I'm considering firing Paypal as a payment processor, because of ONE webpage
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I like Paypal. I've been using them as a payment processor on my websites for over a year now.
BUT, I've become aware that I'm losing more in sales per month than it would cost me to get a merchant account, because of Paypal's insistence on putting a single confusing webpage in the way of my customer's credit card payments.
Usually, I just lose sales - as someone who is confused and scared away by this webpage generally loses interest and momentum in the sale and is no longer interested in the purchase.
Because my website gathers sales info before transferring to Paypal, I can tell the sales I lose to Paypal. I get a notice of sale, and then "Payment completed: No". When I contact them and ask, the answer is always exactly the same:
"There was no option to pay by credit card, only by Paypal, and I don't have a Paypal account, so I didn't complete the sale."
What do customers mean when they say that? They mean that they've gotten to this screen, and been confused by the obvious obfuscation in the design of the page:
Yes, I'm aware that there is tiny text, with an even tinier link that says "Don't have a Paypal account? Use your credit card or bank balance (where available) Continue".
But, time, after time, after time, paying customers, who are attempting to buy from me and generate fees for Paypal only see this as a part of the "Paypal is the swellest company in the universe" verbiage, utterly fail to see the tiny 8-character link, and stop the payment process cold because they do not possess a Paypal account.
Just this evening, I received an email from a customer - a journalist for a major newspaper - who wrote me:
"I tried to order, but PayPal was the only way offered to pay for it.
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Well, yes and no. Obviously, with the payment embedded directly, the clumsy interface would not be a problem.
OTOH, many beginning merchants have no idea that signing up for the Pro level not only necessitates paying the monthly fee, but requires YOU, not Paypal to safely store all of your customer's information collected during the payment process.
There can be significant costs to maintaining the necessary data security required by law - so it depends on one's relative size, and the manner in which one's website is set up, as to whether this is an economically viable choice.
@mickeyren wrote:would using Website Payments Pro solve the problem here? this way you guys can direclty embed the payment processing at your site?
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Incredibly well put. PayPal has some SERIOUS user interface issues and does not seem to be aware of it. I have been looking for the past 20 minutes for a way to cancel a subscription I no longer need and just stumbled on to this thread, but this is typical.
I have a membership site for which I wanted to install a single payment subscription button. It took me a week. There are no options for this. If you don't want to set up recurring payments, you have to dig into the code and set a bunch of variables and then just hope it's OK because if you try to go through the "sandbox" testing fiasco, that's another ordeal. PayPal has a pdf document that should be able to explain all of this but it's a collection of links to links to links that will just drive you insane.
PayPal: YOU CAN DO BETTER.
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LOL on the subscription cancellation - that was recently obfuscated even more throughly than it was previously.
Last time I tried to find that, it now required searching for the transaction (as if their search feature worked) and only being able to cancel the subscription of one could manage to remember enough of the details to find the transaction through a search. <thorws up hands>
I am confused as to the single payment subscription, though. If this is totally non-recurring, is it not in fact exactly like a sale, and that is what you want to do? I'd be making a "sale" of one subscription payment with the buy now button generator, not mucking about with non-recuring subscriptions.
OTOH, as long as you've done it that way, you could take advantage of the subscription option of a "trial" period, which would probably drive more sales without significantly impacting refund requests. Just a thought off the top of my head.
Dex
@TimWint wrote:Incredibly well put. PayPal has some SERIOUS user interface issues and does not seem to be aware of it. I have been looking for the past 20 minutes for a way to cancel a subscription I no longer need and just stumbled on to this thread, but this is typical.
I have a membership site for which I wanted to install a single payment subscription button. It took me a week. There are no options for this. If you don't want to set up recurring payments, you have to dig into the code and set a bunch of variables and then just hope it's OK because if you try to go through the "sandbox" testing fiasco, that's another ordeal. PayPal has a pdf document that should be able to explain all of this but it's a collection of links to links to links that will just drive you insane.
PayPal: YOU CAN DO BETTER.
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Maybe someone here can help, because PayPal will not. A few days ago, I bought I bought several DVDs from a vendor through PayPal. I did not log into my account to do it. I actually found the link with the small type that you refer to on the first page and used it. My question to PayPal, which I cannot get answered, is: "Did the vendor receive my credit card information?"
The reason I asked was that I later googled the vendor (an individual) and he has been accused in an online forum of running scams to defraud women through social dating sites. Note: I did NOT see anything indicating that he was found guilty of anything. Also, the transaction with me was for buying DVDs that he personally created and undoubtedly CAN deliver. I just ordered a few days ago, so there is NO INDICATION AT THIS TIME of vendor fraud in my transaction.
Still, given the accusations against him, I will be very worried if he has my card information.
I have tried the online help option: no answer. I have tried sending an e-mail to customer service; they responded by advising me how to dispute a charge or file a claim against the vendor even though I told them in all capital letters that "
there is NO INDICATION AT THIS TIME of vendor fraud in my transaction."
Searching the forum led me to this string. So, can any vendors tell me: if I pay by hitting the little link described in the first message in this string, does the merchant get my card information?
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Nope - we never see it. It stays within Paypal. Couldn't get it if we wanted to. We simply receive a notice of payment with your shipping info.
Basically, as sellers, we see the same information regardless of whether you sign in or just enter the CC info.
Dex
@ConfusedCustomr wrote:My question to PayPal, which I cannot get answered, is: "Did the vendor receive my credit card information?"
Still, given the accusations against him, I will be very worried if he has my card information....can any vendors tell me: if I pay by hitting the little link described in the first message in this string, does the merchant get my card information?
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What are others alternatives to Paypal? Is there anything better or more convenient?
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"Better" is quite relative. There are many merchant accounts available out there - most come with a variety of interestingly hidden fees, so that it is quite difficult to accurately judge their actual cost. Both Amazon and Google have checkouts, but both requirte the customer to establish or already have an Amazon/Google payments account. There are a couple of accepted-by-eBay payment processors which do similar things.
@austin965 wrote:What are others alternatives to Paypal? Is there anything better or more convenient?
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Amusingly, I was looking over this page of instructions on placing Paypal Express buttons and I noticed these tips. How amusing and ironic is this???:
- Create checkout pages that are uncluttered and free from visual distractions.
- Keep the checkout flow to as few pages as possible.
- Be sure that the PayPal Express Checkout button is clickable,and all PayPal buttons and images are used for the purpose in which they were intended.
- Do not use a Preview button when the next page is actually a purchase.
- Avoid using warning or legal text as part of the primary checkout experience.
- Do not alter, recolor, or resize the PayPal Express Checkout button, or add text around the PayPal checkout button.
[Edited to correct the six runtogetherwords left by whoever "edited" the page, lol]
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I appreciate all the details and work-arounds the previous posts have provided. I just opened an account with Google Checkout. We'll see how much better it is over the next few months. Sorry PayPal, but things have gotten harder, not easier with you.
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