Payment System suggestions

Currently using PayPal but want something that will give me more control

[Bluey]

Hello,

I have a website where I have independent contractors in different countries that offer a service to our customers. We use PayPal at the moment which is working ok but as I expand the operations I want a payment system where I can track all payments and receive 5% of the service fee's automatically.

Because I have independent contractors, they currently send invoices throught their own Paypal accounts - this is good as they work and are paid independently of me and I want to keep it that way. However, I have no reliable way to track their sales and recieve a commission. This is fine for now but I want to have a better system in place before I expand.

Any suggestions gratefully received. Do I need to pay for a customized solution or is there any payment method already out there that would suffice? ALternatively, is there anyway to track payments and then just send an invoice to my contractors (not sure that's the right term - I want them to pay me not the other way around!)

Many thanks.

[Bluey]

Anyone...?

[Corey Bryant]

So right now - you are not tracking any payments? I might be misunderstanding what you need

-Corey

[Miklo]

It seems that you are looking for some sort of affiliate system, am I right?

However, if you want to be paid by them instead of the other way around, they should start an affiliate program as far as I know.

Could you be more specific in your explanation?

[Beagle]

Sounds something like a franchise system. Would that be a fair comparison? (No answer to your question, just trying to understand it.)

[pp_rb]

If it's something where you could charge the customer up front, and have them pay into your PayPal account, you could then use the Mass Pay API to send the payment & order (minus your commission) over to the contractor's account. However, that assumes you know the cost for the contractor's services up front.

[Bluey]

Thanks everyone,

apologies for not being clearer - when you are immersed in your own website you think everyone knows what you are on about...

Let me clarify: The site offers a service to customers. Customers place requests and the transaction is carried out by one of the "affiliates/ service person". The affiliate receives payment via their PayPal accounts (this is in 2 instalments - 1st for the service fee, 2nd for shipping and other costs).

As the owner of the site, I want to be able to receive a 5% commission of the service fee (but not the other associated costs) and monitor the transactions.

As it stands, I am not receiving any commissions. I want to investigate the options before expanding so that I can take a slice of the pie!

Let me know if I am still being as clear as mud.

Many thanks as ever.

[pp_rb]

The Mass Pay API from PayPal might make it easy to pass on the payment amounts minus commission. However, it sounds like you still have to figure out the trickier part - getting the customer to pay you insteading of paying directly to the contractor/affiliate. If this is a system where the customer can negotiate for the price, then it's going to be even harder. :)

[Bluey]

Hi pp_rb,

Ideally I don't want any part of the transaction between customer and affiliate. My affiliates work as "self-employed" and the transaction is between them and the customer.

I want to get a cut of their service fee and know how many transactions they have.

In a way it is similar to Ebay - they know how many transactions you make and take a cut.

Cheers,

[Corey Bryant]

It sounds like you are possibly a broker?

-Corey

[Bluey]

Yes, I suppose I could be considered a broker. Is there a payment system out there I could use or will I need something customised?

[Bluey]

I've done quite a bit of searching online and there are many companies offering payment solutions for individual businesses.

The difference with my site is that it is in effect a collection of small business and the payment systems need to work independently so that x funds go to x bank account not a central one.

I just want to monitor the transactions and get a commission!

[Corey Bryant]

Well it sounded like you almost wanted to be a third party processor - which costs a lot of money and is very difficult to really set up.

Is all of this - well is it something that is the same thing almost? I mean - all services for computer help, etc?

-Corey

[Miklo]

Corey is probably right. This sounds like you want to be an aggregator, which is no longer allowed by the credit card companies.

I think you need another solution, unfortunately, I really don't have a clue.

[Bluey]

thanks anyway. I think I will just try and keep track of the sales and send an invoice each month.

It was worth double-checking - maybe if and when Google brings out their PayPal competition they will have something that might work...

[globalissa]

It IS POSSIBLE to create a web system that accepts online credit card (or other offline) payment and to clone this system for use by multiple contractors/reps who process their own credit card data offline using a regular bank merchant account which will obviously save the rep a whole lot of money by cutting out the web middleman and give the site owner complete transaction history if their reps are required to run all transactions thru their own account on the website.