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Introduction To Online Payments - TL;DR: It's A Total Bitch

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Re: Introduction To Online Payments - TL;DR: It's A Total Bitch

#51

Post by seanharper »

theBobMcCormick wrote: post #3

I'm not sure why so many of these guides seem to operate under the assumption that having the transaction happen on someone else's server (ie, traditional Paypal, Google Checkout, Amazon Payments, etc.) is a bad thing. I would think it'd be a good thing. Google and Amazon in particular are well known and trusted brand names that most customers likely already do some amount of business with. I know that for my own onl…

Offsite checkout has a bad reputation for decreasing conversion rate. It would be interesting to have a really scientific a/b test, but the results will also differ between different customer bases.

Re: Introduction To Online Payments - TL;DR: It's A Total Bitch

#52

Post by seanharper »

bcl wrote: post #49

Just use PayPal. I've been using them for years with zero problems. Their fees work out to be about the same as I'd pay for a merchant account, but without all the development hassle. There is also a new player on the block, http://www.gunpal.com , which I'm looking to add as an option just on principle -- they don't discriminate based on what you are selling or buying like PayPal does.

Paypal has a pretty high per-item fee of 0.30 / transaction and a reasonably low (and fixed!!) percentage fee of 2.2%-2.9%.

Therefore, if you have an abnormally large average transactions size OR get paid mostly by other businesses, with their business cards OR have an abnormally large share of amex transactions, paypal will be more appealing from a cost perspective than it otherwise would be.

At TransFS.com we include them in the auction results because the answer of how paypal compares in price is actually different depending on your situation.

Re: Introduction To Online Payments - TL;DR: It's A Total Bitch

#53

Post by seanharper »

jasonlbaptiste wrote: post #24

is there some new innovative way around this problem specifically for SaaS/ web apps that charge businesses? (Ecommerce, consumer purchases, and virtual currencies are different beasts). - Could we put together some type of invoicing system/coalition that lets users sign-up then pay by check? ie- you signup for a paid web service such as 37 signals/freshbooks/etc. Agree to pay by check. If payment isn't received with…

Why not just do an ACH transaction? ACH is problematic because it is not very secure, but for subscription software can be a good solution since there is no cost of goods.

Re: Introduction To Online Payments - TL;DR: It's A Total Bitch

#54

Post by ekanes »

zefhous wrote: post #10

What frustrates me is that it's just so expensive to get started... I know that it's "just the cost of doing business" but it really bothers me that you have to give away ≈%3 of your revenue to get paid. Braintree claims that their pricing is very competitive. I don't doubt that it is, but being in business with them for a single year costs a minimum of $1659* (supposing you need recurring billing). That's a lot for…

You're thinking about it a little bit backwards. Don't let the fear of giving up 3% stop you from focusing on the 97% you do get! :)

Re: Introduction To Online Payments - TL;DR: It's A Total Bitch

#55

Post by zefhous »

ekanes wrote: post #54
zefhous wrote: post #10

What frustrates me is that it's just so expensive to get started... I know that it's "just the cost of doing business" but it really bothers me that you have to give away ≈%3 of your revenue to get paid. Braintree claims that their pricing is very competitive. I don't doubt that it is, but being in business with them for a single year costs a minimum of $1659* (supposing you need recurring billing). That's a lot for…

You're thinking about it a little bit backwards. Don't let the fear of giving up 3% stop you from focusing on the 97% you do get! :)

You're right to a degree, but don't you wish there was another way?

The entire online industry and everyone who takes credit has to hand over %3 to credit card processors, who take money from both sides of the transaction.

It just sucks, that's all I'm saying. I wish there was a better way...

Re: Introduction To Online Payments - TL;DR: It's A Total Bitch

#56

Post by bcl »

seanharper wrote: post #52
bcl wrote: post #49

Just use PayPal. I've been using them for years with zero problems. Their fees work out to be about the same as I'd pay for a merchant account, but without all the development hassle. There is also a new player on the block, http://www.gunpal.com , which I'm looking to add as an option just on principle -- they don't discriminate based on what you are selling or buying like PayPal does.

Paypal has a pretty high per-item fee of 0.30 / transaction and a reasonably low (and fixed!!) percentage fee of 2.2%-2.9%. Therefore, if you have an abnormally large average transactions size OR get paid mostly by other businesses, with their business cards OR have an abnormally large share of amex transactions, paypal will be more appealing from a cost perspective than it otherwise would be. At TransFS.com we inclu…

That's true. My transactions aren't small ($250+) so the per-transaction fee isn't a huge part of the cost.

Re: Introduction To Online Payments - TL;DR: It's A Total Bitch

#57

Post by detst »

pbz wrote: post #26
patio11 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

to have the transaction go through on your site makes it feel more official You tech people keep forgetting that reading a URL bar requires superpowers. I guaranteed you, having suffered many customer support incidents because of this: many people cannot tell the difference between getting redirected to Google/Paypal and the site they were originally on. (For that matter, a huge portion of my customers don't understa…

I agree with noticing the URL change, but what's a lot more noticeable is when the look of your site changes. They're used to your site's look and feel. When you direct them to a different site, even if it sort of looks like the original site, it's a big speed bump in the flow. Makes you stop and think (hey, what's going on?!) and question if you're in the right place (did I click the wrong button?!). You may even ge…

In my experience, some level of similarity (colors) is all that really matters. People have no problem accepting that the shopping cart and check out experience might be a little different.

You may feel different about it but the average person doesn't.

Re: Introduction To Online Payments - TL;DR: It's A Total Bitch

#58

Post by encoderer »

zefhous wrote: post #55
ekanes wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're thinking about it a little bit backwards. Don't let the fear of giving up 3% stop you from focusing on the 97% you do get! :)

You're right to a degree, but don't you wish there was another way? The entire online industry and everyone who takes credit has to hand over %3 to credit card processors, who take money from both sides of the transaction. It just sucks, that's all I'm saying. I wish there was a better way...

And if you're a consumer like me, you don't have a card in your wallet that's not paying you 2% cashback rewards.

Every merchant I visit is giving me 2% off with Visa and a bank in the middle to make sure of it.

Re: Introduction To Online Payments - TL;DR: It's A Total Bitch

#59

Post by billswift »

seanharper wrote: post #52
bcl wrote: post #49

Just use PayPal. I've been using them for years with zero problems. Their fees work out to be about the same as I'd pay for a merchant account, but without all the development hassle. There is also a new player on the block, http://www.gunpal.com , which I'm looking to add as an option just on principle -- they don't discriminate based on what you are selling or buying like PayPal does.

Paypal has a pretty high per-item fee of 0.30 / transaction and a reasonably low (and fixed!!) percentage fee of 2.2%-2.9%. Therefore, if you have an abnormally large average transactions size OR get paid mostly by other businesses, with their business cards OR have an abnormally large share of amex transactions, paypal will be more appealing from a cost perspective than it otherwise would be. At TransFS.com we inclu…

According to this site, http://www.merchantaccountblog.com/1027/a-comparison-of-3-al... , which was linked from the original article, the Google and Amazon payment systems have the same fees as PayPal.

Re: Introduction To Online Payments - TL;DR: It's A Total Bitch

#60

Post by bvi »

trevelyan wrote: post #39
zefhous wrote: post #10

What frustrates me is that it's just so expensive to get started... I know that it's "just the cost of doing business" but it really bothers me that you have to give away ≈%3 of your revenue to get paid. Braintree claims that their pricing is very competitive. I don't doubt that it is, but being in business with them for a single year costs a minimum of $1659* (supposing you need recurring billing). That's a lot for…

Try being a non-US business. The only people who would talk to us at the start wanted 5% plus. Totally ridiculous. Paypal isn't bad sometimes.

What option did you end up taking then? Any way you can go through the process?
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