it seem that paypal is offering the lowest charges for credit card gateway service and it is FOC. It also come with basic cart services. But why is it the most people don't use them? did I miss out anything?

As far as I know, customers without a paypal account have to register for one before purchasing anything from you.

For this reason alone, most don't offer it. It's hard enough getting many "novice" users to enter credit card information online, let alone signup for a service just to order yours.

but I though most shopping cart do require their customer to make registration as well?

Anyone think otherwise?

Another reason to 'not' use them is their policy of breaking their own policy. So you never know what they're going to do.

Somewhere around here, I have a thread where they reversed an order and gave the money to the purchaser because the product sold was web hosting.

Originally posted by SoftWareRevue
Another reason to 'not' use them is their policy of breaking their own policy. So you never know what they're going to do.

Somewhere around here, I have a thread where they reversed an order and gave the money to the purchaser because the product sold was web hosting.

Scary stuff!

Originally posted by SoftWareRevue
Another reason to 'not' use them is their policy of breaking their own policy. So you never know what they're going to do.

Somewhere around here, I have a thread where they reversed an order and gave the money to the purchaser because the product sold was web hosting.

But other than what you have said (which i would see it as isolated case) and the members signing up. Paypal actually work quite the same as other payment gateway right?

Paypal is fine.

You can use it or use it in combination with other payment systems.

Some customers actually prefer paypal due to it's convenience, and it's easy online account management.

As a customer buying online, I like paypal since my Credit Card info is only stored in 1 place and the host will never get my credit card number. Seems more secure to me then giving the CC directly and much faster.

I think a universal payment gateway like paypal is great for internet consumers and merchants.

2ckecout is also pretty great!

For paypal, it might be a little more troubleosme because users have to register for an accounts before being able to transact online but it's a good thing as your CC number would never be released.

If my understanding is correct, a buyer without a PayPal account who wishes to purchase, must first register. However, to complete the registration process the buyer needs to wait for their credit card statement to arrive by post, extract the PayPal registration fee - not known until the statement arrives, log into their PayPal account and enter the relevant amount. In the mean time, my understanding is, that the buyer cannot buy until this amount is known. If this is indeed the case, sounds like a nightmare for any one trying to sell their products.

Best regards,
Andre

No, you don't have to wait for your credit card statement to verify your account - you can make transactions immediately after registering.

I have so far no issue with paypal. Even when they don't provide my country's currency. my customer do not really mind because they are used to buying online in USD. And frankly speaking, I think their server is much stable. I once help my customer to hookup to one of the renow payment gateway, but their shopping cart server is slow and always down. and mind you, they are not cheap.

Originally posted by sanjiv
No, you don't have to wait for your credit card statement to verify your account - you can make transactions immediately after registering.

It just doesn't boost your 'reputation' which is only incremented by 'verified' member purchases.

sigh....my hosting provider just confirm they don't accept paypal. What's the matter with all these guys. I mean paypal is free and the charges are low. further it is not difficult to setup. Just don't understand why can't they just set it up in the name of better customer service.

SoftWareRevue is quite correct and it is not even close to an isolated case, the issue witih paypal breaking their own policies AKA fraud. Thus, when I see people posting w/ "paypal only please", or some such. It is either because they do not know better, or they are just as bad as paypal (ie fradulant). However, most people here just do not know better :) Dispite glaring issues ;)

Remember, paypal makes it easy to pay and easy to lose your monies.

Flame all you want :D

Originally posted by Curious Cat
But other than what you have said (which i would see it as isolated case) and the members signing up. Paypal actually work quite the same as other payment gateway right?
No, they are quite different and I will only touch on a few differences:

1) You are using Paypal as your merchant account. Many merchants will view this as a cost savings, but there is one big disadvantage -- the line item on the cardholder's statement will read Paypal, not YourMerchantName and phone number. I know I have scanned through my credit card statements looking for someone I placed an order for to reorder more stuff. If it read Paypal, I never would have found the merchant name.

2) Charge-backs -- As a merchant, you are 100% liable for complying with VISA and MasterCard regs AS WELL AS Paypal rules and procedures. From many or the horror story threads that I have seen, it appears that Paypal, in an effort to stay in the good grace's of VISA and MasterCard, tend to error on the side of the cardholder and give the merchant little or no input in their charge-back process.

3) The great rates you are referring to are connected to using a Paypal debit card for purchases. You will not be receiving the 1.5% kickback if you are using these funds in the account for payroll or other non-personal expenses.

4) The customer registration IS a problem. You mentioned "but I though most shopping cart do require their customer to make registration as well?", true but now they also need to register with Paypal.

5) The customer verification is a problem. Paypal places a $2000 limit on user accounts until the cardholder jumps through the previously mentioned hoops or hoop de jour.

6) To me, merchant wise, company image is the biggest disadvantage. Users with any experience know that Paypal is free to get setup and very few, if any background checks are made of the merchant. This throws up a red flag to users assessing their trust in a merchant they have not dealt with before.

Yes, you can discount everything I have stated as being biased because I'm "in the business" and represent a gateway provider. But everything I have stated is true and most is verifiable either directly on the Paypal site or by a few queries on any popular search engine, the only exception being #6 which I admit, is my own belief and one of the factors I use in assessing trust prior to purchase.

About costs, Paypal, excluding the 1.5% kickback program charges 2.9% + $0.30. The average established e-commerce merchant that has any banking history should receive somewhere in the range of around 2% + 0.15 to 2.25% + $0.25. And if the merchant does any volume, the fixed monthly fees should be insignificant (provided you are not getting raped by the MSP -- SHOP AROUND!!!). The Paypal rates are decent to good for low volume merchants or merchants just starting out (but then, if you are just starting out, you have the image factor #6).

Good luck in your evaluation. For all of the devoted Paypalites reading this message in horror, blast away...

wow....shift4sms this is cool stuff. I have been wondering why pple don't use paypal. and you explain it totally and clearly. thanks pal!

To each his own,

I have been using Paypal for years without any problems.

They are now owned by Ebay as of a few months back.

I do think it is the most convenient way to make & receive payments, once you have "jumped through those so called hoops" , which basically involve verifying your identity & bank account# or credit card.

Paypal also gives you additional points everytime a transaction is verified. So the higher ones' # of verified transactions, the more likely you can safely do business with such a person or company.

As I said before, it works great in conjunction with another regular payment gateway.

But just know that there are people out there preferring paying you the PayPal way.

Would you turn them away?

Originally posted by Ronaldo
But just know that there are people out there preferring paying you the PayPal way.

Would you turn them away? You may be correct but over the years with the sites I maintain on the side, I have never received a single "Why don't you take PayPal?" message or complaint from a customer...

I would and have in a heartbeat, then I send them some "get educated" urls concerning the criminals.. I mean Paypal. Since then, most of them usually go "straight", ie use a reputable service. Some do not, but it's their peril.

Originally posted by Shannara
I would and have in a heartbeat, then I send them some "get educated" urls concerning the criminals.. I mean Paypal. Since then, most of them usually go "straight", ie use a reputable service. Some do not, but it's their peril. Just to better arm myself, please e-mail me or post the "get educated" urls you referred to. Thanks.

Shannara. Could you let us know of the url here?

Most are already mentioned on these forums, just do a search for "PayPal" or go to the following urls, and follow the links from there:

Obvious: http://www.paypalsucks.com
Obvious: http://www.paypalwarning.com
CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/industry/03/26/paypal.stranded.idg/index.html
What Really Happened :): http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/paypal.html
CNet: http://news.com.com/2100-1017-842240.html

Need more?

Originally posted by Curious Cat
sigh....my hosting provider just confirm they don't accept paypal. What's the matter with all these guys. I mean paypal is free and the charges are low. further it is not difficult to setup. Just don't understand why can't they just set it up in the name of better customer service.

Unless you do $1000 a month in PayPal business their charges are not low. And you'd have to have a fairly large hosting business to do that much in PayPal charges; in our case less than 1% of our customers use it.

We take PayPal even though it costs us more for the same reason we take American Express: because some customers want to pay that way.

Scott

Shannara,

Great. Thanks...

Originally posted by Shannara
Most are already mentioned on these forums, just do a search for "PayPal" or go to the following urls, and follow the links from there:

Obvious: http://www.paypalsucks.com
Obvious: http://www.paypalwarning.com
CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/industry/03/26/paypal.stranded.idg/index.html
What Really Happened :): http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/paypal.html
CNet: http://news.com.com/2100-1017-842240.html

Need more?
Forbes did article about complaint sites, which included paypal:
http://www.forbes.com/home/2002/08/21/0821hatesites.html

The complaintaints about PayPal are a concern, however is it possible that as a percentage of their total business PayPal gets no more complaints than any other cc processor? Perhaps it only APPEARS to get more complaints because the complaints sent to other processors are diluted by the fact that there are many of them but only one PayPal.

I receive Paypal payments, But paypal doesn't pay out in my country. I do not have a US Bank Account. My funds get stuck with Paypal till i use them to shop online.

Can anyone suggest some 3rd party Online Service Provider which would accept Paypal payments from you and send you a International Bankers Check or Money Order or Do a Wire Transfer to your account?

Please help.

I think Citibank have such a service... www.c2it.com (http://www.c2it.com) . I have never used it though.

thewasp, i checked with www.c2it.com and they do not accept Paypal. I would like to know about a service which would accept Payments from my Paypal account and send me a wire transfer or bankers check to my country since paypal does not let me withdraw in my country.

Paypal is great, iv'e been using it for 6 months now, excelent stuff.

Wait till you get a chargeback through no fault of your own and then they not only take the money that you were paid for your service, but then insult you with a chargeback FEE on top of it...all this without giving you any kind of chance to defend yourself.

Tell us how great they are once that happens a couple of times.

paypal is really suck now,i think their service is getting worst

there is no way you can depend on paypal as your gateway. Its ok just to have paypal as an additional payment method for those who prefer to pay by paypal. However, you need a decent gateway like worldpay. For NON-US customers to order using paypal it is just a big headache. A NON-US customers that doesnt have a paypal account will have to create a paypal account first, then paypal bill their creditcard a $1.95 fee that has a 4 digit member code with it, you then have to wait upto 4 days to actually see that code on your statement (well thats if you have online banking for your credit card statements). Who would want to go through this process just to order a web hosting account when there are many companies out there that dont need you to do this and have instant activation?

I think you should always have PayPal as alternate merchant.

www.paypalsucks.com

The horror stories of PayPal, NEVER USE PAYPAL!

Businesses do not want to deal with paypal and all their troubles. They frequently harbor frauds, and also freeze legit money. Nobody with a full fledged business is going to offer paypal unless the customer is absolutely hung on just using paypal.

I would never use it, it is a big risk.

i looked at getting another server the other day from a site using paypal only.

i want to do business with somebody that at least has a tin and a merchant account. so we said goodbye.

now if they offered paypal as an alternative to regualr merchant processing im not offended, seems that might be good biz.

but pay pal exclusive, no way!

try to think if you accout is limited by PayPal, you can do nothing.

They often limit the use to use them.

So never use PayPal!

Originally posted by james007
try to think if you accout is limited by PayPal, you can do nothing.

They often limit the use to use them.

So never use PayPal!

hehehe, same old statement. :)

One should not use the fact that a company has a merchant account as an indicator of how robust that company is. A company only needs to have a balance sheet with $1 to qualify for a merchant account.

i give people the option to pay with paypal on my sites but it is not the only option i have cause to tell you the truth, I do not trust paypal. I sold a computer once using them for 1,100.00, they locked my account to investigate the funds and soon after told me the buyer used stolen funds, in turn they closed my account and took 1100.00 from me and the guy who bought it got a new computer.

I have them to to please the novice customer but i run a very nice shopping cart script that will force the use of 2checkout and not allow paypal when the order is over 300.00

paypal want accept every contry for payment and that will make you lose some customers but 2checkout.com will accept all