[johnsmith]

Any one have problems with them?

 

[CoolHandLuke]

Yes! Although as a customer, not a merchant... but I'll never deal w/ them again!

 

[3oats]

As a customer also... I tend too get phishing attacks because of use.

 

[suzieh]

If you are going to be receiving funds... EMPTY your account ASAP daily or a few times a day. I had a friend have his account frozen for months...tied into EB sales.

Remember PayPal is not a Federal US bank. I see they've added merchant services...run.

Go with a mainstream merchant account if you can afford or qualify.

I think you have to offer PayPal as an option, however, try to find an incentive for customers to pay in other ways if you can.

If you have an eBay account, go into the forums and see what current merchants and buyers are saying (that is if EB hasn't deleted their posts).


My 2 1/2 cents.

Susan

 

[Twinge]

They do some pretty shady things, but for a small start up they're a heck of a lot cheaper way to accept credit cards than the other options out there. Most people don't have problems, of course - but the suggestion to drain your Paypal account into a real bank account regularily is a good one.

 

[triplebtees]

I change my password all the time, atleast every other week. Watch out for bogus emails from people acting as paypal, emails look very legit. Never click on any link that would appear in a paypal email.

 

[johnsmith]

Thank you all, sounds like real good advice.

I am about to start selling t shirts and for now I have to go with paypal, i will probably change later.

 

[Scorpionsamore]

We too get a lot of phishing emails. I always send them to the [email protected] to help them in combating it. We haven't had any problems with getting our funds or having trouble with the account getting frozen. Have always had great customer service with our premier business account. Been using them for over 2 years now.

 

[manufacturer2006]

If you are going to be receiving funds... EMPTY your account ASAP daily or a few times a day. I had a friend have his account frozen for months...tied into EB sales.

Remember PayPal is not a Federal US bank. I see they've added merchant services...run.

Go with a mainstream merchant account if you can afford or qualify.

I think you have to offer PayPal as an option, however, try to find an incentive for customers to pay in other ways if you can.

If you have an eBay account, go into the forums and see what current merchants and buyers are saying (that is if EB hasn't deleted their posts).


My 2 1/2 cents.

Susan

Exactly i said this sometime back. The only thing I dont like is that most customers prefer to paypal. "they say that the customer can do a charge back up to six months. But they also may freeze your account for no reason cause they feel as though you are selling to much. It can be without a customers complaint. I had an account with them and when i advertise some items customers were buying left to right i provided all info tracking number etc. I called everyday.. the only way I got my account unfrozen was I reported them to BBB and at that time they were in good standing with them. This was after calling everyday for 2 months. I had drawn my money off everyday but they still had the opporunity to freeze some money. There are other merchants that you can sign up for free and give you free shopping carts and is much cheaper than paypal no matter how much you make per month.

 

[Twinge]

Anyone care to list what other merchant services they use and their experiences with them?

 

[rarifiedbrand]

I get phishing attacks too, but I also get them for Chase Manhattan Bank, where I have my credit card.

If you're not selling on e-bay, PayPal I think is a good option. Just take your money out once a day or once every couple days.

Check out how i've integrated PayPal. Also PayPalDev.org is a great resource. And my upfront costs are $0. Only the transaction fee. Can't be beat starting out.

 

[CoolHandLuke]

Just wait until there is a problem and you have to deal w/ them. I'm pretty sure the "problem" will be of no fault of your own!

I paid them $600, for something they couldn’t exactly tell me why, just to get may account unfrozen. Granted… my own stupid fault! This was after 2 months of the run-around. End result was they took the $600 and then informed me I owed them another $600. Keep in mind, the transaction in question happened over 5 years ago, with numerous transactions since the questionable transaction took place! They’re nothing but a bunch of thieves! All of them should be beheaded at the next public execution!

I use merchantanywhere.com. A+++ service!

 

[Solmu]

All of them should be beheaded at the next public execution!

Remind me not to get on your bad side...

 

[manufacturer2006]

I started off with pipeline data there was no registration fee, nostart up cost, free shopping cart. Its much cheaper than using paypal where they are charging percentage rate. But i guess thats with the type of account you choose.

 

[Rodney]

I've used PayPal since they opened and I highly recommend them as a payment option for your customers. It's a great way to get started, and some customers will ask for it by name.

I also think it's good to have a "regular" merchant account so you don't *have* to rely on PayPal as your only way of accepting credit cards. Some customers will refuse to use PayPal if it's your only option.

I've had problems come up before, but nothing that wasn't easily resolved through their online help or by phone. I think since eBay bought them out, their customer service and dispute resolution has really improved.

You'll find folks on both side of the coin with PayPal Just do some searches of the forum and you'll find some other past threads about it as well.

 

[suzieh]

There are other merchants that you can sign up for free and give you free shopping carts and is much cheaper than paypal no matter how much you make per month.

Suggestions for traditional merchant accounts...

Card Service International. I think Costco may even have discounted pricing for business level Costco members. CSI has different levels, including e-commerce. Friend has account and excellent customer service.

ccbill.com It's kind of pricey, but I found out about it through an ISP business associates use (cavecreek).

Make sure to really research any e-commerce only merchant services.
Some have hidden fees or may cancel you right away if you get a certain percentage of chargebacks or your personal credit is poor, etc. I'm no expert and it's been a while since I had to research merchant accounts so I'm sure there are more options now for online businesses.