I've had hundreds of successful transactions on PayPal and eBay, buying and selling, but I'm backing away from PayPal and retreating to money orders. My one experience with PayPal horror was ultimately innocuous: an eBay seller from whom I won an item had his account frozen and couldn't accept funds for a purchase. Shortly after emailing him (none ever returned) about alternative payment methods, I noticed he was (not a registered user) at eBay. I emailed him that absent a reply, I was considering the transaction null and void. So, even though this may have been a PayPal issue or an eBay issue, still the testimonials of the afflicted (and on some sites, the ex-employee/managers of PayPal) have convinced me that the convenience comes at too high a price.
PayPal is not worth the risk. This from a veteran of hundreds of transactions and thousands of dollars moving in and out.
pay pal??
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b0b
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Bob Hoffnar
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Herb Steiner
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Anytime you accept anything other than CASH, CASHIER'S CHECK, OR MONEY ORDER for payment, you are accepting a certain amount of risk, regardless. Personal checks are not money, only a promise to pay.
When we use credit systems online, or in a store, we accept that risk in order to make the sale convenient for the purchaser... we could be in either role. Think of all the hundreds of millions of successful transactions that would be sluggish or non-existent if not for the Internet and PayPal.
Even an instore credit card user can later deny a payment and the vendor will pretty much lose, since the V/MC people generally side with the cardholder. It happened to me more than several times when I was Classified Advertising Manager at the Austin Chronicle.
And a buyer can certainly run to the bank and cancel a check, after loading his car with merchandise.
I've done thousands of dollars of business with them and I've never had a problem with PayPal. And I know their system... any system... can't be totally flawless. I consider the costs and the risk at an acceptable level for doing business.
The Internet opened the "window of entry" wide open for all sorts of individuals, like b0b and myself, who could never have afforded to do it the traditional ways. PayPal is another of those creations that let the little guy into the arena. The occasional mishaps are glitches that are part of the bigger picture.
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Herb's Steel Guitar Pages
Texas Steel Guitar Association
When we use credit systems online, or in a store, we accept that risk in order to make the sale convenient for the purchaser... we could be in either role. Think of all the hundreds of millions of successful transactions that would be sluggish or non-existent if not for the Internet and PayPal.
Even an instore credit card user can later deny a payment and the vendor will pretty much lose, since the V/MC people generally side with the cardholder. It happened to me more than several times when I was Classified Advertising Manager at the Austin Chronicle.
And a buyer can certainly run to the bank and cancel a check, after loading his car with merchandise.
I've done thousands of dollars of business with them and I've never had a problem with PayPal. And I know their system... any system... can't be totally flawless. I consider the costs and the risk at an acceptable level for doing business.
The Internet opened the "window of entry" wide open for all sorts of individuals, like b0b and myself, who could never have afforded to do it the traditional ways. PayPal is another of those creations that let the little guy into the arena. The occasional mishaps are glitches that are part of the bigger picture.
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Herb's Steel Guitar Pages
Texas Steel Guitar Association
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CrowBear Schmitt
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b0b
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As a small vendor starting out on the Internet, I quickly discovered that I would have to pay a monthly service charge to the bank if I wanted to accept credit card payments at all. This was in addition to the "per transaction" change, and it was not cheap.
PayPal allowed me to get past that. They charge me "per transaction", which is important when you're doing a low volume business. A big tycoon like Bobbe Seymour
can afford the in-store machinery to process credit cards. I'm not that big.
Also, PayPal is great for international payments. I have customers now in Europe and Australia that previously would have been very hard to deal with. I get paid in US funds, direct to my bank account, and they get their merchandise with a minimum of fuss.
So, I'm with Herb on this one. PayPal is great for small-time merchants like us.
PayPal allowed me to get past that. They charge me "per transaction", which is important when you're doing a low volume business. A big tycoon like Bobbe Seymour
can afford the in-store machinery to process credit cards. I'm not that big.Also, PayPal is great for international payments. I have customers now in Europe and Australia that previously would have been very hard to deal with. I get paid in US funds, direct to my bank account, and they get their merchandise with a minimum of fuss.
So, I'm with Herb on this one. PayPal is great for small-time merchants like us.
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William Peters
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b0b,
What you say is true, but why not spend a one time fee of $50.00 to have a real credit card processor which doesn't require your customers to be paypal members. I'm not a paypal member, so I can't buy from you now, and certainly there are a lot of others who are not paypal members.
2checkout.com accepts credit cards, checks, foreign currency, etc, and creates html code for your items. You can paste the html code right into your website code to create an online catalog, or they provide an online order form like: https://www.2checkout.com/cgi-bin/buyer ... ?sid=26151
They can also process recurring sales, subscriptions, and have shopping cart capability. If you are selling on ebay, its easy to send the customer an invoice so they can pay by credit card.
It was the best $50.00 I spent for my website.
Bill
What you say is true, but why not spend a one time fee of $50.00 to have a real credit card processor which doesn't require your customers to be paypal members. I'm not a paypal member, so I can't buy from you now, and certainly there are a lot of others who are not paypal members.
2checkout.com accepts credit cards, checks, foreign currency, etc, and creates html code for your items. You can paste the html code right into your website code to create an online catalog, or they provide an online order form like: https://www.2checkout.com/cgi-bin/buyer ... ?sid=26151
They can also process recurring sales, subscriptions, and have shopping cart capability. If you are selling on ebay, its easy to send the customer an invoice so they can pay by credit card.
It was the best $50.00 I spent for my website.
Bill
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Jim Phelps
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William Peters
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Jim,
Doesn't work for me. I just tried to send b0b a small donation, It didn't work using Foxfire as a web browser, so I tried a second time, using a different web browser, then I got a message that I wasn't allowed to make the purchase because my credit card is already linked to a paypal account (which I closed some time ago). So, I was refused because I used to be a member. What crap. It might work for someone else or a different card though. But why are they keeping my credit card info on file since my account is closed?
Their actions do not agree with their policies which is a point I tried to make earlier.
There is a limit ($2000 total) on how much you can purchase without becoming a Premier or Business member. That means you have to give them access to your bank account. A regular CC processor makes no such demands, and is the main reason I will not be a member again.
So, even if I have a $20,000 open credit limit on my MC, I couldn't buy a $2,100 steel through paypal, without signing up as a Premier member, and allowing them access to my checking account. Sounds like a bad idea to me, but it might be agreeable to you. Also, according to today's user agreement, you have to be a Premier or Business account in order to receive credit card payments, again requiring access to the members checking account.
I still think this is a bad deal and is too high a risk for me. But then, I lock my doors at night. You do as you wish.
Bill
Doesn't work for me. I just tried to send b0b a small donation, It didn't work using Foxfire as a web browser, so I tried a second time, using a different web browser, then I got a message that I wasn't allowed to make the purchase because my credit card is already linked to a paypal account (which I closed some time ago). So, I was refused because I used to be a member. What crap. It might work for someone else or a different card though. But why are they keeping my credit card info on file since my account is closed?
That sure sounds like you have to sign up first so you have a "confirmed" email address and an "account"<SMALL>6.1 Sending Payments ... Once you confirm an email address and add a credit card, you are limited to sending a total of $2,000.</SMALL>
Their actions do not agree with their policies which is a point I tried to make earlier.
There is a limit ($2000 total) on how much you can purchase without becoming a Premier or Business member. That means you have to give them access to your bank account. A regular CC processor makes no such demands, and is the main reason I will not be a member again.
So, even if I have a $20,000 open credit limit on my MC, I couldn't buy a $2,100 steel through paypal, without signing up as a Premier member, and allowing them access to my checking account. Sounds like a bad idea to me, but it might be agreeable to you. Also, according to today's user agreement, you have to be a Premier or Business account in order to receive credit card payments, again requiring access to the members checking account.
I still think this is a bad deal and is too high a risk for me. But then, I lock my doors at night. You do as you wish.
Bill
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b0b
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Most of my sales are still mail order, Bill, with a check or money order enclosed. I prefer that, but accept PayPal as a convenience for those that use it.<SMALL>I'm not a paypal member, so I can't buy from you now...</SMALL>
I might look into 2checkout.com at some point in the future. It didn't exist when I set up my business.
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<img align=left src="http://picturehost.net/b0b/ManzBob2.jpg" border="0"><small> Bobby Lee</small>
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Jim Phelps
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William Peters
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Jim,
I'm not on your case. I have nothing against you, and am not wishing you any harm or bad mojo. You are reading too much into my comments. I was just responding to your comments, which seemed to be addressed to me. Peace.
b0b,
Compared to the cost of setting up and maintaining a regular merchant account like I had with authorize.net, 2checkout.com is really a bargain. I think I had to pay $295.00 a year when I used authorize.net, and had to write a lot of code to make it work. www.propay.com is another good alternative, although they charge a $35.00 a year fee. They do have some features that 2checkout doesn't, like being able to process sales via telephone. There are probably others that I don't know about.
Bill
I'm not on your case. I have nothing against you, and am not wishing you any harm or bad mojo. You are reading too much into my comments. I was just responding to your comments, which seemed to be addressed to me. Peace.
b0b,
Compared to the cost of setting up and maintaining a regular merchant account like I had with authorize.net, 2checkout.com is really a bargain. I think I had to pay $295.00 a year when I used authorize.net, and had to write a lot of code to make it work. www.propay.com is another good alternative, although they charge a $35.00 a year fee. They do have some features that 2checkout doesn't, like being able to process sales via telephone. There are probably others that I don't know about.
Bill