hi all,
the question is simple;
is it professional using paypal for webhosting companies?

What do you think about ? Would you prefer using other comanies with same hosting features BUT using a "real merchant account" for payments?
Perhaps I am wrong but i dont' think it's very professional using paypal...


Thanks

I dont think you should use it as your primary method of billing, but as one of a number of forms of payment its a good option.

Originally posted by UH-Matt
I dont think you should use it as your primary method of billing, but as one of a number of forms of payment its a good option.

Ditto.

Have to agree with Matt, we offer Paypal in addition to several other payment methods, that way clients can use their own choice of payment as it is surprising how many people actually prefer Paypal for some reason, even though it costs us more in charges.

GandalfDDUK--- yes we had several customer ask us about paypal options. We currently use revecom but like to add paypal also.
Anyone know how much are transaction fees for paypal? Nor sure if paypal is convenience as we offer lowcost hosting on our websites and don't like to pay a lot of transaction fees..

Use a merchant account as your primary payment option but have accounts for the likes of paypal and nochex ready as some customers prefer to use these methods.

We use PayPal as a primary payment method. Mainly because its much more covient to have the money go in and out. Alot of people prefer PayPal anyways. PayPal has never given us any problems.

WWWhost, we use Paysystems too but added Payal about a year ago. We used to offer it only on request but due to an increase in requests, we decided to integrate it into our order forms. Only do about $1000/mo through there but a g is a g at the end of the day. ;)

We use 2co as well as paypal. Some prefer paypal others stay away from it.

Its always good to have a backup processor, like paypal. I dont think it should be your primary option, but some people like to use paypal, so it should be available imo.

As a company just starting out, PayPal is a perfect solution. You only get charged for the money you bring in, and there are no setup costs. When your company grows, you definately need to start thinking about a merchant account. We are still only taking PayPal (started in March of 2003), but we are getting to the point where a merchant acct makes sense, and it's definately on our radar.

As for fees, when you start up, you are given a standard rate of 2.9%+ $0.30 USD. Once you qualify, they will switch you to the merchant rate of 2.2%+ $0.30 USD.

PerlBill is your solution. When you use Perlbill @ http://www.PerlBill.com for billing, your customers will get the option of paying for their hosting using a creditcard (2checkout.com merchant acct.) or Paypal.

We use AuthorizeNet for credit card payments, but we also have PayPal as a secondary option for those that prefer to go that route for payments.

I think it lowers the level of professionalism personally. Also, using it as the only form of payment creates a barrier to sale (as people without paypal accounts must sign up for one before they can use you)

I dont recomend it, I used it and if they do a charge back there is nothing you can do about it. So lets say they get a server from you for a month and after wards they can do a charge back and you have to give them the money back.

we use both paypal and 2co. Paypal works fine for us.

Just thought I would comment. We started out using Paypal. Soon after we had to aquire other methods. Stormpay being one of them. (Somewhat like paypal) As searching for many merchant solutions we finally agreed to stop searching and Go Auth.net

Auth.net in my opinion the most professional solution.
Paypal, in my opinion is great. However when my clients don't like it I guess its time to move.

We started out with 2checkout, and as more customers requested it, we started accepting paypal as an alternative.

I think the following are geared more to professionality:
Auth.Net
PaySystems
2CheckOut
There are a few others. Users like not having to signup twice. Meaning signup to you and the cc processor.

We started out using 2Checkout and then added PayPal after a few good discussions here about it. As a secondary method it really can't be beat. It gives the client a choice to having charges debited directly from a checking/savings account which some people seem to actually prefer.

Originally posted by marinedog
I dont recomend it, I used it and if they do a charge back there is nothing you can do about it. So lets say they get a server from you for a month and after wards they can do a charge back and you have to give them the money back. Since when? PayPal doesn't like chargebacks any more than any other vendor. In my experience, they actually make it hard or impossible to get money back once you've made a payment.

We offer it for those who have it.

We use PayPal as additional method, find it convenient. Most of our clients use Paysystems as a mean to pay us.

Originally posted by John[H4Y]
Since when? PayPal doesn't like chargebacks any more than any other vendor. In my experience, they actually make it hard or impossible to get money back once you've made a payment.

well tell that to paypal. Not only did I have to pay $40.00 I had to pay a extra $10.00

Here is what I got charged.....

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oct. 12, 2003 Payment From *** Completed Details $40.00 USD -$1.46 USD $38.54 USD
Nov. 11, 2003 Reversal To *** Cancelled Details -$38.54 USD $0.00 USD -$38.54 USD
Nov. 20, 2003 Update From Reversal Cancelled Details $38.54 USD ... ...
Nov. 20, 2003 Transfer To Chargeback Settlement Completed ... -$40.00 USD -$10.00 USD -$50.00 USD
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

so ya it sucks! watch out with paypal guys

From what I have read quite a few people have be burnt by their "buyer protection"

All I know is the one time I actually used PayPal to send away money, I requested an "investigation" to get a refund because the services were not as described. They denied my request for a refund. I later learned that they automatically decline all investigations where the case involves services not as described. They will only issue refunds when advertised products or services are not provided at all. Plus, they supposedly hear both sides when an investigation is requested, so if you claim that a buyer indeed got the services they paid for, I don't see why PayPal would go out of their way to lose money by returning it to the buyer.

Good subject to be raised is this....

my own views are that on things such as buyer protection etc using paypal....a disclaimer should be written and placed on the site, under the section where you are offering paypal as a payment alternative.....i don't believe that any hosts primary payment method should be paypal or even nochex for that matter. Using a system such as Worldpay , 2CO or PaySystems would be much better.....

To be honest the majority of people with paypal who arent 13 year olds have credit cards anyway, so this would be feasable for them to do *pay with credit card*

As far as problems with paypal goes, this is what you get when you use a free startup payment service......if you're looking for quality you have to pay the prices for it......

I'm not knocking paypal, i just believe it isnt suitable as a primary method for recieving payment for any company.......

PayPal is a good option for additional payment solution. Some people prefer to use it so hosts have to respect their preferences.

Regards
D.

btw: i had the same chargeback problems with paysystems... no way to protect for chargebacks... somone can call there cc company and ask a chargeback afther a few days (also afther 1 month) Then paysystems give them the money back and additional charged me an $25.00 for that "incidente"

:mad:

Originally posted by MN-Robert
From what I have read quite a few people have be burnt by their "buyer protection"

"Buyer Protection" only applys to tangabile goods so webhosting can not be protected.