Add PayPal To Checkout
NWCCTV
Posts: 3,629
As the title states, I really wish paying by PayPal was an option. I would even be happy to pay the upcharge just for the ease of use.
Comments
A good idea. Many of the "tinkering types" probably have some positive balance sitting in their PayPal account after they sold something on Ebay, and it might make you a few extra sales since they wouldn't have to wait for the money to transfer.
Hello!
A suggestion Courtney, please contact the behind the scenes people at Sparkfun and Adafruit to see what they went through to enable Pay Pal properly.
I also examined the threads linked to this one, I do suggest that you read them. They indicate that Pay Pal at one point wasn't as capable as they are now, and there was a tendency for flim-flam and worse, including phishing and outright theft, as indicated by some of them.
On a side note:
Roger I imagine you've read them as well, and I also imagine that you as well have seen those phishing scheme ones for Pay Pal, reporting them to the spoof address at that company only snuffs out that one.
I won't go into the obvious but we both know what to do, or not do.
There are issues, though, including PayPal's standing six month buyer guarantee (item not received, significantly different than described). That's usually longer than the money back guarantee most merchants offer, but for Parallax and its existing policies, it's probably irrelevant anyway.
Chargebacks are the bane of any online retailer, but surveys seem to indicate "friendly fraud" charge disputes are lower with PayPal than with traditional credit card purchases. Part of this has to do with PayPal's tolerance for dealing with buyers who habitually dispute charges. Unlike with a traditional credit card, if Parallax maintains shipping records with delivery confirmation (they do), use signature confirmations on higher ticket packages, and ship only to the customer's confirmed address (available in the US only), their risk of loss in a dispute is virtually eliminated.
Hehe. I resemble that remark.
I sell a lot of stuff on eBay and since I try to avoid using credit cards as much as possible, I end up making nearly all of my hobby purchases from my PayPal balance.
I know I would spend more time shopping at Parallax if PayPal was an option.
Interestingly, I think these days most customers would prefer not to have their card data captured and stored by the merchant. It takes just a few seconds to re-enter it. Storing credit card data adds a lot of PCI compliance issues, and for a company like Parallax that does several million in sales per year, the costs of maintaining that compliance can be considerable.
I always look for the checkbox that says "Don't store my credit card details."
Some (larger) credit card acquirers perform the job of storing the card data for the merchant. The merchant sends a mechant+customer ID, and the acquirer does the rest. If the acquirer is hacked (far less likely), it's their head on the block, not the merchant. Still, even this type of data collection can cost considerable amounts for the merchant over the course of a year. The acquirer has to pass back the cost of maintaining the credit card detail beyond the normal transaction period. Many are now tacking on the costs for insurance and even daily PCI checks. Banks and middlemen will always find ways to squeeze out extra pennies.
Do you trust paypal?
I do...for now.
I have had a business account with them for the last 15 years, ( with a Paypal Debit Card which I have used all over the country).
I have done over 800 transactions on ebay with PayPal, 20% overseas. Most were selling, maybe 20% buying. Not a single glitch.
Not to say that they will never be hacked. I don't keep much in the account until I am making a big purchase, at which time I transfer funds just for that purchase.
So, since PayPal is not a bank, don't treat them as one. Treat them as a payment facilitator of Web purchases, or as a secondary debit card on which you keep limited funds. For customers, that means having only as much in the account to make near-term purchases. For merchants, that means not leaving a lot of cash in PayPal. Draw it out into an FDIC-insured bank account on a regular basis.
Totally agree Gordon.
Wouldn't this be more of an eBay glitch than PayPal? Maybe this type of thing won't happen as much after PayPal splits off from eBay, later this year.
For sellers, how do Paypal fees compare to traditional credit cards? This hoarder will soon open an Ebay store and it seems Paypal is the only game in town.
Little known fact that you can send money (no refund protection, mind you) using Paypal within the US to people with no fees using the personal payment option. That's what I recommend to the Forumistas who have bought small items from me. If you can't trust erco, who can you trust?
Please reply with your PIN, SSN and password and I'll take care of everything.
There are other venues. For example, if you are selling your collectible stuff (hopefully not, but if you do), there's also Etsy and other "vintage" marketplaces. While Etsy is mainly for crafts, they also have a large vintage collection, and in general you'll probably get more for the items than through eBay. With Etsy, insertion fees are a flat 20 cents. You can use PayPal or their direct checkout (they handle the credit card charging). The discount rate is similar for both, around 2.5-3%, plus a per-transaction charge that is passed through from the credit card acquirer.
If you put your site on something like BigCartel (possible fit, depending on what you're selling), you can add PayPal buttons to things, and bypass eBay. You can get basic shopping carts for free, but expect to pay $10-20 a month for something that allows you to sell more items at once. You can also use a basic Web page, either static or WordPress, and pay nothing else other than your existing hosting fees. Of course, none of these sites have the search might of eBay, so it all depends on what you are selling, and how much you want for the things you're selling.
If it were me, and you're not selling lots of stuff at once, this forum has a classifieds section that you might use instead. I'd link to your Web site, with PayPal buttons. Don't give up money to eBay if you can help it, or unless you go into selling lots of items.