Forum Moderators: buckworks
I've looked over the current payment options and as much as I'd really like to support Brett & the site I think I'll have to pass because at the moment the payment options are not at all appealling.
PayPal - I don't trust them, not least of all because they aren't willing to be bound by the same rules as regular banks, they also require that they are allowed to hold my details for what amounts to a one-off payment.
2CheckOut - I had a look at this and got the impression that I was buying a subscript+rebill, this on top of the little description text saying "subscription-6m" for the 12 month option unnerved me enough to put me off this method.
Check/Cheque - I'm sorry but the chance of paying an intl .site drops to a very low % for me when I can't make payment over the net. First off we have the fact that I've got to mail something over the ocean, secondly I need to get a money order made up to USD - it's too much effort for what amounts to an impulse purchase.
I don't have a problem paying for things I can see the worth of (and I do the see the worth of being a member here) but if Brett really wants people to support the site there's got to be a nicer way to give them the money.
- Tony
It is not easy, and there are charges everywhere.
Absolutely! When I present a US cheque here in Australia the banks see that as an opportunity to charge like the proverbial wounded bull. Not an equitable solution I am afraid.
Onya
Woz
Only for example I am in Thailand I could write a cheque in Thai Baht and send it over but there can often be charges at the other end.
Of course the sender can stipulate to the bank that all charges should be paid by the sender but this does not always work (I have worked in banks so know a little about this myself).
Alternatively I could buy a US$ dollar cheque by converting currency etc but again there can be problems with charges at the other end.
Plus then there are different international laws for sending certain currencies to overseas banks. This was tightened after the 1997 crisis.
Basically what I am saying is that a cheque would be the last option, a transfer would be easier, but like I have said before credit card is the 21st century solution I have never had a problem with Amazon etc so why should I here?
ADD IN
Just to add in if I was not interested in giving Brett US$ 189 a year (the price from memory) I would not care how he goes about it, but I would like to join because it is a great community.
Anguilla, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom
That covers a good 95-98% of our audidence. If PP won't take their creditcard, then I have to wonder why I should either? That 2-5% is where the problems are at that take time and money to resolve.
If we were shipping a product and could confirm receipt - that would be a different level, but being service oriented, it's either now-or-never.
>Woz
Agreed Woz, and we've had many from Aus use PP - one just today. No problem.
Alternatively I could buy a US$ dollar cheque by converting currency etc but again there can be problems with charges at the other end.
I don't want to speak for Brett, but I think that would work for him.
Listen, the system that is in place right now is not perfect, but that is not reason enough to not support the forums if you feel the need to do so. I am sure that Brett will take all of the feedback into account and make changes to the payment options if he feels it necessary. In the meantime, a subscription / donation can be made to the forums with a little bit of effort that is dwarfed by the amount of effort that is put into making the forums available in the first place.
PayPal is ultimately a form of bank, you can put money in and take it out.
When a website says you can pay by PayPal or X I always walk away, because I feel that any site that asks me to join another bank (fill in forms with extremely personal info) etc. is not worth it. I already have my own banks and am happy with them.
I am amazed that a site on marketing and SEO has gone in this direction.
Because for me it is logical as in a high street store that that store should accept the most forms of payment possible and also the easiest. If the shop says we only accept this and this many walk away if the shop says we accept this but first you must join this it gets worse.
Plus I would like to ask where are people getting this idea that Thailand and Indonesia have high levels of cc fraud? Any official stats on this.
The reason paypal may not work with Thailand or other countries is most likely to be a governmental policy thing than fraud.
I have never ever had a problem with my CC in either of those countries, and it should not unless it is actual fact be made out that there is such a problem here.
Visit_Thailand, I don't think its exclusively Thailand or Indonesia but any country without an established financial infrastructure is suspect.
With Thailand, I almost lost $400 USD on a Paypal scam. Scammers registered a stolen credit card to pay me. My mistake was to Express two large hard drives to Thailand. Once I found out the payment was fraudulent, I tried to stop shipment. But it was too late and the scammers took off with the hardware. Meanwhile, Paypal froze my account pending an investigation. They were going to withdraw the payment from my account, but I instead requested they take the loss instead. Amazingly, they agreed and I was only out the actual cost of the merchandise (~$200) and Express shipping. I am grateful to them for this and have made me a lifetime customer.
it's not about credit card validation / verification, it's about the entire paypal registration. i now have two perfectly valid cards that i cannot use with paypal because they have already been registered and i cannot access the accounts. i have two perfectly valid email addresses registered with paypal - can't use them again either. as far as i know paypal accepted my cards - they certainly thought my cards were valid enough to deduct the sign up fee. nowhere else has any problem with them.
2-5%? nobody taking payments by paypal can tell how much business / income they lose through paypal registration failures that have nothing to do with card validation or how much they lose through unwillingness to use a system that didn't work before.
at least there is 2checkout now, so i'll be able to sign up ......
5.5% + $0.45 is the 2checkout fee.
2.9% + $0.30 is the paypal fee (standard rate).
--------------------------
2.6% + $0.15 is the fee difference.
Then fee for $89.00 is $2.50, while fee for $149.00 is $4.00. And if there is to be only one fee, make it $4.00. In my opinion, that seems more fair to me.
You can do the math yourself if you want:
We will see in six months, but I will probably comp everyone an extra month for those that use 2co to account for the extra upfront fee.
you could *fully* automate membership / donations if you use the right system and use it properly
>>We will see in six months, but I will probably comp
>>everyone an extra month for those that use 2co to account
>>for the extra upfront fee.
an excellent start on the road to alientating members and cutting subscription income. i get a lot of advice and help from webmasterworld. i share my knowledge and give my advice in return. i'm more than willing to financially support webmasterworld by becoming a subscriber / member, but i'm not willing to bugger about with paypal again and i have moral objections to "paying extra" to subscribe through another system. i can live without the full subscriber / membership option.
two perfectly valid cards that i cannot use with paypal because they have already been registered and i cannot access the accounts.
CF, What is this all about?
In the states, they typically cost $0.49 + postage to send.
;)
I don't see how a third party processing charge is different from a third party shipping charge.
Do you really think Amazon would have been so succesfull if they had not accepted all major credit cards and only accepted PayPal?! Not a chance.
What would you think if your favourite International Airline decided no longer to accept the major cc's and go for PayPal instead?! Again not a chance.
Look at any major company and they will accept most if not all majopr credit cards directly not through some thrid party like PayPal which people have to inconvenience themselves with joining etc.
That alone says a lot.
I humbly think that an invaluable website such as this is which all about SEO and marketing would understand this.
Ps. Also for those that say they only lost X sales - one cannot say that as if the customer knows that the shop does not accept the cc they have they are more likely to go elsewhere. Here in Thailand Home Pro did not used to accept Amex, ultimately they lost my entire home, and office furniture orders because of it. Now they do accept Amex (not because of me but they understood they were losing business).
Anyway I have said my piece on this, there is not much point in my going on.
