In my opinion, it's good to accept Paypal payments - but it's definitely not enough.
Here's why:
1) Some people have had bad experiences with Paypal, and refuse to use it again. If this is the only method of payment that your web site allows, you could be unknowingly losing potential customers. Many will just leave your web site without saying anything.
2) Some people don't keep money in their Paypal accounts, and don't keep their account tied to an up-to-date credit card or debit card. This means that when they attempt to pay you via Paypal, the transaction will be denied and they may abandon your web site out of frustration.
3) Although Paypal does take payments from people without Paypal accounts, many are not aware of this and still believe that they have to sign up.
4) Accepting only Paypal, and not Mastercard, Visa or Amex, may reveal to your customers that you are a small operation. It's okay if you are, but you never want to broadcast that. You always want to give the impression that you are a legit and sizable company.
My suggestion is to open a merchant account with Authorize.net, and find an affordable shopping cart service to use. This will allow you to accept all major credit cards, debit cards, and eChecks.
I must admit - It will be a process. There is paperwork involved as well as monthly fees, but it'll be well worth your time and money.
Thanks, this is a great resource and some great information for the future. I am one of those individuals on a shoestring budget. Paypal allows me to sell my products without having to add monthly fees to my bottom line. Being able to accept credit cards is a great idea especially when doing trade shows or speaking engagements. I realize that I am missing out but I have to start somewhere.
ReplyDeleteGreat information but if a home-based or small business is just starting out or of a sole proprietor has a less than stellar credit history, they may experience difficulty securing a merchant account. PayPal is a great alternative and I suggest that the business owner educate visitors to their website regarding the fact that having a PayPal account is not necessary to use PayPal.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with this post. I frequently buy online (whether it's books, beauty products, etc;).Merchants could probably triple their sales if they'd be willing to provide additional options to PayPal. Some consumers
ReplyDeleteI am a frequent e-shopper. I rather use Visa gift cards online, rather than my personal credit or debit cards. It's not perfect, but it's an attempt to better protect my identity while shopping online.
As a consumer, I refuse to use Paypal. This company -- claims to better protect consumers' identities, but is too easily infiltrated. A relative (who uses Paypal) -- had their credit card information stolen. Almost a thousand dollars was charged to their account.
Instead, I choose to use Visa Gift Cards, or better yet -- purchase a merchant's store gift card. (Yes, there's a charge. sometimes, but it's worth it, to me.) Paypal does not accept Visa Gift Cards, by the way.
As an e-consumer -- when an online dealer does not provide me with a convenient, alternative to Paypal, then I just move on to a merchant who does. Case in point, a online store (Butters N Bars) was recommended to me by word of mouth. The store sells organic shea butter, which I wanted to buy.
I was disappointed to learn the store only accepted PayPal, however there are plenty of places that sell shea butter online. Luckily, Butters N Bars had a money order option, which I happily used. But, what if the store did not have this option? They would have lost a potential sale, from someone like myself.
Merchants mistakenly believe that Paypal is cheaper, more convenient and offers (slim, if any) protection for them as a dealer. But, sometimes, you get what you pay for. You don't know who is surfing the net. A consumer can come across your site -- and want to purchase from a merchant, but when they are faced with limited options -- they go to an online store that will give them more.
Maybe some merchants should consider partnering with Amazon.com -- I don't know how much they charge (if they want to go the "cheap" route. If I cannot get it from the merchant, I gladly see if I can find it at the Amazon.com Marketplace.
These are paranoid lack of common sense knowledge comments. Paypal is more secure than Authorize.net and many of these other "payment gateways". Why, because they have the real capital to fund secure payment transaction technologies.
ReplyDeleteJust because someone uses their debit card online then a week later gets hit with fraud charges doesn't mean it came from Paypal(which doesn't provide merchants with your payment info to begin with, so I guess Paypal's cloud based database servers were hacked?? right;). What about the other 20-30 places that they swiped at like, that cheap gas station, or the popup taco lunch spot they go to or that Qwik n Cold carryout they bought that vitamin water from or that no name atm you got $10 buck from to pay for parking.
9 times out of ten its those places that put your signed card receipts in those little blue pouches that actually spawn your questionable charges. Furthermore, Paypal is and always has been for the consumer more so than the merchant, does any other gateway allow common folk to establish accounts with them? No. Do these other payment gateways provide realtime and simple methods to dispute charges with their client the merchant? No. Honeslty as a merchant myself the only reason I provide alternative gateways other than Paypal is to pay less in fees and to collect data on my customers more easily.
People fear what they don't, when really the no name business people you deal with in real-life offline have more access to all of your account info than any Paypal merchant could ever dream of.
Its time to wake up people nothing is 100% safe, not even your visa/mastercard giftcards that have the same 6 digit prefix. You can hide all you want but the truth of the matter is that data has been collected on you since before you knew what data was and its has been sold to different interests groups thousands of times so that "Paypal" transaction should be the least of your worries.
I'm not saying don't use judgement but in 2010 you can forget about your anonymity on the web, its available to the highest bidder. Believe that.
Don't let technically indept users influence what you use to pay for transactions online, they don't know the truth.