Using Paypal as a checkout option

[Chris_39]

Can anyone tell me if it is worth having Paypal as a checkout version?

I have heard a couple of years ago that Paypal would freeze accounts without notice and people and businesses could not withdraw their hard earned cash. Is this still true?

Also, I am not sure how much Paypal is charging on each transaction or withdrawal from the Paypal account.

Does anybody have experience with it?

 

[Chris Ashdown]

We do quite a bit through PayPal, the stories are true but do as we do remove most of the money every day so most money they could freeze would be money from Sat night to monday afternoon. Many who got hit i think left very large sums in their account which caused them great pain

Just remember PayPal is not a bank and not protected under the same rules

 

[arnydnxluk]

If you're B2C then you'll almost certainly want PayPal as a secondary option in my opinion. Some people simply won't purchase without PayPal being present.

There are horror stories regarding frozen accounts etc. Personally I've been using PayPal for business for over 10 years now without a problem in this regard. Just make sure you withdraw on a daily basis (you can set this up to be done automatically). If you have problems in future you can always remove PayPal but I think as long as you're running a legit business (ideally in a low risk industry) you'll be fine and some of your customers will be happy to see the option there.

You can find their transaction fees here:
https://www.paypal.com/uk/webapps/mpp/paypal-fees

Withdrawals are free in the UK (at least for GBP banks).

 

[TotalWebSolutions]

It can be quite expensive for merchants so it would be good to have an alternative - especially if you are going to be doing large volumes of card payments. Have you considered a Payment Gateway/Merchant Account option at all? Charges can be much lower (especially for Debit cards) and the money gets put straight into your bank account without any manual intervention.

 

[Jay69]

I have been using paypal for credit card check out for years without a problem, our B2B customers love it without paypal I would not have been able to take credit card transactions and would have lost a ton of money, also they now have a mobile payment machine so you can take payment over the phone or even if you was out and about shopping or clubbing and someone wanted to purchase your product or service , on the odd occasion they may delay access to funds if they feel there has been some odd transactions, which is a safe guard for us and them, if someone has fraudulently made a payment and you withdraw your money you could end up losing out if they claw back.

I must say their support is brilliant, they have always looked after me

To answer your question withdrawing money to your bank account from paypal is free and transaction cost is around 3.4% + 20p and goes down depending on the volume of transactions

 

[lesliedocherty]

paypal is a must, folk have money in their paypal account to spend, some don't really class it as money so are easier to part with it, but yes crazy not to offer paypal

 

[19ninety]

I don't offer it as an option on my own site, card only, but I am a tiny bit bitter about PP fees. I know if I enable it the majority of people will start to use PayPal instead of card checkout = another few % off the profit margin.

 

[19ninety]

Actually, I'm going to enable PayPal for a while and see if there is an uptake in checkouts...

 

[Chris Ashdown]

It does look like its true that people with money in their PayPal account treat it different to their money in their pocket and much happier to spend whats in their account

 

[Jeff Nev]

I would say that PayPal is now essential for anyone operating in the B2C sector. I would even go as far as saying that is expected by users now as well and could even put buyers off from purchasing if the option is not there.

 

[lesliedocherty]

I would say that PayPal is now essential for anyone operating in the B2C sector. I would even go as far as saying that is expected by users now as well and could even put buyers off from purchasing if the option is not there.

I agree, also, paypal is soo easy to use, a few mouse clicks and it's bought, no having to type in all your details, it is actually to easy

 

[FreebieBoy34]

The ecommerce website I was working with before also has paypal as one of its checkout option. And frankly, a lot of our customers overseas prefer paying through this... So I guess it's safe to say that paypal is a great payment option for your business.

Of course, you might have heard about issues concerning paypal. I must admit that they too experience problems at times, but it's only a case to case basis... So, there's no need to worry actually...

Hope this helps!

 

[dmsims]

Offer Paypal express as well

When offered as an option with a "normal" card payment method Paypal nets about 40% of sales

 

[Idosell Shop]

Paypal is good and convenient, it is also good to provide other payment option for online customers. Whatever is convenient for your customers would build up your business.

 

[Nochexman]

Can anyone tell me if it is worth having Paypal as a checkout version?

I have heard a couple of years ago that Paypal would freeze accounts without notice and people and businesses could not withdraw their hard earned cash. Is this still true?

Also, I am not sure how much Paypal is charging on each transaction or withdrawal from the Paypal account.

Hey Chris, what did you decide to do in the end?

 

[jjscruff]

paypal is ludicrously expensive and ban users at their will. worth having as a secondary but not as primary mode of accepting payments

 

[wayzgoose]

paypal is ludicrously expensive and ban users at their will. worth having as a secondary but not as primary mode of accepting payments

I think it will be the customers that decide whether it's the primary or secondary method of payment.

 

[jjscruff]

no
primary - run all card and paypal payments through paypal checkout
secondary - run all card payments through cheaper payment processor and just accept payments from PayPal