To clarify, you added stripe as a new payment option and you're running both in parallel now right? I didn't think there was a way to get your old PayPal subscribers moved over.
How I Converted My Subscription Site from Paypal to Stripe in 2 Days
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Re: How I Converted My Subscription Site from Paypal to Stripe in 2 Days
#22Can you create subscriptions with Stripe on the fly? My wife runs a subscription business but pricing is based on the products the person chooses so my subscription rate is always variable. When I first looked at Stripe it seemed like I had to have subscription + prices created beforehand.
Yup, we have an API to create plans - https://stripe.com/docs/api#plans
Re: How I Converted My Subscription Site from Paypal to Stripe in 2 Days
#23Keep an eye on Dwolla.com if you want an alternative payment system without the 2.9% transaction fee.
2.9% is a pretty good rate when you want to accept credit cards. I suspect most companies would like to accept credit cards...
Re: How I Converted My Subscription Site from Paypal to Stripe in 2 Days
#24To clarify, you added stripe as a new payment option and you're running both in parallel now right? I didn't think there was a way to get your old PayPal subscribers moved over.
Yes. I made stripe the main payment option and left paypal as a second option. There is no automated way (that I know of) to move customers from paypal to stripe.
Re: How I Converted My Subscription Site from Paypal to Stripe in 2 Days
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm also based in Canada (Mtl) and I has been waiting for months for their international support. What were the other reasons (if you wan to share)? I'm interested in the experience of making US companies from Canada and what are the time and money expenses this generates.
We're also in Montreal! One big reason we went US was to avoid Bill 101 and all the language restrictions it entails. It was going to really slow us down. We also like the access to US capital that setting up in the States allows for. An LLC is an amazing thing that we don't have in Canada. It provides limited liability while freeing you from the governance requirements that a corporation has. As a bootstrapped start…
>If you need any more details about how we set it up, send us a shout!
If you have the chance, could you do a blog/HN post about this? I'd love to understand how this is done as well.
Re: How I Converted My Subscription Site from Paypal to Stripe in 2 Days
#26Stripe is easier to deal with and Stripe is also much faster than PayPal.
Stripe gives way more flexibility in billing.
However in order to use that flexibility I think it's better to dump the whole subscription model and don't even use IPN. I think all subscription management should be handled in-house.
Yes, main subscription use-cases are handled ok in Stripe plan/subscription model. But there are so many edge cases that dealing with external subscription model is way too hard (too hard in Stripe and even harder in PayPal).
For example, what if customer does not upgrade the plan, but downgrades? How would proration work in that case?
Or what if Stripe cannot charge credit card for a day or two because it's over the credit limit? When do I cancel premium membership? How do I reinstate premium membership if card started to work? What if user managed to resubscribe again using different credit card, but user's previous subscription started working after that and I got IPN about successful payment?
What if the card is permanently unchargable and how do I differentiate between permanent problems with credit card from temporary problems?
My solution to that is to always initiate payment from my web site (or from my backend service for recurrent payments). Do not delegate charge initiation to Stripe subscription.
Re: How I Converted My Subscription Site from Paypal to Stripe in 2 Days
#27Stripe is easier to deal with and Stripe is also much faster than PayPal. Stripe gives way more flexibility in billing. However in order to use that flexibility I think it's better to dump the whole subscription model and don't even use IPN. I think all subscription management should be handled in-house. Yes, main subscription use-cases are handled ok in Stripe plan/subscription model. But there are so many edge case…
This post is exactly why I use Spreedly (for my subscription product), because writing code for all the edge cases would cost me a metric truckload more than the pittance I pay them every month.
Re: How I Converted My Subscription Site from Paypal to Stripe in 2 Days
#28Stripe is easier to deal with and Stripe is also much faster than PayPal. Stripe gives way more flexibility in billing. However in order to use that flexibility I think it's better to dump the whole subscription model and don't even use IPN. I think all subscription management should be handled in-house. Yes, main subscription use-cases are handled ok in Stripe plan/subscription model. But there are so many edge case…
> For example, what if customer does not upgrade the plan, but downgrades? How would proration work in that case?
Stripe deals with the prorata and credits the customers account next billing cycle.
> what if Stripe cannot charge credit card for a day or two
Stripe re-trys at time intervals you specify
> What if user managed to resubscribe again using different credit card
Stripe handles the connection because a subscription and card is attached to a customer object. Stripe will intelligently tie all this up and only charge the customer once even if two cards are entered.
> What if the card is permanently unchargable
After a specified number of failed charges stripe will send you a separate webhook at which point you know this is a completely failed card. Simply send the user an email and ask them to re-enter card details. If the card authenticates stripe will tie things together and correctly charge for the subscription.
Re: How I Converted My Subscription Site from Paypal to Stripe in 2 Days
#29Keep an eye on Dwolla.com if you want an alternative payment system without the 2.9% transaction fee.
Why do I have this scummy feeling about Dwolla? Was it something I read? I have this feeling that they're going to evaporate as soon as sites start taking Dwolla payments and there's a reason for them to be targeted by criminals... will 25 cents per transaction really cover the fraud-prevention excellence they need to develop?
I really think this is the case of their website design not giving a feeling of quality... Their design is OK... but I bet if they could give the site a softer look and have it convey a feeling of assurance/reliability - they'ed have a much better product... I realize design is a small part of the equation, but it goes a long way in gaining trust in the brand... Right now their site gives me the feeling of "stodgy corporate", slightly sketch... they need to fix that... stripe in comparison gives me the feeling of "cool", "reliably", "smart"... i'm just one dude though... who has been regrettably using authorize.net - so take it with a grain of salt...
Re: How I Converted My Subscription Site from Paypal to Stripe in 2 Days
#30Stripe is easier to deal with and Stripe is also much faster than PayPal. Stripe gives way more flexibility in billing. However in order to use that flexibility I think it's better to dump the whole subscription model and don't even use IPN. I think all subscription management should be handled in-house. Yes, main subscription use-cases are handled ok in Stripe plan/subscription model. But there are so many edge case…
Agreed. Pricing is too important to let someone else set all the rules. I'm not saying that Stripe did a bad job with their subscription system, but I think it's a mistake to let someone else make all the decisions when it comes to such a critical aspect of your business.
For example, I personally don't like prorating costs. I want my customers to be able to make changes and play around with the new features before deciding to pay. I also don't like the idea of having a few plans and forcing every single customer into one of them. I want everyone to use the software how they want, and pay based on that usage. These are important business decisions that would be impossible (or at least very difficult) if I used a pre-made subscription system.
Luckily Stripe makes it incredibly easy to roll your own subscription system.