Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Why did we switch from Braintree to Stripe?

deekit.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 62 posts

Re: Why did we switch from Braintree to Stripe?

#51

Post by blakenomad »

angryasian wrote: post #40
sparrish wrote: post #24

I'm confused. We've been Braintree customers for 6+ years now and they provide both "pro-rata pricing" and "discount model" based on more than time. I can provide screenshots that show both features for subscriptions and transactions. So confused right now.

Reading this article I thought the same thing. The reasons they decided to switch sounds like just a lack of understanding the the Braintree offerings. The title should be titled "We switched because Stripe's documentation was better and we didn't want to learn Braintree's"

Yep! As we mentioned in the article, it was poor scoping from our part which we 100% own up to. Equally though after pushing on with Stripe after the transition we have found it way more suited to our particular needs.

That's not to say Braintree wouldn't work for others. As we stated, it's an awesome solution and we couldn't fault their support at all.

Re: Why did we switch from Braintree to Stripe?

#53

Post by makaio »

Sholmesy wrote: post #31
thsowers wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's great to know for the future, i'll definitely keep that in mind going forward. I dug back and some of my last correspondence with them includes: >However, we do not offer proactive phone support for self-serve users who have integrated and whose questions do not require an immediate call. For further context, a large portion of our users are self-serve, and the majority of their questions are effectively handl…

Good info, thanks. We are a decent sized company now, so maybe that's why we have a rep. I'd be surprised if Braintree offers reps to every 1 man start up though. From a scale perspective doesn't really make sense, and yeah you'd get plenty of 'web devs' that are stitching together some code they don't understand and then asking stripe why it doesn't work...

As far as I can tell, they really do offer phone support to every 1 man startup. I've dealt with them on behalf of both higher and lower-volume clients, and in all cases their support was available via phone and very helpful. And they list the phone number very publicly on their contact page.

Re: Why did we switch from Braintree to Stripe?

#54

Post by Scarbutt »

Teichopsia wrote: post #32

As someone starting out (and still learning) what may be the recommended way of going about this? I can't seem to find a payment processor that I trust to send payments to Central America (from the few I have seen - Braintree and stripe don't). There are a few caveats to this, unfortunately. My plan is to do all the legal work through the e-Estonia program but can't get started since I would need to fly out to pick u…

If you can afford the trip, open a company in Ireland (supported by Stripe) where taxes are much lower than the U.S.

Re: Why did we switch from Braintree to Stripe?

#56

Post by spitfire »

Teichopsia wrote: post #46
kuldar wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another vote for Stripe supporting Estonia. As for e-residency, I believe you can also pick up the card at your local embassy.

Just double checked. There are only three pick up locations on this side of the world and they are all in the U.S.

There's an embassy/consulate in Ottawa. Also the ambassador travels and you can pick them up when they travel.

Check with your local embassy/consulate and ask about their travel schedule.

NB: I too would like to see Stripe support Estonia. They've been dragging their feet long enough that "soon" is now feeling like an insult.

Re: Why did we switch from Braintree to Stripe?

#57

Post by jwr »

I chose Braintree over Stripe for my application. Want to know why? Because Stripe doesn't want to do business with me. Stripe only operates in a limited number of countries. Until they decide to actually allow me to use them, articles like these are, well, amusing I guess.

Re: Why did we switch from Braintree to Stripe?

#58

Post by iamcreasy »

droopyEyelids wrote: post #18
thoughtpalette wrote: post #3

Great write up with drawing comparisons between the two. I've looked into Braintree as I have some colleagues that work there (Easy tech support channel) and the Ignition program (first $50k transaction fees waived) seemed like a no brainer for lean startup implementation. Had no issues with the node API and the documentation was very helpful. That being said, I've seen nothing but praise for Stripe payments. The dev…

Braintree stripe and PayPal all have similar reserve policies. You don't hear about people getting upset with Braintree (or Stripe) because when someone integrates with Braintree they're aware they're making a business decision and they read the contract, and have probably looked into getting their own merchant account and have an idea of the lay of the land. You do hear about people getting upset with PayPal because…

> concept of a reserve

Can you please explain what it is?

Re: Why did we switch from Braintree to Stripe?

#59

Post by danielvf »

iamcreasy wrote: post #58
droopyEyelids wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Braintree stripe and PayPal all have similar reserve policies. You don't hear about people getting upset with Braintree (or Stripe) because when someone integrates with Braintree they're aware they're making a business decision and they read the contract, and have probably looked into getting their own merchant account and have an idea of the lay of the land. You do hear about people getting upset with PayPal because…

> concept of a reserve Can you please explain what it is?

From the stripe TOS:

> All funds resulting from Charges are held in pooled clearing accounts (the “Clearing Accounts”) with our Financial Services Partners. We will make Transfers to and from the Clearing Accounts in the manner described in this Agreement; however, you have no rights to the Clearing Accounts or to any funds held in the Clearing Accounts, you are not entitled to draw funds from the Clearing Accounts, and you will not receive interest from funds maintained in the Clearing Accounts.

> In certain circumstances, we may require you to place funds in reserve or to impose conditions on the release of funds (each a “Reserve”). We may impose a Reserve on you for any reason if we determine that the risk of loss to Stripe, Customers, or others associated with your Stripe Account is higher than normal. For example, we may hold a Reserve if: (i) your or your Customers’ activities increase the risk of loss to us or to your Customers, (ii) you have violated or are likely to violate this Agreement, and (iii) your Stripe Account has an elevated or abnormally high number of Disputes. If we impose a Reserve, we will establish the terms of the Reserve and provide you Notice of the amount, timing, and conditions upon which the funds in the Reserve will be released to you. In many cases, the Reserve amount will be the entire amount of Charges processed using the Payment Services. We may change or condition the terms of the Reserve based on our continuous assessment and understanding of the risks associated with your Stripe Account, if required to do so by Financial Services Providers, or for any other reason. We may fund the Reserve with funds processed through your use of Payment Services, by debiting the Payout Account or another bank account associated with your Stripe Account, or by requesting funds directly from you.

> To the extent possible, we prefer to identify the necessity for a Reserve in advance of establishing one. If you are concerned that we will impose a Reserve on you due to the nature of your business activities, please contact us before using the Services.

Re: Why did we switch from Braintree to Stripe?

#60

Post by mynameisvlad »

jwr wrote: post #57

I chose Braintree over Stripe for my application. Want to know why? Because Stripe doesn't want to do business with me. Stripe only operates in a limited number of countries. Until they decide to actually allow me to use them, articles like these are, well, amusing I guess.

"doesn't want to do business with me" is a bit much. I'm sure they'd love to do business with as many companies as possible, but finance is one of the most regulated industries in most countries; it's not trivial to enter new markets.
Post reply on HN