# Do you see Paypal as a turn off?



## superTs (Oct 28, 2005)

Whenever you see paypal as the payment method, does it decrease your respect for the company/website?


----------



## aokusman (Jul 22, 2005)

Not really. I feel paypal is widely recognized as a safe way to pay.


----------



## sarafina (Jul 27, 2005)

aokusman said:


> Not really. I feel paypal is widely recognized as a safe way to pay.


Personally, for me it does. Don't get me wrong, I trust paypal and everything its just that when I go to a site and it sends me to paypal to pay, I realise it's definitely a smaller operation. It's a minute turn off as I will still purchase but i've made a mental note of it.


----------



## monkeylantern (Oct 16, 2005)

sarafina said:


> Personally, for me it does. Don't get me wrong, I trust paypal and everything its just that when I go to a site and it sends me to paypal to pay, I realise it's definitely a smaller operation. It's a minute turn off as I will still purchase but i've made a mental note of it.


The problem is, Paypal has now become extremely competative for the seller. If you add up all the various rates, currency conversion, authorised vs non-authorised cards, for may international sellers, Paypal is actually now cheaper than a merchant account.

I wish it wasn't true.


----------



## Solmu (Aug 15, 2005)

superTs said:


> Whenever you see paypal as the payment method, does it decrease your respect for the company/website?


A little.

Definitely not enough to ever cost a sale though. It's a strange thing - it will definitely affect my opinion of the company, and yet it won't have any practical impact at all.

Even exclusively using PayPal for a site's shopping cart system won't cost a sale, though I do think it's ugly and badly programmed.

Personally I'll be launching with PayPal. I don't want to (because it lowers respect & sell through, and because PayPal screws its customers too often for my liking), but it is _by far_ the cheapest and easiest option for small volume.


----------



## Chris (Sep 19, 2005)

Solmu said:


> It's a strange thing - it will definitely affect my opinion of the company, and yet it won't have any practical impact at all.


When I've seen people launch sites in the past (in a non-shirt forum) there's always two-three people who speak up and ask if they can use something other than paypal. I think there is a small percentage of potential customers who are just flat out against it for a variety of reasons (Ebay disputes with Paypal are notoriously messy) or feel out of the loop because they don't have an account with them.

I'll be using it as well, but I'm going to try to make it less threatening as possible. No Paypal logo on the front page, maybe an easy (but bold) explaination before buying that they do not need an account to pay for the items. Maybe I can avoid the 'negative' opinion and highlight the fact that it doesn't have any practical impact on my store.


----------



## monkeylantern (Oct 16, 2005)

Chris said:


> I'll be using it as well, but I'm going to try to make it less threatening as possible. No Paypal logo on the front page, maybe an easy (but bold) explaination before buying that they do not need an account to pay for the items. Maybe I can avoid the 'negative' opinion and highlight the fact that it doesn't have any practical impact on my store.


I like the way our new member does it at www.mrfunkleberry.com

Paypal, but doesn't shout it in your face.


----------



## superTs (Oct 28, 2005)

I agree with most of the posts. I use paypal all the time on eBay, but when it is used for a website, it seems a little cheap. I haven't decided If I will use it or not.



monkeylantern said:


> I like the way our new member does it at www.mrfunkleberry.com


I was surprised that mrfunkleberry used Paypal. It's a very professional website with Paypal. I think if more and more people start accepting payments through Paypal, it will not seem as unprofessional.


----------



## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

There are a lot of VERY large websites that use PayPal, it's just not the small seller.

The fact is, they've almost created their own little "poker chip" type currency. There is a whole buying segment that has "money in their paypal account" that they use for various purchases that they may not have made otherwise.

I don't know if I'd use it as the ONLY option unless I had to, but I have a dedicated merchant account and I *still* offer PayPal because some people just prefer to pay that way. I get a lot of people that still with PayPal even though I accept Visa/Mastercard/American Express and Discover.

I don't see it as cheap at all. I don't think the average customer cares much as long as it is integrated properly. Now that they don't require you to have a PayPal account to make a purchase, it's even easier.

Ideally, I think it's a good idea to have your own merchant account where you don't send the customer to a third party website to complete their purchase, but I wouldn't hold it against someone. 

In fact, I recently bought almost $100 worth of t-shirts from one guy just because I had a PayPal balance and his site had MANY designs that I had to have


----------



## Shuffy (Sep 3, 2005)

G'evening everyone . . . 

Paypal also has a Virtual Terminal . . if your buyer doesn't feel comfortable using their CC over the net . . offer to take their information over the phone . . PP virtual terminal is a flat rate -- $20.00 -- monthly . . no other fee's . .

I have used it many times, and its a breeze... 
now, if you don't list the buyers email addy in the VT they won't ever know that it was Paypal . . .

I've been a member with PP when they 1st started out as X.com
.. it's well over 5 years now . . . and only had ONE issue *knocking on wood*~. 
. . but still got my money that was owed to me . .. 

I have all account available through PP -- personal, Business, and the Virtual Terminal
and have thought of getting rid of my Merchant acct, and setting up another computer just for CC transactions at my shop through the virtual terminal 
it doesn't take anymore time than it does to swipe a CC, key in the amount, have the buyer sign a slip and then hit the batch button at the end of the day . .
really!! . . no big deal . . .

As long as you CYA with your shipments, you have nothing to fear with PP.


Diane


----------



## Solmu (Aug 15, 2005)

superTs said:


> I think if more and more people start accepting payments through Paypal, it will not seem as unprofessional.


I definitely agree with this, and I think we are starting to see it happen at the moment - probably due to the explosion in eCommerce sites starting with lower and lower amounts of start-up capital (but not necessarily unprofessional businesses - they don't correlate 100% like they once did).



Rodney said:


> I have a dedicated merchant account and I *still* offer PayPal because some people just prefer to pay that way.


PayPal's buyer protection is a lot easier to claim (since I've used it before) than finding out 1) What protection my credit card offers, and 2) How to apply for it.

So if a merchant offers both PayPal and direct CC I'll often use PayPal. There have definitely been purchases (these mostly on eBay) I wouldn't have made if I couldn't use PayPal due to trust issues.

I can think of at least one t-shirt I purchased that I would have been a *lot* more comfortable if the merchant had offered PayPal. If the t-shirt had been any more expensive (it was on sale), or any less good (it was excellent), I wouldn't have made the purchase. As it was I barely made the purchase.


----------



## sackwear.com (Jul 2, 2005)

We just added Paypal this week because we were flat-out losing sales of customers who do all their online shopping exclusively through the service. We were receiving more and more requests to add it, and since doing so we have seen an increase in business.

There are many people who still don't want to use their CC's online. Also many college kids may not have CC's but their parents will put money in their Paypal account so they can buy stuff online.

I would strongly suggest adding it if you are only accepting CC's. Paypal has lost the "cheap" cache it used to have.


----------



## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

> I've been a member with PP when they 1st started out as X.com
> .. it's well over 5 years now . . . and only had ONE issue *knocking on wood*~


Same here. I remember they used to be more of an actual bank (when they were x.com)

I think they've actually gotten better since they got bought by ebay. More professional.

I lost my PayPal debit card over the weekend (stupid me left it in the ATM machine). 

I cancelled the card online and requested a new one and the replacement got declined. I called up customer service at 7PM on a Sunday evening and it was sorted out within a few minutes.


----------



## sarafina (Jul 27, 2005)

Conversely now, do you think offering ONLY paypal would be a turnoff? Paypal is able to accept credit card and what not so do you think that only having it is a turnoff?


----------



## monkeylantern (Oct 16, 2005)

I think it should be implemented as with my link to www.mrfunkleberry.com above. You don't know until you buy something. No time to be disgusted by the cheapness!


----------



## Solmu (Aug 15, 2005)

sarafina said:


> Conversely now, do you think offering ONLY paypal would be a turnoff?


I assumed that was the point of this thread. There aren't many people who would object to anything as an _additional_ payment method. Certainly I was talking about sites using PayPal as their primary credit card payment processor.


----------



## Solmu (Aug 15, 2005)

monkeylantern said:


> I think it should be implemented as with my link to www.mrfunkleberry.com above. You don't know until you buy something. No time to be disgusted by the cheapness!


That's just more or less a standard PayPal shopping cart implementation. It can be made even more invisible than that - I know because mine is


----------



## sootedshirts (Nov 9, 2005)

I use Paypal as the credit card processor on my non-tshirt site because the prices are the lowest. I try not to shout that we use Paypal, but I don't hide it either


----------



## Vectro (May 8, 2005)

sarafina said:


> Conversely now, do you think offering ONLY paypal would be a turnoff? Paypal is able to accept credit card and what not so do you think that only having it is a turnoff?


For me it is a turnoff. I don't have a problem if it is a secondary form of payment, but if it is the only choice, then the company usually loses a point with me in terms of professionalism. I know that might sound snooty, but it's just one of those gut reactions I get. I guess I percieve non paypal credit card payments to be more credible. It's kind of like when a company is structured as an LLC or a corporation. You know that there's a certain extra length of effort and investment that the company had to go through. Having Paypal as the only option makes it seem like more of a fly-by-night type company, IMO. Also, I've had problems using Paypal in the past and have my own personal biases against it, from that standpoint. I'm sure there is a certain percentage of people out there that feel the same.


----------



## honeyflip (Nov 1, 2005)

Vectro said:


> It's kind of like when a company is structured as an LLC or a corporation. You know that there's a certain extra length of effort and investment that the company had to go through. QUOTE]
> 
> Ouch. Heh. My interactive company is structured as an LLC. There are actually excellent reasons for being a LLC vs a corporation (for one thing, the tax structure is much more flexible [you can get money out and avoid some of the double taxation that occurs with corporations). Anyway, I digress...
> Paypal is a turn-off for me if it's the only form of purchase. It's irritating to be bumped to a secondary site for the purchase process. I feel more comfortable/reassured when a site is self-contained and completely integrated.


----------



## sarafina (Jul 27, 2005)

Paypal has an interesting option that may resolve most customers woes. It's called paypal website payment pro. Basically customers using credit cards stay entirely on your site and paypal acts as a normal merchant account and gateway (hidden from your customers). If they opt to use paypal then they are re-directed to the paypal site as normal. Sounds like the best of both worlds but is currently only offered to those in the U.S. Something to consider.


----------



## Chris (Sep 19, 2005)

sarafina said:


> Something to consider.


This is exactly what I'm planning on doing.. It's honestly not worth jumping through the hoops otherwise- especially for a start-up. 

It's nice to go through the trouble of forming an LLC and having your own CC merchant account but we're talking about T-shirts here. I think a customer will make the leap to spend $20-40 dollars through PP.. I wouldn't expect them to do so if I was selling high end cameras or jewelry at $500-$3500 ea.

I don't think purchases are lost through Paypal, they're lost when the site isn't integrated well or is designed poorly.


----------



## honeyflip (Nov 1, 2005)

If that's in reference to my post... actually, my LLC has nothing to do with t-shirts. I run an interactive company that produces DVDs, video games, etc.


----------



## aokusman (Jul 22, 2005)

If I like the shirt, Ill pay through paypal or any other method.


----------



## Vectro (May 8, 2005)

honeyflip said:


> Vectro said:
> 
> 
> > It's kind of like when a company is structured as an LLC or a corporation. You know that there's a certain extra length of effort and investment that the company had to go through. QUOTE]
> ...


----------



## jdr8271 (Jun 16, 2005)

One thing that is a definite plus about paypal is that you will 'lose' sales from people who are trying to scam you, since you actually have to pay if you want to check out.

I dont think the paypal cart will scare away potential customers at all. If your site is well designed, that is more inportant than the cart you use. I would rather have a well designed site with a paypal cart than a crappy site with a programmed shopping cart any day.


----------



## honeyflip (Nov 1, 2005)

Woops. Sorry, Vectro! I'm brain dead. I completely misread your post.


----------

