Hi everyone,

I'm launching a web application, will be using recurring payment options for two recurring payment plans $7 and $17 per month.

I'm preparing the payment routine right now and considered going with PayPal and 2Checkout (to have two options for customers). I'm based in Europe so I can't get a merchant account in th USA.

But I stumbled upon this web site:

http://www.webhostingtoolbox.com/details/67/119/

And people just say negative things about 2CO all the time...

So please tell me, what has your experience been? Love'em, hate'em? Please tell me if you're using them and how has 2CO worked for you.

Thanks in advance,

- Mike

I wish they would lower their fees, however that's my only complaint. I've used them without problems for a while now. They do sometimes mark legitimate sales as fraudulent if the person's IP is very far away from the billing address, however that's understandable. It has only happened to me twice. The first time, the customer had to call 2co and verify some information for them. The second time, I called in and they just approved the sale since I have a good history with them. The telephone support is always very responsive and helpful.

Like I said, my only real complaint is that their fees are fairly high compared to others. That would be the only reason I would consider going elsewhere.

Oh, the only other problem is that WHMCS (billing system) doesn't support recurring 2co payments for some reason. Otherwise, 2co is fine.

For a non-U.S. based merchant, 2CO can definitely be an adequate solution. They have been around longer than many of the 3PP's out there.

I have always maintained that what they do is a risky business model but at the same time, they are an option that hasn't gone away yet... unlike PaySystems and many others.

I'm based in Europe so I can't get a merchant account in the USA.


True, but why not apply for a merchant account in Europe?
Processing banks in Europe usually work with Internet Payment Service Providers in Europe. There are plenty of cheaper alternatives available, depending on your business location and sales volume. A few options:
WorldPay, MultiCards, MetaCharge, Ogone, ChronoPay.
They will ALL be able to set up a direct merchant account for you against lower rates.

Secondly, I don't think that 2CO has a bad name on the industry, but please understand that they do have many, many customers as they are probably one of the biggest 3rd party processors in the world (or resellers as they like to say). This means they do understand their business, but are working very hard to stay in compliance with certain rules, which sometimes means they found out later they have accepted a business model that couldn't be allowed in the first place. Basically, their support can't keep up with the number of support requests and this may be the reason why they don't always pick up the phone. If you are a merchant that is obeying all the rules and doesn't do anything illegal you should normally not have any problems with 2CO (or any other 3rd party processor to be honest).

Conclusion: 2CO is a good option, but you do have better alternatives available, especially in Europe.

Just my 2 cents...

2CO is pretty decent. Only thing is you have to wait for their fraud review before you deliver the order, and this wait is not exactly what you want.

For every one person that likes a company - there will be more that dislike that company or had a problem. It's just like any other service that you use - use it more and something will go wrong. For example, you get up, turn on your computer to check your email every day and not think twice about the power company supplying the power to your home or the broadband provider supplying that. If your computer does not connect, you get irritated and then check (usually pretty quickly) to make sure that it is not your system or router. And probably while checking, dialing the number to the broadband company since you fear it might be a long hold time.

Just the same with the payment providers - they put the money into your account and it is not thought of. But the time that something happens - that's the time we tend to remember.

2CO has a lot of merchants (like Paypal). And some o those merchants probably should not have an account (due to each of the company's TOS). But the merchant hopes he / she can get away with it. And they might. But the day the internet payment service provider finds out and terminates the account, guess who's the bad guy?

I actually thought 2CO wasn't that bad. They provided me with some good support while I was with them, however, that was around a year or so ago.

Ive had pretty good experiences with 2checkout and Ive been using them for almost 3 years. Throughout this period there were two months that my cheque didn't arrive, this was a pain but their support team was pretty responsive about the issue and cut a new cheque for me soon after I reported the problem. Outside of that I can't say Ive had many issues. I'd give them a 7.5 out of 10.

I have been using them for 6 months and not happy actually. Especially high fee's made me think like this...

2CO has been in business for many years, and I believe they are a good company. Also the most information you find on google on them is ok.

If they are bad og good depends very much on how much volume a business has and the business they do.

We've been using them for 2-3 years now and not had major problems. Chargebacks are a pain as normally you loose, and they do refund sometimes at will but if that happens the end user goes over to collections. Overall it seems to work

We are using them for almost 5 years now without a problem.

SJ is really helpful to us.


Net

So please tell me, what has your experience been? Love'em, hate'em? Please tell me if you're using them and how has 2CO worked for you.

Thanks in advance,

- Mike

The problem with 2CO is that they have not a real functional website. Seller can login and view/modify/edit records. But buyers have nothing and that leads to extremely situations.
We got a very BAD experience that an account was been deleted because the 2CO staff has made a mistake. Never we had any excuse or any explanation why they has make this mistake.
Sorry, we can’t appreciate this crap service and since this experience we stay away from every deal or website how uses 2CO.
Simply saying: 2CO never again!
This is unprofessional payment processor.

We are international merchants and have been using 2Co for over five years now. Our experience with them has been positive overall.

They are sometimes slow in responding to issues but that is just about the only issue we have faced from them.

2CO is pretty solid. We used them for quite a few years, however, due to their high fees it does not make sense to use them if you have a good amount of money coming in. They also do not allow you to charge the card automatically, so the client has to pay manually.

If you get bigger, switch to someone like Echo, BluePay, Authorize.net, etc.. as their fees are lower and you'll end up saving in the end, even with the $17 to $20/mo gateway fee.

I'll be choosing 2CO purely because they are the *only* 3rd party payment processor that provide a service that doesn't require the client to have any kind of account with them. To me, it looks far more professional than Paypal's system.

Although, alternatives would be nice, isn't there any other company out there with a similar service? (without a merchant account, that is.)

this is the first time i red a complaint thread about 2CO

No major problems but their admin website is crap and disorganized, and their exchange rates are a total ripoff.

They force you to allow charges in another currency if you want international sales, then badly rip you off on the exchange with worse rates than anyone else. If you ask, they just say they get their rates from their provider, like they have to rip you off. (It would be cheaper to pay the customer to use his cc company's poor exchange rate!)

Out of curiosity, does 2CO list their currency rates anywhere on their site or is this visible only during the checkout process?

Spot currency exchange rates are a 24 hour marketplace that is constantly in flux. I have experience in this market so just from a curiosity standpoint, I wonder where 2CO gets their exchange rate data from.

Oanda.com and Dailyfx.com are two Web sites where you can see the current spot Forex exchange rates at any time.

i use 2co and paypal

personally i prefer 2co. they payout quickly, are responsible and their chargeback dept actually does work on your behalf. paypal is great untill you have a problem. calling them and getting help is like hitting a brick wall. i have had to get a lawyer to get info about a fraudulent chargeback someone opened against me.

We use 2checkout and paypal. Both works great for us.