With Paypal as the only payment source I got around 1200 customers within the first 10 months of business... This indicates that Paypal does actually work. However, sometimes I am getting an email from somebody who told me he can`t sign up because I am having Paypal as my only payment source. For me it is difficult to get a merchant account because I am living in Europe und I also need legally valid written bills from the merchant... Also with Paypal I get my money within 5 business days and do not have to wait for a month...that means I can reinvest the money immediately and do not have to wait. Therefore I have only been accepting Paypal so far...

Now my question is: How much am I actually losing by not accepting direct credit card payments ? Is it just like one out of 30 orders or is it more like 50% or something ??

Did anyone here switch from Paypal to a merchant account and how did it affect your sales ?

If you have 1200 customers, then I suggest you switch over to Merchant.

Originally posted by Tiscana
If you have 1200 customers, then I suggest you switch over to Merchant. Originally posted by thomas.smith
For me it is difficult to get a merchant account because I am living in Europe und I also need legally valid written bills from the merchant...

Lol, nevermind :stickout:

Originally posted by thomas.smith
With Paypal as the only payment source I got around 1200 customers within the first 10 months of business... This indicates that Paypal does actually work. However, sometimes I am getting an email from somebody who told me he can`t sign up because I am having Paypal as my only payment source. For me it is difficult to get a merchant account because I am living in Europe und I also need legally valid written bills from the merchant... Also with Paypal I get my money within 5 business days and do not have to wait for a month...that means I can reinvest the money immediately and do not have to wait. Therefore I have only been accepting Paypal so far...

Now my question is: How much am I actually losing by not accepting direct credit card payments ? Is it just like one out of 30 orders or is it more like 50% or something ??

Did anyone here switch from Paypal to a merchant account and how did it affect your sales ?

Why don't you also use E-Gold and Moneybookers?
Their like PayPal, and if you do that, then will get even more clients. :)
But, that's not the question :stickout:

>Why don't you also use E-Gold and Moneybookers?

No bills...

Try WorldPay - or if you can't afford that - 2Checkout.

Nobody answered his question.... I don't believe you're loosing much. Allthough having multiple merchant accounts will give your company the potential to have more signups the % of people who can't send you money via paypal is smaller then the % who don't want to send you money via paypal.

He has 1200 customers. With another cc processor he'd have 5000 by now.

And your quote is based off what?

I would really go with Worldpay but what I don`t like about them is that I am getting my money one month delayed...

Originally posted by PiMPaRSeBiSh
And your quote is based off what?
Experience. ;)

The thing is if 100 people start to fill out the order form, enter their contact information only around 50 of them finish the process. I wonder whether they are just testing the systemto look at how things work or does the Paypal thing scare them away... I'd really appreciate if someone could post his experiences.

Originally posted by NexDog
Experience. ;) Ok, just checking. ;)

Originally posted by thomas.smith
The thing is if 100 people start to fill out the order form, enter their contact information only around 50 of them finish the process. I wonder whether they are just testing the systemto look at how things work or does the Paypal thing scare them away... I'd really appreciate if someone could post his experiences.

Well, yesterday, some ordered hosting with me. He sended his VISA number and everything, but when he was done, he saw that you can only pay with PayPal, E-Gold and Moneybookers and I think that scared him away :bawling: .

Originally posted by NexDog
He has 1200 customers. With another cc processor he'd have 5000 by now.

Where do you base that assumption?

I have both paypal and merchant account through Worldpay, over the past year I have seen a huge swing in people paying by Paypal and I have recently started to swing anyone payiing by Worldpay over ( I do get paid by them a week in arrears though) the only problem I have is larger corporate accounts who will not use Paypal but will use company credit card through Worldpay however most of them can pay by cheque or bank transfer anyway.

So to answer the posters question, maybe a couple of years ago you would have been losing a high percentage of customers today and in particular after Paypal Europe rolled out I doubt if you are losing too much expecially if you can show customer they can use credit cards through paypal as many still assume they need to action accounts and all sorts of delays before they can buy.

But as always nobody knows your business and client bas like yourself so do you own research a good idea would be to check your own stats and see if a lot of petential customers are dropping out at the payment stage.

I wonder whether we are talking about just maybe one out of 30 or something or is it really like 50 % ?

I think I will sign up with WorldPay to see how it works and if it doesn`t improve results I will stay with Paypal who are sending the money instantly...

Originally posted by thomas.smith
The thing is if 100 people start to fill out the order form, enter their contact information only around 50 of them finish the process. I wonder whether they are just testing the systemto look at how things work or does the Paypal thing scare them away... I'd really appreciate if someone could post his experiences.

Lol, judging by that, you're loosing 50% of business. Because only half (50) of those 100 signed up, and 50 is 50% of 100 lol.

In reality, your probably not loosing a massive load of custom. To be honest, if you got 1200 customers in the first 10 months, Paypal can't be putting a lot of people off now can it?

I would recommend adding a credit card processor such as Worldpay to add another option and just set them up with a monthly debit subscription and Worldpay will take the money out of their CC account monthly or on a set date of each month. They are the two main payment gateways really.

^^ You will probably need an SSL cert. to make the above secure though, I don't know if your host offers them or if Worldpay supply them, it might need a bit of enquiring.

Hope I helped!

EDIT: Also, how do you figure that Worldpay will not send you the money immediately? Surely, once the payment has been taken from the CC at the end of the month, it will go straight to your bank account ready to reinvest?

I did contact Worldpay and they told me I will get all payments weekly one month delayed... That means if someone orders something for 500 bucks I have to wait for 30 days before I get the 500 bucks. I will get weekly payments but everything will be delayed by one month.

>Lol, judging by that, you're loosing 50% of business. Because
>only half (50) of those 100 signed up, and 50 is 50% of 100 lol.

Ok, but maybe they just want to test the order system... Personally I often test the ordering system before submitting an order to find out if it is really monthly payments and to find attached strings and stuff like that... Maybe these 50% of people wouldn't sign up through WorldPay eiter...

WorldPay pay 5 weeks in arrears.

Goldwing - assumption based on 1 in 5 people choosing PayPal to pay with (at the most).

Do you have your Paypal set up as a business / premier account? If you do, then you can accept credit card payments and set them up with a monthly subscription? Maybe you're already doing this.

Another option might be ModernBill or 2Checkout or something like that?

www.modernbill.com
www.2checkout.com

But they're all in dollars ($), which makes it hard for ME to use them, dunno bout you...

ModernBill process cards now? :stickout:

Originally posted by NexDog
WorldPay pay 5 weeks in arrears.

Goldwing - assumption based on 1 in 5 people choosing PayPal to pay with (at the most).

Worldpay pay me 1 week in arrears - the term is negotiable after you have been with them a while ( I have been 5 years) and is based on the amount of chargebacks etc.

2 years ago I struggled to get anyone to pay me by Paypal, now probably around 70% do it by choice with the others being realatively easy to convert, it has benefits by being able to pay suppliers I avoid bank charges, costs are lower than Worldpay.
I dont force people to pay me by Paypal but I lead them that way.

Where I find WP comes into its own is the virtual terminal for the people that will not, can not use an online payment system and insist on phoning through card details and for that reason alone we will contine to hav WP as a service.

Look forward to that one week in arrears then. Switching to them when PS robbed us cost an arm and a leg for that reason.

ModernBill is a CBS, not a Merchant.

thomas.smith, if 50% of the people going through your order process abort, then I suspect that you are losing much of that as a result of only offering Paypal.

I watch the flow of traffic on my sites very carefully (in real time). And one area of concern and attention has always been to minimize the "abandoned cart syndrome". In my case, about 1 in 30 abort the order process once they have started it.

I simply can't imagine that many people are interested in just "testing" your order process.

Vito

I get about 5 signups per week with people using fake information (asdf@asdf.com). I assume they're testing the order process.

Heeey, I recognize that person asdf! He's been on my site too! :emlaugh:

Vito

lol, for some odd reason that made me laugh.

Originally posted by will7
Do you have your Paypal set up as a business / premier account? If you do, then you can accept credit card payments and set them up with a monthly subscription? Maybe you're already doing this.

Another option might be ModernBill or 2Checkout or something like that?

www.modernbill.com
www.2checkout.com

But they're all in dollars ($), which makes it hard for ME to use them, dunno bout you...

2Co allows the Vendor to set a default currency other than US Dollars in the V2 accounts. Purchasers are able to also choose the currency they wish to use.

Also I require a three months minimum contract... When people go to the ordering page they will see the three months min contract note just before submitting the payment via Paypal. Maybe the three months contract requirement is turning them down ?? Any thoughts ? I require three months minimum contract as a guarantee that I will be able to cover my costs at least.

I remember when I only had yearly payments only one out of 4 people completed the ordering process... maybe if I abolish the three months thing I will lose some money with a few customers but still get more customers ??

Sorry people. I don't really know about ModernBill. Apologies again! So, do 2CO process them then?

I would say that a 3-month minimum contract is a turn-off. What if you offer bad service? The client will see that as an immediate way for you to screw them. I'm not saying this is something you would do ... I see you have been a long-time member of WHT, and I am not suggesting that, but the client doesn't know you, or your business practices - this could be viewed in their eyes as a way for the host to screw them. I'd say abolish the minimum contract ... if you really do provide good service, then your clients will have no reason to leave, and you'll still see that money. Good luck with your venture!

I will agree and say drop the contract. People don't like looking for a new host every month, but if you offer horrible service they don't want to be stuck paying for 3 months. Assuming you offer good service they won't want to leave. It is definately scaring people away.

Well depends if you want to stop outside of the box or not.
monthly, 30 days refunds etc and you are competing with every other host out there.

I only offer yearly accounts and do not offer guaranteed 30 day refunds I lose very little sales ( or at least any that I want) it totally depends on the clientele you are trying to reach and attract. Not everyone wants to attract the high bandwidth , high maintenance customers.

Have you looked at multicards.com?
Don't drop paypal, most webmasters or potential webmasters have a paypal account.
However I would never sign-up to a host thats uses egold.

I'm European and managed to get a 2checkout account

Only a fraction of our customers are PayPal. The vast majority pay by credit card and prefer being billed automatically rather than manually making payments every month.

Originally posted by thomas.smith
Also I require a three months minimum contract... When people go to the ordering page they will see the three months min contract note just before submitting the payment via Paypal. Maybe the three months contract requirement is turning them down ?? Any thoughts ?
Put the 3mth minimum payment upfront, in your order process, and not at the end. This way most folks who start the order process, are qualified with the 3mth upfront payment, and you'll have less aborting the process.

But if you're at the 1200 client mark, after 10mths, and only offering PayPal, then you're doing ok. Although some other payment options will only enhance your service.

With my Aussie brand, I've got multiple payment methods, from PayPal, cc, cheque, money order, or direct deposit. I think a mistake I made with HTTPme, was that I didn't allow multiple methods of payment, and just accepted credit cards. I've lost track of the number of clients I turned away because they couldn't pay with PayPal. :o

I won't make that same mistake twice. :)

Yash, Paypal can also be set up for a subscription account with credit cards. I think you might have to be on a Business or Premier account though.

Originally posted by Aussie Bob
Put the 3mth minimum payment upfront, in your order process, and not at the end. This way most folks who start the order process, are qualified with the 3mth upfront payment, and you'll have less aborting the process.

But if you're at the 1200 client mark, after 10mths, and only offering PayPal, then you're doing ok. Although some other payment options will only enhance your service.

With my Aussie brand, I've got multiple payment methods, from PayPal, cc, cheque, money order, or direct deposit. I think a mistake I made with HTTPme, was that I didn't allow multiple methods of payment, and just accepted credit cards. I've lost track of the number of clients I turned away because they couldn't pay with PayPal. :o

I won't make that same mistake twice. :)

Exactly, the more ways to pay the better, you can always lead them into the processor you want them to use but retain the options to keep them happy if they want to use something else.
I accept Paypal, CC,Nochex,Cheque, Cash,Bank transfer & Fastpay but most of them do not get used but I won't drop them.

Originally posted by will7
Yash, Paypal can also be set up for a subscription account with credit cards. I think you might have to be on a Business or Premier account though.

Yes, but if a customer wants to upgrade his account or purchase additional resources or overuns his resource limits during account operation, he'd have to upgrade his subscription each time

With a CC gateway, your software can calculate all charges each month and bill the customer. Much more convenient. In our particular case, resellers are charged control panel licensing fees for each customer they signup, as they grow. That wouldn't work with a subscription system.

True, but if a customer is just paying a monthly fee, will never want to upgrade their account or anything, then a subscription would be fine ;)

Also, if they did want to upgrade their account, you could say like, "Get the first month for the price you were paying on your previous account!" as a cover while you sort out the subscription, and it'd gain a good reputation with the customer. lol!

Greetings,

Many countries including 90% in Middle East cannot use PayPal as their country is not authorized to use its services. Thus having an alternative payment method, specially credit cards, can boost your sales.

Plus sometimes the potential customer is in great hurry and hasn't got enough funds within his PayPal and needs to purchase the service immediately, if he decides to transfer funds from his bank to his PayPal account, it may take up to 24 hours for the funds to reflect his PayPal account. In the same time he got a debit/credit card with enough funds. Then you're the winner by accepting debit/credit cards since he uses his card and not the PayPal.

Otherwise he takes his business elsewhere. Just a small example.

I'd recommend MultiCards.com. Pay higher setup fee and get a lower transaction fee. The payments are sent every week with 21 days delay. That means the first week's payment is received on 4th week.

We used them temporary once PS closed its door to their international merchants. Now we got a merchant through www.modernauthorize.net and haven't been happier.

Hope it helps.

Do they have credit cards in the middle east ??

Greetings,

80% of people in Middle East have credit cards. This is something so common and easy to obtain!

Sure about that ? Because here in central Europe almost nobody has a credit card cause we don`t need them unless we do business with US companies. Maybe they have other stuff in the middle east, too.

:) just want to say that..i doesnt really matter if you're using paypal or any method..just as long as you can accept something like western union for your alternative way of payment. i use western union and its really easy. and im from malaysia.

Originally posted by Amir
Greetings,

80% of people in Middle East have credit cards. This is something so common and easy to obtain!

Those are some rather shocking numbers, and far different than what we've been led to believe.

I recall being told, in these boards, that usary is against all your traditions and not allowed. That is one of the reasons 2CO is contracting with FXSource to provide an alternative "bank directed" payment. (a bank push initiated by the purchaser)

I don't think more than 5% of the people there have credit cards actually...

only a small percentage of the population may have credit cards, but a large majority of internet users and internet shoppers and people in that category would have credit cards IMHO and I believe that is what Aamir was referring to.

but a large majority of internet users and internet shoppers and people in that category would have credit cards IMHO and I believe that is what Amir was referring to.

Thank you! My point was majority of people surfing the net and require services and products, they got their CCs in hand.

Hi Thomas,

Talking from experience only, if you have 1200 customers, chances are you're losing quite a bit. To have 1200 customers you must have a very popular web site. Do you know how many visitors you're getting? And do you know what percentage of them have PayPal accounts and/or are willing to sign up for one? The percentage probably isn't that high. When I was working for a web design firm in the UK not long ago (before they were bought out by a larger firm), we accepted NoChex and PayPal for a long time and had over 600 customers, but we had many more queries and many referrals, and we found that by adding a merchant account we were getting more than double the customer flow we were getting previously. We used ProTX (protx.co.uk) with an HSBC business account, but if you don't want to step into that, you can look into 2CheckOut. They appear to be reasonable (though they seem to have had some problems in the last year or so) and I've just setup an account for an upcoming web hosting business. The fees aren't bad and it's easy to do. In the future I'll definitely go to WorldPay or ProTX though, but 2CheckOut is a low-cost low-risk option to get started with.

Hope this helps

- Ben