What payment methods should we use?

[Alicezou]

As a seller doing international business, do you guys have any idea about those payment methods? Which payment method is the best for our sellers? Western Union and Bank Transfer is great for sellers but many buyers don't accept them because they think they get no insurance and the handling fee is high. PayPal is accepted by most buyers but it tends to only protect buyers' benifits. What's your opinion? I have a site: <<link removed by mod >> and I don't know what payment methods should I use. I need suggestions.

 

[deadgoodundies]

Having two options has always worked best for us.

1. A proper credit/debit card gateway like sagepay, worldpay etc. as the primary

2. Paypal as the secondary

We did used to have a third which was cheque/postal order but due to either bouncing cheques or customers not sending the postal order or cheque we've taken that off now.

 

[Frog-Dude]

1) Payment Gateway - Sagepay, we now use Skrill (Was called moneybookers).
2) Paypal
3) Google Checkout.

 

[AnnaRobinson]

I would recommend getting a payment gateway. It appears a lot more professional to buyers when they see a secure gateway upon checkout.

Paypal/Google checkout are easy and cheaper to implement at first but their rates are extremely high compared to a payment gateway provider.

They also turn away a number of customers who have had bad experiences with them.

 

[Latebloomer]

Paypal is hugely popular due to reason you stated. They favour customers heavily.
If you don't use paypal, your sales will drop.
If you use it, the rest of the payment option becomes almost negligible.

I tried many sorts of payment option and paypal certainly is the best.

 

[ogurets]

I use paypal and nothing else!

 

[OliviaSSLGuru]

The best methods of payment method that we will suggest you Pay Pal and Google Check Out as we have been using it since more then 5 years and its been excellent performance.






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SAN SSL

 

[snakeeyes121]

I just have PayPal. But the PayPal pro.
So cards can be taken on the website instead of passing
customers over to the PayPal, but of course PayPal express
checkout at the basket, and a normal PayPal option at the
checkout.

PayPal fees really aren't that different compared to a payment
gateway and merchant account.

I mean your going to pay 10 - 20p for the 'gateway' part, then
a percentage of 1-3% for the merchant account, then probably
various extra fees for the merchant account.

Taking it all in to account, there isn't much of a difference.

Then if you are 'new' to a merchant account they are likely to hold
the funds for xx days, keep a retaining balance of xx thousand etc etc

PayPal, it's instant funds, if you have one of the 'paypal access cards'
then you can have immediate access to those funds, pay for everything
from within your PayPal account via the card, makes for easier accounting.

PayPal will shortly be releasing 'paypal here' in the UK, to enable you to
take card present transactions in shops, fairs etc etc in the US it's a card
swiping thing, but its believed to be a pin pad that's going to get released
here, that will link to their app.

All in all, taking everything in to account, PayPal is a serious contender to
having a merchant account etc.

Yes the fees are ever so slightly higher, but you are paying for the convenience,
you are paying for that 'recognised' brand, that people see as 'trustworthy'

Plus every man and his dog has a PayPal account with a few quid in, someone
just happens to be browsing around, looking for nothing specific, sees your lovely
cheap widgets, see you accept PayPal and make an impulse buy.

Choosing a payment method is about more than the 'costs involved' you have to
look at the whole package.. and for me PayPal offers a complete all round package
that does increase sales, give access to the tools to trade via any channel, well apart
from in person, but that's being addressed.

 

[puresilva]

I mean your going to pay 10 - 20p for the 'gateway' part, then
a percentage of 1-3% for the merchant account, then probably
various extra fees for the merchant account.

Taking it all in to account, there isn't much of a difference.

I agree. When you take everything into account, there's not a lot of difference between the major gateways. However, a key difference is accessibility - the ease of making a payment. A PayPal option to a PayPal member is a highly accessible option - it's just a case of logging in and paying - no details to give - not even a shipping address (so long as the stored shipping address is the one you want to use of course, which can be changed) - you can buy your items easily and quickly.

To maximise accessibility, I think you should always give people a choice, and because PayPal is by far the most popular gateway, PayPal should be one of the choices you offer. If someone's had a bad experience with PayPal, they can use another gateway you offer.