Why is the Paypal website so slow?

ScirraTom
Contributor
Contributor

Hi there,

 

New to this forum.  I'm a web developer for Scirra.com

 

We sell mainly via Paypal.  Logging into Paypal, searching for transactions, the entire experience is frustratingly slow.

 

Why is the website so slow, and what are the plans to fix it?  If it continues to be as slow as it is we're happy to find a faster service.

 

Here's a breakdown of normal times I observe logging in and finding a transaction:

 

Paypal homepage: 3.5 seconds
Login page: 11 seconds
Processing login: 7 seconds
Getting to homepage: 12 seconds
Click history: 14.5 seconds
Click find a transaction: 4 seconds
Find a transaction on email: 11.5 seconds

 

I would expect a website like this to load under a few seconds per page.  Clicking the history button and it taking nearly 15 seconds is unusually poor performance.  I'm not even sure how you could write the history page to take that long to load.

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61 REPLIES 61

snakesteve
Contributor
Contributor

Hi, also very frustrated that a site with such market dominance can be so slow, especially when time is critical and time is money- our money- not paypals.

Can they not afford to bank up their servers so that when we get our fees summary, we at least don't have to wait for ages for it to loads.

Also- surely with my basic computer knowledge they just rely on databases, and can't the search options be more relevant. E.g. in order to find a specific transaction, I have to go to the transactions page, then adjust the date parameters, then search through the lists- this takes a couple of minutes for me. Why can't I just pump in some figures I know and let it do a field search and return the data list.

Paypal- get some good geeks to work on your site....please.

Probably timed me out now so copy and paste!!!!!( just did a spellcheck and "paypal" not recognised- I rest my case)

Cheers

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matrixkey
Contributor
Contributor

Ditto on the slowness.  Fast DSL here and a computer and network tech for decades so it's not my computer.  It's only been the last couple weeks or so here.  PayPal is the only slow site here.  It was actually timing out after several minutes when I was trying to download my history.  Each try took several minutes and most timed out.  I can't imagine why PayPal is having that sort of problem as time is money for them also.  They could well start losing customers and since many eBay sales are 'Buy-it-now' if you don't get it first then you'll probably go elsewhere if it's no longer available.  In some cases clicking the ' Buy-it-now' doesn't mean you get it unless payment is made and if your not first then you lose.  Then you go elsewhere - as in craigslist and buy it cash  Man Wink 

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TEH
New Community Member

I have always wondered why PayPal is so slow. I have 30 mbps conection and very fast gaming PC. I know its not my computer or conection since the website is slow no matter were I log in from. I have used it for over 5 years to print shipping labels and some days it is worse than others but always slow. I regularly get messges like "paypal shipping is not available at this time" but if you just try again it will work. Gets REALLY frustration having to enter the shipping choices and weight again just becouse the site times out and the "back" button forces a page reload losing already entered information. I even tried shipping through eBay at one point and eBay would return the message with something about being unable to connect through paypal.

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PayPal_Siobhán
Moderator
Moderator

Hi there TEH,

 

Are you using Opera or Google Chrome? Most server errors occur when using these browsers.

 

If so I would suggest trying Mozilla, Firefox or Internet Explorer.

 

Siobhán 

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modmypi
Contributor
Contributor

I've been struggling with page load times too. It's very frustrating and keeps getting worse the more orders we have through the PayPal system (currently around 10,000). Managed to read the whole of this thread in the time it took to find a transaction via an email address in two weeks worth of orders.


I like PayPal but I'm afraid that you will be losing us as a customer soon if it isn't improved.

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avbo
Contributor
Contributor

Plus 1 on all the complaints about slowness.  Paypal is hands down the slowest web site I regularly use.  It's like having a fast dialup connection - long live the 1990's. 

What's up Paypal?  Can't you fix this by now?

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Queequeg
Contributor
Contributor

The saddest part is they spent all the money redesigning their webpage, with no effort to improve the back end (that I can see).  Still incredibly slow, still no way to upload batch tracking from Shipworks.

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HappyFeet
Contributor
Contributor

That comment by kerowlass that said "Sorry but never found it slow myself." is the funniest thing I have read in a long time!  PayPal is quite possibly the slowest site on the internet today.  Every single page takes at least 10 seconds to load, with many requiring much longer load times.  It is not something new, and it is not something that they care about at all.  It has been this way for years.  I hate getting onto the PayPal site, but unfortunately it is something I have to do almost every day.  I usually click to go to the next page and then go work on something else for a little bit until PayPal has done its thing.

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amaurib
Member
Member

+1, 

and is not just the paypal portal.. its also the community, the sandbox... everything..

I have tried from diferent locations, different connections, computters. OS.., Browsers..... and the result is the same.. slow as a dialup connection..

 

I have 40/5 MB connection.. the rest of the websites that i visit everyday works fine.. 

 

come on! Website loading time is an important factor in creating the optimal user experience!!! you guys are getting a CERO there!

 

I think is time to try other alternatives....

 

Update:This is from the US.. i didnt know i was on the UK community....

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Studlow
New Community Member

I've been using Paypal for 5 years and am so fed up with the site's performance, I'm switching.  Credit card processing used to be a nitch field and is now performed by several companies.  I no longer have to live with 10+ second load times, reports that take 2+ minutes (when they work at all), and days to electronically move money.  It is inexcusable that Paypal hasn't invested time or $$ in their main customer facing products, which includes their pathetic mobile app.

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