which payment gateway for woocommerce subscription start-up?

[dru26]

Hi people! I am about to start a website for a food based subscription business using woocommerce, plus small shop selling six items. Can anyone offer advice on the best payment gateway to use? There seems to be so many to choose from it becomes confusing!
Many thanks
Dave

 

[TotalWebSolutions]

Hi Dave,

There are certainly a number of Payment Gateways to choose from for your start-up. It is best to consider everything about the company you choose to go with (i.e. not just price). As a start-up you may be tempted to use a bureau payment service such as PayPal. However, these services will charge you more in terms of % for each transaction (and the same rate regardless of card type).

For the occasional sale this might be more cost effective for you but for regular sales you may wish to consider a Payment Gateway with an Internet Merchant Account. This will offer you direct processing into your chosen bank account on much lower % rates for each card type (particular Debit cards which will be much lower than with a payment bureau).

You should also consider the customer service and support you get from the company. I would suggest selecting a few and calling them to discuss your requirements. Not only would this allow you to gather quotes but also allow you to form an opinion on how the staff handled your enquiry in terms of helpfulness, knowledge and understanding.

I wish you the best of luck launching your new website. Feel free to drop me a PM if I can be of any assistance.

Thanks,

Simon

 

[Richard Moore]

You will also need to be aware of your PCI-DSS compliance responsibilities as these can vary depending on your chosen solution.

 

[justnewgadgets]

with woocommerce, I just use Paypal Standard, as that facilitates card payments even without a paypal account, and I have logo's on the site which explain this.

 

[Mia @ Shippo]

PayPal is a bit of a double edged sword; you'll be charged for customers buying through Paypal, but you may gain more sales. A lot of people see Paypal as trustworthy; especially with the money-back guarantees and whatnot that it comes with. (And because it's so popular)

So, while you may get charged a % to use it, it may help you attract customers at first. Especially as you're a new store. Personally, I'm much less likely to trust a new store. If I had to pay via credit card, I probably wouldn't just because I'd think it would be more difficult to get my money back if the store turned out to be a scam or something. If the store had Paypal, however, I'd be much more likely to purchase from the store because (although there's absolutely no reason to and this is jsut my opinion) I'd trust the site more, buying through Paypal doesn't require me to get my card and write all my details out and I know I'm covered to get my money back if the store does turn out to be a scam.

Just some food for thought

 

[dru26]

PayPal is a bit of a double edged sword; you'll be charged for customers buying through Paypal, but you may gain more sales. A lot of people see Paypal as trustworthy; especially with the money-back guarantees and whatnot that it comes with. (And because it's so popular)

So, while you may get charged a % to use it, it may help you attract customers at first. Especially as you're a new store. Personally, I'm much less likely to trust a new store. If I had to pay via credit card, I probably wouldn't just because I'd think it would be more difficult to get my money back if the store turned out to be a scam or something. If the store had Paypal, however, I'd be much more likely to purchase from the store because (although there's absolutely no reason to and this is jsut my opinion) I'd trust the site more, buying through Paypal doesn't require me to get my card and write all my details out and I know I'm covered to get my money back if the store does turn out to be a scam.

Just some food for thought

Thanks for taking the time to reply. My only thought regarding the money back guarantees paypal offer, is what percentage of the general public actually know about this. I agree it is a more trusted way of paying though.

 

[Ben @StoreKit]

I'd go with Stripe or Braintree - they handle the PCI stuff, easy plugins that integrate with Woo Subscriptions and pretty low fees, depending on your ATV, at 1.4% + 20p.

Also, if you're doing well, consider adding a subscription billing layer like Recurly to reduce missed payments etc

*Braintree also seem to offer Interchange plus pricing now which may be a better option for you if it's targeted at consumers.