Does PayPal payment for service really look unprofessional?

One credit card service charges 5.5% per transaction (but it will deposit money in any US account - merchant account not needed).

Another credit card service requires a merchant account, but transaction fees are less and one can use a check like a credit card.

PayPal's transaction fee is under 3%. When it comes to getting the most bang for the buck it seems a better deal (BTW, do they require a merchant account?).

But how does it appear to the public? Would they be weary of doing business with a host who asks for payment this way?

Well,
Alot of people like Paypal but We offer it as an alternative payment method becasue it does not look that great. Around 40% of our customers pay using Paypal.

(They require no merchant account)

This has been discussed often.
I, personally, don't have a problem with it if I go to a site that uses only PayPal. Others say they do :rolleyes:

The biggest difference, and one I've seen echoed on this forum over and over, is that your users must sign up for a paypal account before making payments. For international customers, this could take a week (I believe from what I've read). Otherwise, I think they are well known enough that it isn't something that would turn me off personally, and you could use it to your advantage (somewhat), by stating that paypal is a blah blah blah, and that *you* don't actually have access to the customer's card numbers (for security reasons, etc., whatever you can write to make it sound good), etc.

Originally posted by Chicken
Otherwise, I think they are well known enough that it isn't something that would turn me off personally, and you could use it to your advantage (somewhat), by stating that paypal is a blah blah blah, and that *you* don't actually have access to the customer's card numbers (for security reasons, etc., whatever you can write to make it sound good), etc.

There's a couple things I like about PayPal.

1). Name recognition (anyone who ever went to Ebay knows of them).

2). Security (no CC info on your server, so no hacker can steal card numbers).

3). Transaction fees are pretty low.

4). PayPal does the fraud screening at the get go.

5). Even those without a credit card can pay.

6). Money disputes are settled through them.

One main gripe though is the processing time. To be verified you'll have to wait for PayPal to send your bank account some change and you report the amount (verifying the bank account). If you want to buy something today, forget it (and for those who replied to my request, I'll have to wait to be verified -- there goes my weekend idea of having site). :(

It seems PayPal is good for low cost services (like reselling). Merchant CC processing is best for larger ticket sales (justifies the high commission/transaction rates).

Originally posted by Joana
(They require no merchant account)

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh!

The thought of another $100+ for a merchant bank account wasn't appealing (nor is a 5.5% commission/transaction fee).

Thanks for the info.

Again surfing over to the PayPal site.................

Originally posted by Chicken
For international customers, this could take a week (I believe from what I've read).

A week if you're lucky... It may take up to a month, as you have to wait for your next credit card statement before you can "activate" your PayPal account (for international customers). This is a real shame, as otherwise PayPal have a great system going. They should, IMHO, start a payment system which works like 2checkout or revecom.

It took me three weeks to verify my international account with Paypal. Some of my customers love using paypal, once they have an account it is really easy for them to make payments. I think you can do some transactions prior to being verified but I'm not too sure about that one. A lot of companies seem to use paypals as an alternative method of payment, and I'd recommend being able to use it for your customers.

Originally posted by avara
A week if you're lucky... It may take up to a month, as you have to wait for your next credit card statement before you can "activate" your PayPal account (for international customers).

It only took me a few days; many credit card issuers now make transaction details available online.

The largest benefit of Paypal IMHO is one of simplicity: They handle fraud screening, they handle the various sources money can come from (credit cards, bank accounts & from other people), and once you've gone through the verification process payments are fast... if you're processing thousands of transactions each month it might make sense to get a merchant account, but I certainly don't see any reason why anyone would want to use any of the third-party CC processors instead of using Paypal.

Originally posted by avara
. . . . They should, IMHO, start a payment system which works like 2checkout or revecom. Then they would have to start charging you like 2checkout and revecom :rolleyes: