Comments on: A Little Help With PayPal Please

By: First Data Merchant Credit Card Processing Services

First Data Merchant Credit Card Processing Services — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 03:43:26 +0000

I have been using Paypal for 4 years and quite satisfied with it. PayPal is simpler and takes less time than writing and mailing checks. And unlike checks that could take many days to clear, PayPal transactions clear very fast.

By: Manisha Shahane

Manisha Shahane — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 05:00:53 +0000

I’m thinking of using PayPal to help with some fundraising through sponsorships and pre-sales that might be difficult to set up through my current distributor (Nimbit.com helps me with credit card sales online and POS). I’m in the same boat as Louise in that I don’t feel that I have enough transactions to make having a Merchant account viable.

In the process of doing some research, I came across this article that covers 5 alternatives to PayPal: http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/fsb/0802/gallery.paypal_alternatives.fsb/index.html

However, I wasn’t persuaded by any of them. Mainly it felt overly time-consuming to study the ones that might be suitable for me.

I would be happy to hear the results of your research!

By: Lin

Lin — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 06:07:07 +0000

Up front full disclosure: I work for ProStores – eBay’s all-in-one hosted (off-eBay) Web store solution. Naturally, PayPal’s payment processing solutions are integrated with our product.

I think as indicated here there seems to be more than a bit of confusion about the various solutions PayPal offers for accepting payments through an online store.

The one most folks are familiar with is PayPal as a payment method – where a buyer clicks on a PayPal mark or button and goes to PayPal’s site to complete a transaction – this is called Website Payments Standard.

The benefit of Standard is that there’s no monthly fee, no credit app, and it’s easy to get started – especially if you’re using a cart or storefront solution that has it pre-integrated.

The potential down side from an independent merchant’s perspective is that your buyer is being sent off of your site to pay. Still – providing options like PayPal – an increasingly popular payment method that keeps the buyer’s financial info confidential – has been shown to boost sales.

PayPal also offers a combination merchant account and gateway in their Website Payments Pro product – the buyer experience here is the same as with any other on-site credit card payment experience.

And finally PayPal offers a stand-alone gateway product called Payflow Pro – same typical on-site payment experience here as with any other gateway.

There’s a good comparison and summary of fees of the first two here.

Hope this was helpful.

By: LouiseBJ

LouiseBJ — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 19:17:26 +0000

Hi Rob
I use Paypal in order to accept credit cards as I don’t have enough transactions to make having a Merchant account viable. I also like the facility of paying people who also have a Paypal account just by typing in their email address.
I find the charges OK – I guess it’s a case of so far, so good.
Regards
Louise

By: Victoria Nordgren

Victoria Nordgren — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 18:50:30 +0000

Hi Rob,
Have used Paypal numerous times when shopping online & have found it very easy to use! I’m interested in this topic as I’m considering using them for my website that will launch sometime in January. I’ll be very interested to see what others have to say!
Best regards,
Victoria

By: Karyn Cooks

Karyn Cooks — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 03:21:31 +0000

Paypal was a nightmare integration with my old Miva platform. Switching to Miva’s merchant account was seamless + saved sales.