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Bootstrapped, Profitable, & Proud: Braintree

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Re: Bootstrapped, Profitable, & Proud: Braintree

#11

Post by nantes »

LiveTheDream wrote: post #5
stevenbrianhall wrote: post #3

"Who are the customers Braintree decided to write off? “It was a fool’s errand to try selling medicine to those who hadn’t yet experienced pain. Payment processing is complex. It’s difficult for inexperienced merchants to recognize value. We’d spend countless hours trying to explain ‘pain’ and our cure but some just didn’t care because they hadn’t felt it yet...'" That's money right there. And noted for the future of…

Perverse idea/thought experiment: what about creating two versions of some service X which are ostensibly competitors; one is a free/cheap version A with no support and one is a much higher-priced, supported and professional version B. The answer to support requests on A would mostly be "no", with the occasional "if you want that, use service B". Sort of an extreme take on freemium/market segmentation. A acts simulta…

I vaguely remember that in my previous career in grocery management that diaper companies did something similar. I don't remember the brands/companies, but one brand would be positioned at the high end while another was at the low end. The high end had all the 'features' - moisture sensors, velco tabs, etc. This allowed the one company to garner more shelf space, and thus eyeballs, which brought higher market share.

Re: Bootstrapped, Profitable, & Proud: Braintree

#12

Post by bryanjohnson »

MicahWedemeyer wrote: post #8
bryanjohnson wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is Bryan from Braintree. I was working for a different company at the time I visited my former customers. I honored the one year non-compete I had with my former employer.

Out of curiosity, did you catch any flak from former colleagues? I can imagine many people would still be quite angry, even if you fulfilled your legal obligation.

No, I didn't.

Re: Bootstrapped, Profitable, & Proud: Braintree

#13

Post by haploid »

thematt wrote: post #9

For anyone who hasn't used them yet, it's the one-stop-shop and their API that really sets them apart from the competition. You submit one set of paperwork and they take care of all the accounts: merchant, gateway and api. No need to chase down different accounts and get them all working together. The fantastic API literally saved hundreds of hours of integration and build time, as the recurring billing, discounts an…

Well, the convenience sure does sound nice, but the rates are staggeringly high:

V/MC Non-Qualified: 2.89% + $.30

Cybersource+WFB clocks in at roughly half that for V/MC( although Amex rates are around that level ), with per-transaction at 10 cents or less.

Re: Bootstrapped, Profitable, & Proud: Braintree

#14

Post by bryanjohnson »

haploid wrote: post #13
thematt wrote: post #9

For anyone who hasn't used them yet, it's the one-stop-shop and their API that really sets them apart from the competition. You submit one set of paperwork and they take care of all the accounts: merchant, gateway and api. No need to chase down different accounts and get them all working together. The fantastic API literally saved hundreds of hours of integration and build time, as the recurring billing, discounts an…

Well, the convenience sure does sound nice, but the rates are staggeringly high: V/MC Non-Qualified: 2.89% + $.30 Cybersource+WFB clocks in at roughly half that for V/MC( although Amex rates are around that level ), with per-transaction at 10 cents or less.

If that’s the case, they’re losing money on your account because that pricing is below the wholesale bank costs (which is the same for everyone). You probably want to check the fine print or your monthly statement.

Our (Braintree) pricing is actually very competitive. It may look higher because we disclose all our fees. Nearly every provider we know obscures fees both during the sales process and in the monthly reporting statements so merchants never really understand what they're paying. Here's an example of pricing trickery http://www.braintreepaymentsolutions.com/blog/Costco-your-ma...

Re: Bootstrapped, Profitable, & Proud: Braintree

#15

Post by [deleted] »

bryanjohnson wrote: post #14
haploid wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, the convenience sure does sound nice, but the rates are staggeringly high: V/MC Non-Qualified: 2.89% + $.30 Cybersource+WFB clocks in at roughly half that for V/MC( although Amex rates are around that level ), with per-transaction at 10 cents or less.

If that’s the case, they’re losing money on your account because that pricing is below the wholesale bank costs (which is the same for everyone). You probably want to check the fine print or your monthly statement. Our (Braintree) pricing is actually very competitive. It may look higher because we disclose all our fees. Nearly every provider we know obscures fees both during the sales process and in the monthly repor…

[deleted]

Re: Bootstrapped, Profitable, & Proud: Braintree

#16

Post by tylerrooney »

Oh how I wish Braintree was accessible in Canada. We've haven't been very pleased with our payment processor as of late.

About a year ago I actually managed to get someone from Braintree talking with someone from Chase Paymentech Canada (since Braintree supports Chase Paymentech). Unfortunately, BT is integrated with CP Salem whereas CP Canada only processes through CP Tampa.

If anyone has tried to do this in the last year and succeeded, please comment.

Re: Bootstrapped, Profitable, & Proud: Braintree

#17

Post by cookiecaper »

I'm excited to give Braintree a go someday, but what I really wish is that someone would come up with a system that was orthogonal to and independent of the existing banking system.

The banks and the regulations make all real credit card processing a major PITA, and while Braintree eases the process, they are not an exception as far as I can tell. They still have to underwrite and they still have to vet accounts for underwriting. If you have bad credit or anything else that would prevent you from getting a loan, you're not going to be able to process cards without PayPal, which means it's difficult to bootstrap yourself out of a bad situation.

One of the main reasons I think Bitcoin is cool is because it's a great experimental platform for this kind of stuff.

Re: Bootstrapped, Profitable, & Proud: Braintree

#18

Post by xal »

tylerrooney wrote: post #16

Oh how I wish Braintree was accessible in Canada. We've haven't been very pleased with our payment processor as of late. About a year ago I actually managed to get someone from Braintree talking with someone from Chase Paymentech Canada (since Braintree supports Chase Paymentech). Unfortunately, BT is integrated with CP Salem whereas CP Canada only processes through CP Tampa. If anyone has tried to do this in the las…

We (Shopify) use braintree and are customers of Chase Paymentech. This is how we collect all our fees.

Re: Bootstrapped, Profitable, & Proud: Braintree

#19

Post by jacques_chester »

nantes wrote: post #11
LiveTheDream wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perverse idea/thought experiment: what about creating two versions of some service X which are ostensibly competitors; one is a free/cheap version A with no support and one is a much higher-priced, supported and professional version B. The answer to support requests on A would mostly be "no", with the occasional "if you want that, use service B". Sort of an extreme take on freemium/market segmentation. A acts simulta…

I vaguely remember that in my previous career in grocery management that diaper companies did something similar. I don't remember the brands/companies, but one brand would be positioned at the high end while another was at the low end. The high end had all the 'features' - moisture sensors, velco tabs, etc. This allowed the one company to garner more shelf space, and thus eyeballs, which brought higher market share.

Market segmentation is a common tactic. Different consumers want different things and are prepared to pay different prices. They will however lump together anything under the same name.

So, for example, Cheap'n'Nasty Nappies Co may have done very well in the bottom market segment. It will now struggle in the higher segment unless it invents a new brand, say Bling Slings Nappies, with some ostensible differences ("6 layers of plastic!") and a much higher price.

You will see this practice in every industry with large firms. They will own multiple brands in multiple market segments.

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