Preferred Payment Method

[chris_4622]

I'm in the process of putting a site together to sell wooden frames. In response to some posts (rants) about paypal I was wondering what method of payment you use on your site selling your artwork.


Thanks,
chris

[W K Longcor]

I don't mean to offend anyone else -- but, it is my feeling that the people who complain most about Paypal are "amatures" in the world of internet sales. A major part of my income (non-camera related) is in internet sales. I have been very happy with the ease and speed of Paypal sales. Yes they charge a fee -- it is called a business expense. It is safer than taking an out of state check through the mail and safer and easier than taking a credit card number via internet. First read all their rules and regulations -- if you follow the rules -- all goes rather well.

[Alan Rabe]

As one who has complained about Paypal. The problem with Paypal is it ties to EBay and the things it does concerning ebay transactions. As to using Paypal for other non ebay purchases I have no issues. I use it all the time and will actually buy from sites that accept paypal over sites that don't.

[Jim Michael]

Alternatives to PayPal are your own merchant account or a merchant proxy such as CCNow. A merchant proxy might save you monthly account maintenance fees but the tradeoff is higher transaction fees. A benefit you might get with the proxy you don't get with merchant account or PayPal is ability to sell from a state with no sales tax, which might be useful if you have a lot of in-state sales.

[Charles Carstensen]

Pay Pal is the hottest payment system in the world. While it is owned by eBay, it is a completely separate entity run by a separate division of eBay. Pay Pal's president is a very impressive individual. eBay also owns Bill Me Later, an instant, on line credit company, very successful. eBay also owns Skype and if you ever Skype your friends and neighbors you know what a success that is. I would rather keep funds balance in PayPal than in a CD right now. Any on line business that does not have access to PayPal is behind the times.

[percepts]

I would suggest you cost the options based on your expected sales volumes over the first and second years. That is the only way to work out which is best. Virtually everyone knows paypal so it is trusted.
Ultimately the best solution is direct with your own bank but the monthly and/or yearly fees mean you need a certain volume of sales before it becomes cheaper than paypal or any of the other online payment services. Google was pretty cheap when it started but I don't know now.

Setting up paypal in a website is a breeze. Your own banks setup may be more complicated. But either way, it comes down to cost effectiveness of one over the other given the volume and value of sales.

[chris_4622]

Okay, thanks for the explanation. I'll stick with Paypal.

[IanMazursky]

I used paypal for many years for business, ebay and misc sales.
I came to the point in my business that i needed an easier way to do things without the paypal merchant services fees.

I made a number of calls to different processors and settled on Chase PaymenTech.
The fees and discount rate turned out to be much better then paypal's. I was surprised by that and i was up and running in a day or 2.
I am keeping my PayPal account for those who only want to use that and for purchasing.

I would recommend contacting your bank just to check the rates. They are getting more competitive now. Case Paymentech had a promotion when i signed up to beat your current processors rates.

[darr]

It also depends on how many sales you may have. For example, if you have a small amount of sales, paying for a merchant account + per sale fees may not make financial sense. You pay the merchant account fee that usually includes a gateway fee (usually $50-$75 a month before sales) regardless if you have a sale or not. This is when using PayPal can make for a better deal as you only pay fees when you have a sale and in the beginning when sales are not at their highest, it may be a better alternative.