# PayPal Virtual Terminal, is it a good choice?



## james tees

I am thinking about going with the PayPal virtual terminal for credit card transactions. Most other Merchants I spoke with want to charge me for equipment that they claim is free but shipping and set-up is $45.00. Also their transaction fee is anyware between 1.94% to 2.47% depending on credit card type + .20 cents authorization fee per transaction, plus 10.00 per month support fee and $69.00 per year to protect my personal information (YIKES).. With PayPal I will pay $20.00 per month and 3.20% transaction fee and nothing more. Also they say and I can cancel at anytime. Does anyone have experience working with PayPal and would they be a good choice to go with?

Thanks,
JT


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## Rodney

> Does anyone have experience working with PayPal and would they be a good choice to go with?


If you check out the search feature here: http://www.t-shirtforums.com/search.php

and put in paypal as a search term. You'll find lots of thread listing pros and cons of dealing with PayPal. Many people use them just fine. Some people have problems with them.

They seem to have a decent merchant account offering.

You can also check the paypal search tag to find topics about PayPal's services.


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## james tees

Thanks, Rodney

JT


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## normsbrand

I have it, and used it twice. It worked great. I used it at a show, and allowed customers just to type their information in. Worked pretty good.

I am also in the process of implementing the PayPal Pro on my web site, so I will let you know how that goes once it is all up and running the way I want it to.


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## snarley

Hi JT,

I have a PayPal Business account that I use in conjunction with my website for T-Shirt orders. It works fine. The customer purchases a shirt with the shopping cart and they are taken to the PayPal site and all the financial details are handled by PayPal. My account is credited for the amount of purchase minus their fee. 

I then receive an email from them with the purchase details that include tax if applicable, the shipping and handling fees and the shipping address of the customer. I never see any of the customers credit card information (That's the way I want it)

I go to my PayPal account and print out a receipt and a mailing label with the USPS mailing fees printed on it, the mailing fee is then deducted from my account.

You mentioned a $20 monthly fee and a percentage they deduct for each sale. I don't pay a monthly fee, just a small percentage fee for each purchase. On a $17.00 order the other day the PayPal fee was .79 cents

I hope this is of some help and Good Luck.

Bill M


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## simplicitywear

JT, I have PayPal Websites Pro/Virtual Terminal and it works great. The best thing about it is that I can provide my own payment gateway on my website and not have users redirected to PayPal. However, I do like the idea of not paying a monthly fee, so Bill's method may be more suited for some. And like Bill, I never see any customer credit card information, that all goes to PayPal. The virtual terminal is just a way for you to type in your customer's credit card information and have you process it. This would not be the way to run an online shop of course and is instead intended for transactions like trade fairs, shows, or anything outside of your online store.

-Tom


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## james tees

Thanks everyone, for your comments.

JT


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## Live2sk888

does anyone know of a gateway that integrates easily with paypal pro? I was trying to set it up and it wasn't working with the gateway I was using... I would call paypal's support and they said it was the gateway's problem.... and the gateway support of course said it was paypal's problem... so after going back and forth for days I gave up! lol


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## simplicitywear

Live2sk888 said:


> does anyone know of a gateway that integrates easily with paypal pro?


Hi Rebecca, I use CubeCart without problems with PayPal Pro.

-Tom


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## virginco

I am confused as to how to accept credit cards on paypal without paying the monthly fee. I have a business account and in my ignorance I can't seem figure things out.


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## jkruse

virginco said:


> I am confused as to how to accept credit cards on paypal without paying the monthly fee. I have a business account and in my ignorance I can't seem figure things out.


The regular account is free.


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## tuan

When I use my Paypal account to pay for eBay items, I don't get a confirmation email saying that my payment has been processed till the next day and at times I think 2 days later. 

I would like to know from everyone who's already using Paypal for their business if when a customer uses Paypal to pay for products on your website, are you able to ship the products or shirts out to them on the same day or the next day or whenever you receive confirmation from Paypal that payment is completed? How does that work?

I have a merchant account with Costco for my online shop that will take visa, mastercard and discover and I will be adding Paypal to my website as well but because of my experience with Paypal through eBay, I'm just wondering about what kind of delay you have to wait for a Paypal transaction to be completed before you can ship and I plan on shipping products out on the same day that the customers place their orders on the website. Can some tell me about their experience with this?
Thanks.


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## DaveW

tuan said:


> When I use my Paypal account to pay for eBay items, I don't get a confirmation email saying that my payment has been processed till the next day and at times I think 2 days later.
> 
> I would like to know from everyone who's already using Paypal for their business if when a customer uses Paypal to pay for products on your website, are you able to ship the products or shirts out to them on the same day or the next day or whenever you receive confirmation from Paypal that payment is completed? How does that work?
> 
> I have a merchant account with Costco for my online shop that will take visa, mastercard and discover and I will be adding Paypal to my website as well but because of my experience with Paypal through eBay, I'm just wondering about what kind of delay you have to wait for a Paypal transaction to be completed before you can ship and I plan on shipping products out on the same day that the customers place their orders on the website. Can some tell me about their experience with this?
> Thanks.


No problem here. We get the PayPal confirmation that a customer paid about the same time we get the one from our cart. We just have a regular business account with no monthly fee.

One issue is that if the customer does not have a CC on file with PayPal (IIRC) and doesn't use their PP balance, it comes as a "pending" eCheck, which takes 3-5 days to clear. I have never had one not clear, and try to never ship before it does. But, with 7-10k orders per year, we do miss some and ship before clearing by accident. 


Do sign up for the PayPal money market thing, which pays a little interest on the balance. I also extensively use the PP Debit card which is funded by the balance. You get 1% cash back right away (free money, IMO)

HTH,

DaveW


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## tuan

snarley said:


> Hi JT,
> 
> I have a PayPal Business account that I use in conjunction with my website for T-Shirt orders. It works fine. The customer purchases a shirt with the shopping cart and they are taken to the PayPal site and all the financial details are handled by PayPal. My account is credited for the amount of purchase minus their fee.
> 
> I then receive an email from them with the purchase details that include tax if applicable, the shipping and handling fees and the shipping address of the customer. I never see any of the customers credit card information (That's the way I want it)
> 
> I go to my PayPal account and print out a receipt and a mailing label with the USPS mailing fees printed on it, the mailing fee is then deducted from my account.
> 
> You mentioned a $20 monthly fee and a percentage they deduct for each sale. I don't pay a monthly fee, just a small percentage fee for each purchase. On a $17.00 order the other day the PayPal fee was .79 cents
> 
> I hope this is of some help and Good Luck.
> 
> Bill M


Hi Bill or anyone who can give me some feedback.
I have some questions for you about your experience with having a Paypal business account if you don't mind. It's a bit of a read so I apologize. 

1. How does printing a shipping label work with using a Paypal Pro account (if that's what you have)? Do you print shipping labels on the paypal website or the usps website? Is the customer's address exportable to the page where you print out the shipping label or do you have to type out each customer's address for every label you print. I just want to know how automated this whole process of shipping label printing is. 

2. You said that your mailing fee is deducted from your account, I'm just wondering how that is done? Did you sign up with an account on the USPS site and enter your credit card or checking account info online with them? If you did that, did you sign up for a personal or business account with USPS? I signed up on USPS.com but I don't know where to go to link my account with my credit card info. 

3. Does paypal take care of emailing your customers the order confirmation and all the other email notifications relating to orders? If I use USPS priority mail, who emails the customers the tracking info...paypal or usps?

Thanks so much everyone!
Tuan


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## splathead

tuan said:


> Hi Bill or anyone who can give me some feedback.
> I have some questions for you about your experience with having a Paypal business account if you don't mind. It's a bit of a read so I apologize.
> 
> 1. How does printing a shipping label work with using a Paypal Pro account (if that's what you have)? Do you print shipping labels on the paypal website or the usps website? Is the customer's address exportable to the page where you print out the shipping label or do you have to type out each customer's address for every label you print. I just want to know how automated this whole process of shipping label printing is.
> 
> 2. You said that your mailing fee is deducted from your account, I'm just wondering how that is done? Did you sign up with an account on the USPS site and enter your credit card or checking account info online with them? If you did that, did you sign up for a personal or business account with USPS? I signed up on USPS.com but I don't know where to go to link my account with my credit card info.
> 
> 3. Does paypal take care of emailing your customers the order confirmation and all the other email notifications relating to orders? If I use USPS priority mail, who emails the customers the tracking info...paypal or usps?
> 
> Thanks so much everyone!
> Tuan


1. There is a shipping link on your paypal payment page for that particular customer. There you have the option of shipping your package via UPS or the Post Office. All you need to enter is the weight. The label is then generated within Paypal with the customer's shipping address already on it. You do not have to sign up separately with UPS or the P.O. for an account to use this feature.

2. Prior to printing the label, paypal will tell you the cost they will deduct from your paypal balance for this shipment based on the weight. 

3. Paypal does send the customer an email with the shipping confirmation number.


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## tuan

splathead said:


> 1. There is a shipping link on your paypal payment page for that particular customer. There you have the option of shipping your package via UPS or the Post Office. All you need to enter is the weight. The label is then generated within Paypal with the customer's shipping address already on it. You do not have to sign up separately with UPS or the P.O. for an account to use this feature.
> 
> 2. Prior to printing the label, paypal will tell you the cost they will deduct from your paypal balance for this shipment based on the weight.
> 
> 3. Paypal does send the customer an email with the shipping confirmation number.


Thanks Joe for your info!!!
So Paypal collects the shipping charge and deducts it from the total sale amount? I don't have to sign up with USPS whatsoever?

My ecommerce software (litecommerce) can calculate real time shipping quotes as it connects directly to USPS.com and it allows me to program weight presets on the shirts. I wonder if these weight presets and real time shipping calculating from my ecommerce can integrate with Paypal so I don't have to manually type in the weight amount on the Paypal shipping page (to avoid errors). If this is possible, then I wonder who, between USPS and Paypal, is going to collect shipping fees from me?


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## msinfo

Okay just to provide some additional information I work in the payments industry and I am often asked about the PP Virtual Terminal. I can tell you that there are cheaper Alternatives out there. Last I checked Paypal was 2.7% to 2.9% plus $30 per month for their Virtual Terminal. Well there is a NexCommerce Orbital bundle which is only 2.2% per transaction and is only $8.99 per month total with no gateway fee ($21 per month cheaper than PP's Virtual Terminal). Plus this bundle includes recurring billing - they do the same thing! I know Paypal has brand recognition but Orbital is backed by Chase so it's pretty reliable and it's being offered for cheap as a part of the "NexCommerce" package through a merchant ISO - NexCommerce - online merchant services - bundled rate gateway




Jim
MerchantSeek
Your Payment Acceptance Source


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## Unik Ink

msinfo said:


> Okay just to provide some additional information I work in the payments industry and I am often asked about the PP Virtual Terminal. I can tell you that there are cheaper Alternatives out there. Last I checked Paypal was 2.7% to 2.9% plus $30 per month for their Virtual Terminal. Well there is a NexCommerce Orbital bundle which is only 2.2% per transaction and is only $8.99 per month total with no gateway fee ($21 per month cheaper than PP's Virtual Terminal). Plus this bundle includes recurring billing - they do the same thing! I know Paypal has brand recognition but Orbital is backed by Chase so it's pretty reliable and it's being offered for cheap as a part of the "NexCommerce" package through a merchant ISO - NexCommerce - online merchant services - bundled rate gateway
> 
> 
> Jim
> MerchantSeek
> Your Payment Acceptance Source


Does this allow you to email and track invoices that can be paid by the customer the way paypal's invoicing feature works? I do not want to manually input the customers financial information, rather let them put it in. Google checkout is similar, but you can not track open invoices. Paypal's invoicing feature with a standard account is great, but you don't have any control if a customer files a chargeback. I just recently won a chargeback that tied up $3200 for 4 months, and locked up my paypal account. The price for the NexCommerce seems great, even though I would gladly pay twice the fees charged by Paypal to find a different service.


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## odil1372

msinfo said:


> Okay just to provide some additional information I work in the payments industry and I am often asked about the PP Virtual Terminal. I can tell you that there are cheaper Alternatives out there. Last I checked Paypal was 2.7% to 2.9% plus $30 per month for their Virtual Terminal. Well there is a NexCommerce Orbital bundle which is only 2.2% per transaction and is only $8.99 per month total with no gateway fee ($21 per month cheaper than PP's Virtual Terminal). Plus this bundle includes recurring billing - they do the same thing! I know Paypal has brand recognition but Orbital is backed by Chase so it's pretty reliable and it's being offered for cheap as a part of the "NexCommerce" package through a merchant ISO - NexCommerce - online merchant services - bundled rate gateway
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Jim
> MerchantSeek
> Your Payment Acceptance Source


Joe, the dealbreaker for me is the cash back. I'm grandfathered in at 1.5% cash back for all purchases using my PP debit card, along with the same transaction fees for all 4 major cards. Most of the Merchant accounts want to charge a higher rate for AmEx, not to mention AmEx charges their own monthly fees for you to accept their cards at your business.

I've yet to be quoted on a merchant account with fees as low as PP on AmEx, and that particular card is a significant portion of my business.

Your mileage may vary.
Amy


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## MMTech

Yeah I really recommend you do some research before signing up with paypal because they are pretty expensive and offer very little support for all the problems I had with them. There are merchant accounts out there that won't cost you an arm and a leg. merchantinc.com provides you with a virtual terminal, shopping cart and mobile app for $8/month and no contract or set up fees. I have had them for 3 months now and it's been great so far


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## odil1372

MMTech said:


> Yeah I really recommend you do some research before signing up with paypal because they are pretty expensive and offer very little support for all the problems I had with them. There are merchant accounts out there that won't cost you an arm and a leg. merchantinc.com provides you with a virtual terminal, shopping cart and mobile app for $8/month and no contract or set up fees. I have had them for 3 months now and it's been great so far


Weird. Three posts from you and they are all about this merchant company. I've gotten to the point that I hang up on every merchant processing company that calls me and threatening all of the reps who walk through my door. I've yet to deal with a merchant processing company that didn't try to hit you with hidden fees, charge excessive charges from day one or send you the wrong equipment and then charge your account for it.


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