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osCommerce

The e-commerce.

Reasons NOT to use PayPal as CC processor?


jdessel

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Posted

After complaints from my customers regarding the frequency of 2Checkout's credit card processing not working properly (sometimes the URL's work, sometimes not, sometimes "Page Not Found", sometimes it's found), problems getting the passbacks to work and the general hassle that the service has been I'm removing the module from my site.

 

I already had PayPal installed and now I'm just going to use PayPal to process my credit cards too.

 

Are there any valid reasons why I shouldn't use PayPal to process my credit cards that I might not know about? I love the fact that the money is in the account immediately, and it always seems to work.

 

I'm selling kids' pools and my average sale total is usually around $30 - $60.

 

If anyone else is using or has used PayPal to process their credit cards and has experiences either good or bad, I'd appreciate finding out how it has worked for them.

 

Thanks!

Posted

Ive never used the IPN for osc- but ive been a long lasting member of paypal for ebay transactions and other transactions, have the debit card and so on. they have NEVER done me wrong. Ive even had a rush credit enforced when i called. Everyone was helpful on the phone and took security measures to make sure it was me(the owner of the account) calling.

 

PLUS: money there immediately and they take out the fees from that.

 

NEG: they plaster "paypal" all over the ipn. That was the ONLY reason i didnt use it myself and just sprung for the actual merchant account.

Posted

Is there any way to set up PayPal so that the customer's name and address gets passed to the PayPal site and is pre-filled into the form? Is that the difference in any of the new PayPal modules as opposed to what's included in the stock OSCommerce installation?

Posted

PayPal is probably the cheapest reliable credit card processor on the internet. When I signed up for my merchant account the discount rate was only slightly below...they've since raised their rates. I'm unfortunately locked into a contract with them.

 

Yes, they process PayPal all over their site (and thus your checkout, if you use them) but this can be seen as a positive. Because PayPal is well known, those who know and use the system on a regular basis are comforted seeing PayPal in the checkout. Those who don't know what PayPal is will likely see it as an inconvenience, but most won't use it if there's another credit card option.

 

My solution has been to offer both. I've found that people who use PayPal on a regular basis like to use their PayPal account and will choose that over using my regular credit card processor. Those who don't use PayPal will use the regular processor. I think the split has been about 80/20 in favor of the credit card processor, but I'm happy for the business of those who use PayPal just as much as the others.

 

There are plenty of horror stories about PayPal "freezing" accounts for "suspicious activity" - I've never had a problem with it or known anyone personally who did. I would, however, recommend that you not keep more money in your PayPal account than you can afford to lose. It doesn't cost anything to have it sent over to your bank, so do it early and often. If PayPal freezes $500 of my money, I'll be in trouble - but if they freeze $50 it won't be such a big deal.

 

There is a way to pre-fill the account information into the PayPal forms. I believe that code is posted in the thread for the PayPal IPN contribution. There are several contributions available that take advantage of the IPN system, but I use PayPal IPN .981 and have had no problems with it. Judging by the forum traffic I've seen the others are difficult at best and buggy at worst - but I've never used them so I'm not in a place to be passing judgement.

Chris Dunning

osCommerce, Contributions Moderator Team

 

Please do not send me PM! I do not read or answer these often. Use the email button instead!

 

I do NOT support contributions other than my own. Emails asking for support on other people's contributions will be ignored. Ask in the forum or contact the contribution author directly.

Posted

Definitely do not keep money in your Paypal account as they will freeze your account quite often if it is a busy account. Last month they froze my account twice in one week for what they said were "suspicious" activities. Funny thing was that I only used the account twice and each time I used it they froze my account afterward. Once was for a $7.70 transaction at the post office and later in the week was when I bought $20 in gas...both times using my "convenient" PP debit card. They seem to love it when money goes into your account but do not want you to be able to use it. I would never use Paypal as my main processor for this reason. I do still accept Paypal on my site as well as process cards through my merchant account. It is only there as a convenience for my customers with Paypal balances they want to use...otherwise I would toss them as a payment method. Luckily very few customers choose the PP option over the standard credit card processing. Just my opinion.

Posted

a minority of customers have a paypal accounts - a majority of customers have a credit/debit card.

Your online success is Paramount.

Posted

But PayPal now processes credit/debit cards, just like 2CO does. You no longer need to have or create a PayPal account to use it, either.

 

Customers who want to pay for their purchases on my site with a Visa/Mastercard can do so through the PayPal module now, without ever having to have a PayPal account.

 

I have not had any account freezes and I've had my PayPal account since 1998- but I've only been really selling with it frequently for the past six months.

 

My biggest worry is that I might run into the "account-freeze" issue. I don't know why this would happen, but I have heard it happening to other people.

 

I'm starting my online store literally on a shoe string budget and if it weren't for PayPal allowing me to access my funds immediately, I'd have a tough time.

 

Does anyone who uses PayPal to process their credit cards think that offering only PayPal's cc process (now that you no longer have to create a PayPal account, I mean) loses customers?

 

Since I need access to my funds immediately to buy product I guess I really don't have a choice for the time being.

 

Thanks again for all of the input.

Posted

I think having only PayPal will definitely turn customers away. Many people look at a store that only uses PayPal (or one of its clones) as being an amateur operation. I don't think there are many large ecommerce sites that use PayPal at all, much less as their only processor. Having your own credit card processing gives you a higher status in many people's eyes.

Chris Dunning

osCommerce, Contributions Moderator Team

 

Please do not send me PM! I do not read or answer these often. Use the email button instead!

 

I do NOT support contributions other than my own. Emails asking for support on other people's contributions will be ignored. Ask in the forum or contact the contribution author directly.

Posted

What is the cost of a merchant account? And how do you get your shipping charges to show up when you use Pay Pal? My shipping charges always show zero when customers use Pay Pal through my online store........ Thanks.....

 

Dave

Posted

The cost of a merchant account can vary considerably. I personally pay 25c and 2.4% of each transaction, $5 monthly for my account and $10 monthly for my authorize.net gatway. You can probably find a better deal if you shop around - I've been offered several better deals since then, but I'm unfortunately locked into a contract. I've actually not been very satisfied with the service I've received from this company and I don't think I'd recommend them. I would, however, recommend authorize.net as a gateway. I've had absolutely no problems in the 6 months that I've been dealing with them.

Chris Dunning

osCommerce, Contributions Moderator Team

 

Please do not send me PM! I do not read or answer these often. Use the email button instead!

 

I do NOT support contributions other than my own. Emails asking for support on other people's contributions will be ignored. Ask in the forum or contact the contribution author directly.

  • 3 weeks later...
Posted

It is my understanding that PayPal has a merchant account system now. I'd rather deal with taking Visa/MC directly with PayPal then dealing with some company like authorize.net - I have had MORE problems with authorize.net and would rather stay away.

 

There is a way to get PayPal to act like a merchant I just haven't figure it out yet.

 

Rebecca

http://www.chippewapublishing.com

http://www.vampirebookclub.com

Posted

Act like a merchant account, as in transparent operation so the customer doesn't know that you're using PayPal? That would be a big step forward, but I don't think they're going to do it. Last time I read anything about it, PayPal's opinion was that their hosting the payment system was a big part of their business model. The felt that customers would feel more secure knowing that their payment information was being provided to a payment processor that they already know and trust, rather than some unknown website that was going to do who-knows-what with their credit card number.

Chris Dunning

osCommerce, Contributions Moderator Team

 

Please do not send me PM! I do not read or answer these often. Use the email button instead!

 

I do NOT support contributions other than my own. Emails asking for support on other people's contributions will be ignored. Ask in the forum or contact the contribution author directly.

  • 6 months later...
Posted

Well check this out. I was hired to develop a website for client in Nov 2004. Client signed up for paypal account in December 2004. Well a few days ago, client received email saying his account was frozen because his name matched a name on the Bank of England List! and he has to send his 1. Drivers License/Passport, 2. His Corporate Documents and Licenses, 3. A utitlity bill to prove his address !!!!!

 

 

This is ridiculous. The site is not even Live yet. They froze it with zero balance. But I thank God we got to experience this before site went live.

 

I can tell you will be handling CC through CC Terminal and Bank Merchant Account.

 

:::Edited:::

 

US Based Paypal account by the way

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