# Is there any reason why paypal shouldn't be the only way to accept payment on my website?



## The Headspace (Oct 21, 2013)

Is there any reason why paypal shouldn't be the only way to accept payment on my website?


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## binki (Jul 16, 2006)

They charge a premium price for transactions and do not conform to normal merchant processing norms. Otherwise they are fine.


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## robo029 (Jul 30, 2008)

Not every one has paypal plus there fee is quite high. Also more people will want to pay by card get your own merchant account and you sales will soar ours did


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## The Headspace (Oct 21, 2013)

But any person with a credit card can pay through paypal whether they have an account set up through their bank or not. We shopped e commerce and payment gateways for months and the best deal we got still totaled over paypal's 4%.


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## robo029 (Jul 30, 2008)

not with a standard paypal account you have to upgrade


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## The Headspace (Oct 21, 2013)

How can a large portion of our customers who do not have paypal accounts make purchases on our website that recently switched to all paypal?

Our payment gateway Authorize.net began to mess up, and while it was down, I noticed zero drop in sales (maintained about 20 transactions per day). So we decided to just roll with only paypal, and have only had a hand full of messages come in asking "I don't have paypal, how do pay?" in which I replied "you don't need an account to use paypal", in which they were successful making a purchase.


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## robo029 (Jul 30, 2008)

I just think its better having your own merchant account. There are some real horror stories with paypal, they have to much control over funds in their account also I will be the judge to offer some one a refund not them. I like the money to go straight into my personal business account where I have total control.


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## tcrowder (Apr 27, 2006)

The Headspace said:


> Is there any reason why paypal shouldn't be the only way to accept payment on my website?


I offer PayPal only on both my sites. I do 20K plus yearly with zero issues. As with most sites, I have times during the year when sales slump and times where they soar. Using PayPal I pay for what I need, when I need it.


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

The Headspace said:


> Is there any reason why paypal shouldn't be the only way to accept payment on my website?


- the customer has to leave your website to pay, which can confuse customers

- some customers just plain do not like PayPal as a business for various reasons

- as Binki mentioned, PayPal doesn't have the same merchant protections as a traditional merchant account

- it might not make business sense to put all of your eggs in one processing basket.

Regarding authorize.net, depending on your volume, I'd check into the services at www.stripe.com - they offer ecommerce credit card processing without all the complicated fees and it integrates seamlessly to most websites/shopping carts.


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## BangkokShopper (Sep 24, 2013)

Many customers don't like Paypal outside US.


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## ETA (Mar 14, 2013)

Paypal has a bit of a bad reputation. Personally, I avoid Paypal at all costs, and I know many others that do as well. They have been known to freeze funds for very odd reasons, and they have so much control over the money placed in their accounts that if they freeze your funds, you most likely won't be getting them back. Even though I am aware of an option Paypal offers to use their service without an account, I refuse to use their service simply because I disagree with how they treat their customers.

It may be the minority of us that care about these issues, but realistically speaking, every person who feels how I do can no longer buy your product if you stick to only using Paypal. I would add another option, so customers don't feel like you are forcing them into anything.


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## binki (Jul 16, 2006)

I think this is a really good discussion on the good and bad of both traditional merchant account and these startups that offer pretty much a flat rate % per transaction charge. 

I can say that you can negotiate with your merchant processor to get a low rate and to eliminate a lot of the fees like closing, statement and per transaction fees. I personally find the 2.9% fee from someone like paypal and also having to ask for my money a little cumbersome with our volume. Also, they take the 2.9 right at the time of the transaction where a merchant account takes it once a month.


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## TPrintDesigner (Sep 16, 2007)

In an ideal world you should offer both. If your target market is the under 30's then you MUST offer paypal or face losing sales.


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## NoXid (Apr 4, 2011)

One aspect that has not been mentioned so far: Many people prefer PayPal because they don't want to give their credit card info to yet another online merchant--as every place that has that info is another potential target of hacking and theft of your info.

My card got illegally used after the data got stolen from an online battery retailer. With PayPal, the buyer doesn't have to worry about the security of the retailer, because the retailer never sees the card info or has it on their computer.

PayPal has a graphic with the popular credit card logos that you can use on your site to show that you take credit cards. I added a little info in the FAQ/About explaining that PayPal works as a regular credit card servicing company, not just as a membership-based payment system.

For a startup or lower volume business, PayPal has its advantages, and I don't really see that it presents the buyer with any disadvantages... LOL does it keep people off ebay?


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## calhtech (Feb 4, 2012)

NoXid said:


> One aspect that has not been mentioned so far: Many people prefer PayPal because they don't want to give their credit card info to yet another online merchant--as every place that has that info is another potential target of hacking and theft of your info.
> 
> My card got illegally used after the data got stolen from an online battery retailer. With PayPal, the buyer doesn't have to worry about the security of the retailer, because the retailer never sees the card info or has it on their computer.
> 
> ...


I seconds this. I see a lot of buyers who want to use Paypal just because they are not comfortable giving out their card number. Secondly, in most cases, Paypal sides with the buyer not the seller in typical disputes. This may not settle well with sellers, but we were discussing the BUYER perspective.


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## Hetzer (Oct 18, 2013)

Most of outside USA suppliers don't want to take payment via PayPal as the transaction fee is quite high (around 4% on the total payment) and the PayPal exchange rate (Buyer send payment in USD however PayPal converts it into seller's currency before sending the payment to seller) is really bad. So they will lose around 7% - 9% of their money per transaction.


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## chunkymonkey (Jul 7, 2010)

I thought Paypay was 2.9 percent. But then again I am not selling shirts on an commerce site. Can someone explain where this 4% is coming from? Thanks.


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## NoXid (Apr 4, 2011)

chunkymonkey said:


> I thought Paypay was 2.9 percent. But then again I am not selling shirts on an commerce site. Can someone explain where this 4% is coming from? Thanks.


It is 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction, for domestic transactions. International are 3.9% plus a currency fee (dependent upon what the currency is).

See the PayPal page: https://www.paypal.com/webapps/mpp/paypal-fees

Also, there are discounts for various things, like high volume: https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/merchant-fees#id1_header


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## BangkokShopper (Sep 24, 2013)

I wonder who is cheaper than Paypal actually ?


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## chunkymonkey (Jul 7, 2010)

NoXid said:


> It is 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction, for domestic transactions. International are 3.9% plus a currency fee (dependent upon what the currency is).
> 
> See the PayPal page: https://www.paypal.com/webapps/mpp/paypal-fees
> 
> Also, there are discounts for various things, like high volume: https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/merchant-fees#id1_header


Oh Ok thanks for clearing that up. As I use paypal for ebay selling all the time and it is not really all that bad. The .30 fee though really kinda ticks me off as it hurts trying to sell multiple items for cheap.


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## BangkokShopper (Sep 24, 2013)

What is incredible is that Paypal does not have any real concurrence ?!


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## UKtshirtsretro (Feb 4, 2012)

calhtech said:


> I seconds this. I see a lot of buyers who want to use Paypal just because they are not comfortable giving out their card number. Secondly, in most cases, Paypal sides with the buyer not the seller in typical disputes. This may not settle well with sellers, but we were discussing the BUYER perspective.


I still don't get this thinking.

Paypal is probably the worst company on earth if you are going to sell online.

They side with buyers and can widthold your money at any time and you can't do diddly squat about it.

They shouldn't even be considered as a payment option in my opinion.

A proper merchant account with a real bank is the only option where you can take credit card payments.

As for those who don't want to give credit card information online, well its kind of ironic that they are ok to give it to Paypal (who store it and can do with it what they like), but aren't ok to give it to a proper SSL secure online payment gateway.

Most websites will not even be storing credit card details on their website (only the really really big online shops do), they will simply be redirecting the buyer to the payment gateway which is totally secure, and you pay and seller gets the money into their bank.

That is the most secure way, Paypal is frankly unnacceptable due to their disgraceful history with sellers and their extortionate fees.

If you are going to do something, its better to do it properly, and a proper credit card merchant gateway such as Sagepay or Worldpay or something similar is the best way.

At least you get peace of mind and the bank has to do the proper fraud checks.

Putting your money into a paypal account is simply asking for trouble!


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## royster13 (Aug 14, 2007)

UKtshirtsretro said:


> I still don't get this thinking.
> 
> Paypal is probably the worst company on earth if you are going to sell online.
> 
> ...


Sorry to disagree....But having done 1,000s of transaction, involving 100s of 1,000s of $s over 13+ years, I have nothing bad to say about PayPal....I have not had a single transaction reversed....

I think the very small % of accounts that go bad are so blown out of proportion most can not see the forest for the trees...


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## royster13 (Aug 14, 2007)

BangkokShopper said:


> I wonder who is cheaper than Paypal actually ?


Once you do a good volume with PayPal your rate goes down.....I get 2.5%......And it is not hard for me to live with that.....


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## royster13 (Aug 14, 2007)

chunkymonkey said:


> Oh Ok thanks for clearing that up. As I use paypal for ebay selling all the time and it is not really all that bad. The .30 fee though really kinda ticks me off as it hurts trying to sell multiple items for cheap.


Have you looked into "mircopayment discount"?....If your average payment is less than 12.00 PayPal will give you a better deal....


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## BangkokShopper (Sep 24, 2013)

BangkokShopper said:


> What is incredible is that Paypal does not have any real concurrence ?!




Sorry to tell you but you are wrong and do not understand the full story.

I also hate Paypal but we have no choice.

So many people won't buy if Paypal is not accepted because THEY KNOW THAT PAYPAL protects them.

And about giving their credit card number I perfectly understand that they prefer to give it to 1 company (paypal) than dozens of small companies (shops).

I repeat that Paypal are the biggest suxxers in the world but that we have no choice.

Also, it is impossible to get a merchant account without a registered company but Paypal doesn't care...

A PayPal Christmas v2.mp4 - YouTube


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## odil1372 (Aug 15, 2009)

I've done over a million dollars in transactions with PayPal over the last 11 years and have had FEW problems and never had my account frozen. However, every single time I have tried to transition over to a regular merchant account, I was financially raped by the merchant processor. Every. Single. Time. Now, when credit card processing salesmen walk through my door, I suggest they leave before I throw them out. I'm quite happy with PayPal as my merchant account.


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## chunkymonkey (Jul 7, 2010)

Maybe I am wrong but don't merchant accounts charge more than paypal? Isn't there an included monthly fee? What if you don't sell anything in that month. You still have to pay. I do not have a merchant account so I am not sure of this but from what I and read merchant accounts charge a monthly fee and then a percentage.


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