I'm considering firing Paypal as a payment processor, because of ONE webpage

[DexSinister]

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. 

I'd rather just send a money order, if that would work.  Otherwise I need to use a credit card.  Please let me know if a money order will do."

Frankly, I don't care if Paypal thinks it needs to tell people that they can "use their creditcard without exposing your credit card number to merchants" - because Paypal can't do that if it confuses the customers and fails to collect the card number in the first place.

Since there is no place, as far as I can tell, where someone can sign up for Paypal on that page, if that page confuses customers and scares them away, it is totally useless. And it is costing me upwards of $50-$100 in lost sales each and every month!

What do I want the page where my customers land, intending to enter their credit card information (or to sign into Paypal if they have an account) to look like? That's easy! I want it to look like the exact screen that they actually get to if and only if they get past the one that they obviously don't read and which confuses them.

I want them to land on the screen that results from clicking the "continue" link! This one:

Why is this difficult? If the statement "Paypal securely processes Payments for X Corp. You can finish your payment in a few clicks" is important, it would easily fit on that page. That one statement is the only thing that is not accessible on the second page, which is on the first.

Please fix this, and stop chasing away customers who are trying to make payments that earn Paypal its revenue!

[Temp20230107am]

Go ahead and fire them.  I'm an eBay shopper whose purchases are all discretionary.  After my last experiece using PayPal, I vowed that I would never again  buy anything that required me to deal with PayPal.  Their website had been programmed to disallow the use of any credit cards (one with an available limit of more than $15,000) and they put a five-day hold on a check after withdrawing the funds from my bank account. The gratuitous delay, whose purpose was no doubt to try to muscle me into not using my credit cards, nearly cost the seller and me the whole transaction. The seller scrambled to find another similar item for me and we all wasted about 6 weeks on email. ("All" doesn't include PayPal -- they did not respond to the issue at all.)

So yes, you are losing sales if you require customers to go through PayPal-- and not just because Paypal throws a confusing web page up in the middle of the transaction.

[Socialsmartkids]

Have you found a satisfactory alternative?

[bayoukid]

I'm shutting down my PayPal account and moving on to better things. **bleep** me once shame on you...........

[rcmcghee]

Let me add my $0.02. I have been selling on eBay, off and on, for many years now. I am NOT a business, I sell things to help pay my bills. On my latest auction, PayPal decided to hold my money for 21 days. I had to BORROW money from a friend just to ship out the item in question. This is NOT acceptable. I had never seen this before, so I immediately contacted the buyer, thinking they had initiated some kind of escrow payment. The buyer was completely unaware that PayPal had done this to them, so they called to complain. The PayPal rep my buyer spoke to said that I must have MISUNDERSTOOD the email and that everything had went through as NORMAL. PAYPAL LIED TO MY CUSTOMER! Until this policy is PUBLICLY trashed by PayPal, I will no longer do business with them.

[ts1rstri]

I agree. Paypal is a pain in the **bleep**. What a difficult, confusing evil. If there was any alternative I would drop Paypal in an instant.

[1968hans]

where there is a need someone will stepup.the day you think you are the best is the day your not.HUGE NEED$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[Malakali]

I also hate the way paypal is monopolize transaction. Of course ebay would like to have it both way, charge their outrageous fees and then have their daughter co (Paypal) charge another ridiculous fee.

I am actually considering firing BOTH of them and use local venues to sell my stuff. Ebay was great option a while back, but then became greedy, and I think their greed will cost them dearly in the near future, as I "smell" a class action coming up soon, so hopefully their overpaid corporate lawyers are reading this and can better advise their client!

[Dissatisfied125]

I dont like how they (PayPal)  put a hold on the money paid to me for sales on e-bay...and have me pay the shipping costs out of my pocket and then wait for positive feedback on e-bay before releasing the funds...up to a 21 day hold!!  I am so unhappy with this policy and wish that there were alternative payment options available to e-bay customers and sellers!!