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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Posts
    654

    is paypal really that bad?

    Hi, i hear a lot of bad stuff said about paypal, but are they really that bad?

    Are they good enough to rely on for the billing system of a web hosting company, untill that web hosting company had enough capital to invest in a professional, automated billing system?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    6,616
    You could just get a 2checkout accounts for $49 setup and then Moderbill which is like $20/mo as well as paypal

    Rus
    Russ Foster - Industry Curmudgeon
    Freelance Sysadmin for Hire - email vaserv@gmail.com

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    Edmonton, Canada
    Posts
    339
    id recommend 2checkout.com over paypal any day
    paypal just looks unproffesional in my eyes

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Posts
    654

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    Castle Pines, CO
    Posts
    7,189
    Depends on your clients Lee. Paypal might be really good for them. I get some people that send me money via paypal. So I just leave it in there. I do not let Paypal know my bank account number anymore.

    If you think your new sales are stagnant, then you would should consider something else. Also, keep in mind that Paypal does not support webhosting companies that have adult webhosting companies. You can still use your paypal accoutn for non-adult webhosting companies but you cannot bill the adult ones.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2001
    Posts
    261
    Some people won't use it, some people will use nothing else. PayPal is great as one of the payment options but should'nt be the only option.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jan 2003
    Location
    Mi
    Posts
    208
    Paypal is a very good thing for webhost. It i cheap and they have a great fraud screening process. I just love it when i get orders and the email says "so and so is a verified member " I also run authorize.net and i get nothing but people that are high risk. ie cc addy does not match there address. or avs cant be verified.

    Never have had problems with paypal when using it for hosting. They have froze my account asking for more and more info but ever since i sent them everything they needed along with a stern letter about freezing my account again i would not use them they have been great.

    They allow subscription payments without extra charges and they dont charge you a set up fee.

    What more could a person running a web host ask for out of a processor

    IMHO

    Cheers
    www.saveserver.com<-- Ask me about low cost dedicated servers
    AIM=cooltjn1

  8. #8
    Join Date
    May 2002
    Location
    Minneapolis
    Posts
    339
    I hate paypal the company itself.. How they ignore you when there is a problem.

    However i do like how it reports transactions. It is good for tax season. It's easy to understand.
    Dot Simple LLC
    aim: johna11en | yah: johna11en | msn: johna11en@hotmail.com | e-mail

  9. #9
    I suggest that you go in for various payment option . Now there is another payment like paypal which is strompay. Everything depends on what your clients are really looking for. Modern bill is also a good option.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    Quebec
    Posts
    164
    PayPal is really nice but you can't only afford that ...

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Aug 2003
    Location
    Chesapeake, VA
    Posts
    3,381
    PayPal is ok... but it has a lot of limitations as well. That being said, I don't think it is a "bad" system. Any system with millions of buyers/sellers is going to have some disgruntled merchants on it and no system is perfect.

    So - as a secondary method of payments, I think it is fine. Or if you are only accepting a very small volume of payments or only do a few sporadic billings, it can also be a good solution to use as your main form of payment acceptance.

    However... if you are going to grow your business and want a solution that is branded entirely to your business, looks the most professional and gives you 100% control over your billing as well as the ability to run manual transactions & automated transactions both - getting your own merchant account is likely going to be your best option.

    Not to mention, it will also end up being more cost effective over the long run. One of the traps that some businesses fall into is that they start off with 3rd party processors in the beginning to save a little bit on the monthly cost side and then find themselves "stuck" with hundreds or even thousands of clients being billed on these 3PP systems when they would really be much better off if they had gotten their own direct merchant solution in place earlier.
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  12. #12
    Join Date
    Feb 2002
    Location
    halifax, ns
    Posts
    220
    as suggested by others paypal is good but shouldn't be your only option.
    Brian Larter

  13. #13
    I would strongly suggest anyone looking to start an account with 2checkout.com to do a newsgroup search first.

    After reading about an 11 day downtime at 2CO, I decided to go with mypaysystems.com. Great service and better rates.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    Canada
    Posts
    794
    I find that there are no problems with the actual PayPal system, however, there is definately some sort of proble with the actual company. I would have to say they are greatly under staffed, when they freeze accounts, sometimes they are frozen for months, etc. These stories have appeared on the news and such. Personally, I like PayPal for the small things I do, I wouldn't rely on it if I were a web host though.
    Michael

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    Los Angeles, CA
    Posts
    245
    i've heard about paypal freezing accounts before, but i have been with them for several years now, mine has never been frozen, IMHO for any company, it looks much better on the customer's credit card statement when it says your company name, compared to Paypal **NAME.

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    Edmonton, Canada
    Posts
    339
    if you do use paypal, i think the general advice from everyone will be DONT LEAVE MONEY IN YOUR ACCOUNT
    when you receive more than say, $20 of payments, transfer it out
    dont leave more money in your account than you can afford to loose

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Jul 2002
    Posts
    37
    Nope, Paypal is not a bad company. I just would not use them as my only payment method. I was doing that in the beginning (as I set up my website, inventory, etc) and decided it was greatly hindering my sales efforts.

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