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Stripe And A/B Testing Made Me A Small Fortune

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Re: Stripe And A/B Testing Made Me A Small Fortune

#81

Post by jusben1369 »

TomGullen wrote: post #7

> This means that their credit card details never hit your server. One thing I've been seeing recently is that some implementations using Stripe DO have the CC details hitting their server. The most common case being when Javascript is disabled the form posts to the website because the developer didn't design with graceful degradation, a dangerous mistake when mixed with credit card numbers. It doesn't appear to be a…

It's worth noting that we're talking about "degrees" of PCI compliance vs "I'm on the hook or I'm not on the hook" Implementing Stripe so that the data never touches your servers still requires you to complete a SAQ-A. That's just a LOT easier than if you are handling the data and have to complete a different SAQ.

Re: Stripe And A/B Testing Made Me A Small Fortune

#82

Post by zevyoura »

sulife wrote: post #61
Reebz wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not about figuring it out, the key thing here is transfer of risk. Its certainly won't be "bs" if you get a fine due to a breech.

There's about 5 million tutorials online how to do everything properly. < 1 day work for 1% of sales... HMMMMMMMMM. tough decision, not.

This kind of tone is generally looked down on here at HN. I think there's an argument to be made on your side, but you're doing an exceptionally poor job at making it in a civil and friendly way. I'm genuinely interested in the other side of the story, but you have to have the discussion in good faith.

Re: Stripe And A/B Testing Made Me A Small Fortune

#83

Post by jusben1369 »

jasonkester wrote: post #71
sulife wrote: post #5

Or spend a few hours, get a merchant account through a bank and authorize.net with much lower fees and a pretty standard API. Tons of classes to use authorize.net with and super simple... no point of adding ANOTHER layer... charging with a merchant account is trivial.

By hours, I assume you mean months. It took me just shy of two months to get my merchant account set up a couple years back. In theory, you could do it in less time, but only if you already have your business licensed, registered and a business bank account set up in exactly the right way. But since that's part of the list of things you need to do to get a traditional payment provider set up that Stripe doesn't requi…

I think it's fair to say Stripe solved 4 problems. i) The time it takes to get a merchant account. It is only 24 - 72 hours unless something really goes wrong through other channels but with Stripe it's immediate. ii) The probability you'll get a merchant account (not a slam dunk for startups but 100% with Stripe?) Many developers hate dealing with financial institutions and then getting turned down is a bit humiliating. All of that's removed and iii) A great API/documentation that people love (although a few others have that) and iv) Pricing that is very simple and straight forward.

In return for doing all that work for you their fees aren't as competitive as other alternatives. That's fair given the work they do.

Re: Stripe And A/B Testing Made Me A Small Fortune

#85

Post by jusben1369 »

alexmunroe wrote: post #69
TomGullen wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Basically, no. (I'm in the UK and am poised to jump to Stripe as soon as it becomes available).

There is the option of GoCardless ( https://gocardless.com/ ) in the UK, however they use the Direct Debit system rather than card processing which does somewhat limit you geographically.

Aren't they really the "Anti-Stripe" more akin to Dwolla? Banish Credit Cards altogether? Also, I heard there were changes in European direct deposit/ACH laws (the approach Gocardless takes) that will allow them to be European, not just UK, very soon.

Re: Stripe And A/B Testing Made Me A Small Fortune

#86

Post by corkill »

davidcuddeback wrote: post #76
corkill wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great to hear, I'm just praying they remove the need for a social security number in the US. One of the main reasons we chose the US to incorporate in was for access to business tools like this. But with neither founder having a SS number we can't use the service.

If you're signing up as a business, can't you provide an EIN instead of a SSN? I see the box for it in their account settings page, but since I'm using it as an individual, I haven't been able to test whether that works without an SSN.

Unfortunately you need a SSN and EIN.

https://answers.stripe.com/questions/if-i-have-an-ein-do-i-a...

Re: Stripe And A/B Testing Made Me A Small Fortune

#87

Post by sulife »

zevyoura wrote: post #82
sulife wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's about 5 million tutorials online how to do everything properly. < 1 day work for 1% of sales... HMMMMMMMMM. tough decision, not.

This kind of tone is generally looked down on here at HN. I think there's an argument to be made on your side, but you're doing an exceptionally poor job at making it in a civil and friendly way. I'm genuinely interested in the other side of the story, but you have to have the discussion in good faith.

Sorry for being honest. Would you prefer:

Stripe is an amazing service and their founders are amazing people. I wish I could blow them, but they probably wouldn't even let me b/c the VCs are already all over that. On the other hand, for people who enjoy saving money, becoming PCI compliant and saving 1% + trans fees is another alternative and there are numerous tutorials available to help anyone do that within a few hours even if you are severely autistic.

Re: Stripe And A/B Testing Made Me A Small Fortune

#88

Post by brittohalloran »

"Suffice it to say there is a) a customer group which needs between 8 and 15 cards and b) they really, really like pretty checkouts."

I think this is more "people who are on the margin where they MIGHT be interested in paying for more cards can be convinced when they hit the pretty checkout page". If you don't need more than 15 cards, you probably don't have a burning need for the paid version.

Re: Stripe And A/B Testing Made Me A Small Fortune

#89

Post by pclark »

sulife wrote: post #87
zevyoura wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This kind of tone is generally looked down on here at HN. I think there's an argument to be made on your side, but you're doing an exceptionally poor job at making it in a civil and friendly way. I'm genuinely interested in the other side of the story, but you have to have the discussion in good faith.

Sorry for being honest. Would you prefer: Stripe is an amazing service and their founders are amazing people. I wish I could blow them, but they probably wouldn't even let me b/c the VCs are already all over that. On the other hand, for people who enjoy saving money, becoming PCI compliant and saving 1% + trans fees is another alternative and there are numerous tutorials available to help anyone do that within a few…

No need to be an ass. Also, it's business 101 to focus on your core and outsource the rest: so yes, it absolutely is worth using stripe rather than building payment architecture yourself. You are probably the only person on Hacker News that thinks building all this yourself makes sense.

Re: Stripe And A/B Testing Made Me A Small Fortune

#90

Post by peterjancelis »

corkill wrote: post #86
davidcuddeback wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're signing up as a business, can't you provide an EIN instead of a SSN? I see the box for it in their account settings page, but since I'm using it as an individual, I haven't been able to test whether that works without an SSN.

Unfortunately you need a SSN and EIN. https://answers.stripe.com/questions/if-i-have-an-ein-do-i-a...

I don't want to speak in Stripe's name but I suggest emailing Stripe and asking for an account based on EIN.
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