Want to take Direct Debits from subscribers for regularly posted physical products

[dctrpl]

I have a Joomla website and am planning a new product which is a physical subscriber product with material being sent out by post to subscribers on a weekly basis.

I want subscribers to sign up via the website and be billed by direct debit, monthly, in advance.

So I need ways of accepting sign-ups, processing direct-debits, and seeing at a glance if the direct-debit has been paid and therefore whether or not to send out the product to that particular subscriber each week.

Currently I have:

• a standard bank personal current account (this is not a "business account" but I have used it as my self-employed account with no problems and no charges for years)
• A Paypal business account.

Do I need:

1. A Joomla extension which can do all of this?
2. A merchant account?
3. Just the Paypal?
4. A business bank account?
5. A payment provider?
6. A gateway?
7. Any or all of these?
8. Something else?

have been looking at this for a few hours and head is spinning with all the terminology. Where do I start with all of this?


Cheers,

Paul

 

[OldWelshGuy]

the easiest way is paypal using the subscription system. you will get notifications if a payment is made, or if it is cancelled.

There are other ways such as gocardless/directli but for you starting off, PP is probably the easiest option. Paypal money can sit in your account and you just transfer a chunk of it now and then, which really negates the need for a business account.

 

[dctrpl]

Thanks Old Welsh Guy.

So is the Paypal system wired like a Direct Debit, in other words the customer doesn't have to lift a finger each month?

Paul

 

[OldWelshGuy]

yep, you set up a paypal subscription, add the button to your site (or send an email with a link in it) and they subscribe. The payment then comes out each month. You can even have a free trial period, or a larger 'setup' amount for the first month 9or set period)

It is very flexible.

 

[dctrpl]

Cheers OWG - useful info.

 

[dctrpl]

Also been looking at GoCardless - which looks fairly pro/slick...

 

[british steve]

Take a look at GoCardless - they have a really simple direct debit system, you can be collecting payments within an hour, also low cost.

https://gocardless.com/

 

[dctrpl]

Aye Steve - am doing that. It almost appears easier and cheaper than PayPal. Their charge is 1% as opposed to PayPal which is a sliding scale but starts at 3.4% + 20 pence.

So after a wee bit of looking around, Go Cardless seems easily better unless I'm missing something...

 

[OldWelshGuy]

I mentioned gocradless and directli in my first post, but the difference here is that the payment is not taken immediately. it will be 6 days minimum before it is processed for a new signup, and another week or so before you get your money.