We used to only offer payments by PayPal or mailed payments. Now we have a merchant account, and have it all set up with a shopping cart on a secure server (with certificate) and optional recurring billing. I have been offering all the original options, plus I announced we now accept cc's online in all my invoices.

However, it's been a month and everyone continues to pay by PayPal, and everyone is using a cc to do so.

This is a lot of wasted money and very frustrating. Should I:

1. Take PayPal away as an option?
- I don't want to offer less options, and I want e-checks to stay available
- How can I enforce this, anyway? Everyone has our PayPal address and I don't want to close the account

2. Grin and bear it and hope the new clients make the merchant account worthwhile?

3. Anything else?

I must say I'm honestly surprised at the reluctance to use the new system. I would have thought people would be jumping at the recurring billing, too, as it's probably a pain in the neck to have to go through the payment process every month.

Suggestions? Thanks

If you really want to phase out paypal.

Leave it avail for your current customers, but
not for new sign ups.

Email your customers and let them know that
the company is working to phase out paypal
payments.

It is a tough choice to make. I wish you luck.

In a way I got lucky with my 3rd party processor,
they went under, all my customers gladly switched
to my merchant account.

I keep paypal around as a option. Esp for them
"Can I pay another way" emails.

Originally posted by Lurleene
We used to only offer payments by PayPal or mailed payments. Now we have a merchant account, and have it all set up with a shopping cart on a secure server (with certificate) and optional recurring billing. I have been offering all the original options, plus I announced we now accept cc's online in all my invoices.Was it clear in that announcement that you were talking about something different from PayPal? That is, inexperienced users might not realize when you say "we now accept credit cards online" that PayPal isn't what you mean, unless you gave more detail than that?

Are your invoices emailed, or paper? If you use email invoices, put a link directly to your shopping cart page. If you send paper invoices, do the same thing, include that link and no info about PayPal... and make the link simple enough that people will tend to follow it, instead of remember what it was they did last time that seemed so much easier!

Other than that, I'd second the idea of not making PayPal known to new customers. All of this, of course, accepting that you do want to phase out PayPal... not leave it as a commonly-used option.

"Exciting news! XYZ Hosting is now an authorized Visa and Mastercard merchant. This means we can bill your credit card directly--no more hassles with PayPal every month.

"Not only is our new billing system more convenient, it's also secure: Thanks to technology provided by LMNOP Merchant Services, your billing information is protected by state-of-the-art technology, including the latest SSL encryption methods and advanced security features.

"We are so sure you'll be pleased with our new billing system, we'll offer you a $5 credit on your next monthly hosting charge just to try it. That's right, simplify your life and get $5 at the same time--what a deal! Just go to our secure billing update form at https://xzyhosting.com/billingupdate, enter your billing information, and put 'Credit me $5!' in the special instructions section.

"XYZ Hosting is committed to providing the best hosting experience around, and our new billing system is just one of the ways we're trying to earn your continued business. Questions? E-mail our CEO personally at ceo@xyzhosting.com. As always, we'd appreciate your feedback.

"Thanks for being a great customer, and we look forward to serving you in the future."

I appreciate your responses very much.

Yes, though my original post wasn't, I admit, very clear, I did distinguish PayPal from regular credit card processing, and included the link to our on-site billing area.

However, your posts gave me the idea to maybe announce it in a short but cheerful e-mail separate from my invoice, since most of my clients probably don't even read them anymore but just check the total and run to PayPal. I can probably risk a mass mailing since we don't give them many announcements at all.

And, it's a good opportunity to use some selling skills -- I'll tell them they have the option of recurring billing to save them time, and make sure to mention the security features.

Honestly, this didn't occur to me until reading your answers, so this wasn't a wasted thread. Honest! ;)

Wow, Intelligent Hosting posted right when I was wording my last one (probably looks dumb, now, coming AFTER!). Thank you, thank you!

Pretty much when web hosts bring in a merchant account, they let their customers who've already signed up keep going with paypal (if they want to), then just not offer paypal to future customers. They would need to use your merchant account.

You'd probably want to be having new signups before you get a merchant account, otherwise there would be nobody using it.