VT]

This is where so many smaller merchants fall down.

They fail to include all the important convincer details needed to take the edge of an unknown site. Contact pages with a form and nothing else, no clear shipping and returns information (if they do it's a long winded page that came from a template).

People don't think about the psychology behind purchasing.

Darren

That's true. I think public reviews and social media presence are the most important in establishing initial buyer confidence. If a company has no social media links that's a deal-breaker for me.

 

[Solve My Problem]

That's true. I think public reviews and social media presence are the most important in establishing initial buyer confidence. If a company has no social media links that's a deal-breaker for me.

A lot of it is subconscious, we all do it, find two websites, same price, can't decide and then opt for one over the other.

It's all subtle things, fight or flight. The more reassurances people have (clear shipping prices before checkout etc..) the less people need to think, as soon as they think you have broken the purchase chain.

 

[Justin Smith]

Hi there,

We run an ecommerce store turning over around 150k a year. We offer payments via Shopify Payments (Credit Card, Google Pay, and Apple Pay), and PayPal.

We're considering dropping PayPal as a payment method due to their high fees but we're wondering if this would lead to a drop in sales that would outweigh any savings on fees. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Or if anyone has done this themselves and could share their experience that would be appreciated.

Many thanks,

Austin

We stopped using PayPal and it did not appear to make any difference to us, though we are quite a specialist seller.
The other thing about PayPal is that Paypal customers can be more awkward because it is so easy for them to get a refund via PayPal even if they are "in the wrong". Not that this happened very often at all, but when it did it annoyed me.

 

[antropy]

Maybe temporarily remove it and see what happens?

I'd love to see PayPal go out of business, they're getting worse and worse.

Paul.

 

[fisicx]

I'd love to see PayPal go out of business,

I wouldn't. Almost all my business is with overseas clients. PayPal is by far the easiest way to get paid. I can login and request money or create an invoice in seconds and be paid minutes later.

 

[antropy]

I wouldn't. Almost all my business is with overseas clients. PayPal is by far the easiest way to get paid. I can login and request money or create an invoice in seconds and be paid minutes later.

Guess you haven't heard of wise.com yet then?

Paul.

 

[fisicx]

Guess you haven't heard of wise.com yet then?

Paul.

I have now

 

[antropy]

I have now

Much, much cheaper than PayPal, just as fast, and goes to your real bank!

Hope it's helpful!

Paul.

 

[Austin VT]

We stopped using PayPal and it did not appear to make any difference to us, though we are quite a specialist seller.
The other thing about PayPal is that Paypal customers can be more awkward because it is so easy for them to get a refund via PayPal even if they are "in the wrong". Not that this happened very often at all, but when it did it annoyed me.

Thanks for your reply, that's encouraging to hear. Yes, that's another reason to get rid of PP. It's rare that there's a problem but we've had experiences where people won't even bother contacting customer support before going straight to open a Paypal case and locking our funds in the process. It's very irritating.

 

[WebDesires]

I havnt found PayPal useful in any way for years, and then they came out with PayPal Credit.

I've actually abandoned on several sites now when I wanted to use credit but they didn't have PayPal.

So if your products services may be advantageous to people wanting to use credit and pay later, then PayPal might be worthy to stay...

 

[FXOpentrader]

Personally, as a buyer, I prefer to use Paypal for global eCommerce like eBay.

 

[capacitum.com]

Do not drop PP as a payment option.
Some customers use it as peace of mind.
That 20% of your customers may never buy from you.

 

[japancool]

Much, much cheaper than PayPal, just as fast, and goes to your real bank!

Hope it's helpful!

Paul.

This.

The exchange rate is often better than the mid-market rate (as reported by XE.com), the transfer fee is low and money is credited to your (or their, if you are sending) bank account usually on the same day. It can save your clients a lot of money.