Forum Moderators: buckworks
Please tell me, we would like to place "Paypal" as option for the users, till date we have "Visa, Mater Card, Discover & American Express" option but we would like to know how much impact it will have by providing "Paypal".
Please anyone can tell me in detail advantages and dis advantages placing "Paypal" option.
Waiting for the reply,
James Peterson.
IMO, Advantages of offering PP along with VS/MC/AMEX/DS:
Offering customers more choices leads to more sales
Disadvantages:
Having to deal with additional sales.
Having to transfer those funds into our checking account...
[edited by: lorax at 1:13 am (utc) on Mar. 15, 2008]
[edit reason] fixed url [/edit]
1. Bad orders freeze your account quickly
2. Customer service can take up to 3 months to verify/dispute anything that may have frozen your account.
3. Money takes 3+ business days to transfer out. PayPal is quick to reverse those deposits even on the 3rd day should your account even be 1 cent in the red. For example if you have a customer dispute they automatically freeze funds and you have a certain time frame to respond through paypal before they start freezing your ability to run transactions and if you do setup a transfer to cover stated funds it will take 3 days for that payment to be processed and up to 3 months for the dispute once again to be cleared.
I got bit. HARD by fraud. We implemented some 3rd party processes & scrubbing and now were doing great, but i have yet to get full access to my paypal account because of that and the time it takes to get everything back online.
Also, if you lose paypal - there are no 3rd party api compatible services. I'm not talking about losing because your business is illegitimate but losing your account because (*&$!@ happens.
Fraud is also a big concern. You have to be on top of distinguishing "Verified" buyers vs "non verified" and make that part of your terms of service. PayPal has the absolute worse built in fraud detection and relies entirely upon customer and retailer abuse reports and often thats WAY to late so make sure that your API and business processes incorporate those risks to cover your but.
Personally, I *WISH* Google checkout made an option for a "paypal compatible" api so you could run through the same type of checkout process and integrate them similarly - level the playing field and standardize somewhat and use the service that provides the best service - not the "only" of that type of service.
Me, i love authorize.net + maxmind + authorize.net fraud protection. If i have a problem with an authorize.net reseller or a specific merchant account i can change providers instantly and be api compatible.
If you have a bad run wit paypal, you have to remove the integration and shutdown the service/functionality as well as risk losing open orders/funds or pending payments during that time - much more so than say authorize.net or other major gateways and merchant systems.
I can recall only a handful of "temporary holds" on individual transactions, all resolved (hold released) in less than 24 hours.
No chargebacks, and never been scammed via PayPal.
But we sell in a VERY low-risk industry. And sell to US only.
If we sold electronics or some other high-risk category, I'm sure my perspective would be different.
As always, your mileage may vary.
1 – Never had it happen, the only time our account was frozen was the first few days during account verification
2 – Never had it happen, disputes have always been handled within two-weeks.
3 – The only time our transfers from Paypal to our bank take more than two days are weekends and banking holidays.
Sometimes I wonder if there is another Paypal out there when I read the horror stories.
