[Closed] Would you be put off buying by having to use PayPal payment system?

not as an individual, but if I were buying in bulk or as a company I wouldn't use paypal.

Why do you have to mail them a link, can't you forward them automatically?

Not at all. It's a good, secure system imo.

Will you be selling kid's stuff? 😉

Yes it would put me off but not because of the time or extra clicks. [Edit: Ah, I missed the bit about the email, that would get a definitely no from me.]

I simply don't like Paypal. I try to avoid using them if at all possible. If a product is available at a similar price somewhere else that allows me to use a credit card without going through Paypal, I invariably shop there instead. But then I'm weird...

I've seen a lot of small online shops with aspects of their websites that raise an eyebrow and mean I would never trust them to securely handle my personal data or payments. Paypal is not perfect but they are a large known quantity with decent security. So it's a nice low-risk way of shopping at small or unfamiliar retailers.

So: no, quite the opposite. I've often walked precisely because the retailer [i]didn't[/i] have Paypal. (If they're a known bricks-and-mortar firm then fine, but not the small fry.)

Edit: I didn't notice the bit about it going via email. No, I don't think I'd use that, because it's bizarre and I've never seen a Paypal payment mechanism that did things that way so I'd be immediately highly suspicious. AFAIK doing it properly isn't hard.

[i]receive an email with a link to a PayPal payment system[/i]

[i]Absolutely not[/i] - no one should follow a link from an email and give their card details etc out. Leaves people too open to a subsequent scam site email with similar details.

You need to transfer them directly from your site into the paypal payment system as they place the order.

Other than that Paypal for card payment or 'proper' paypal is fine.

Mintimperial - you can use a credit card through paypal without havign a paypal account, though?

Personal - no problem - Corporate - I probably would want invoicing anyway, so online CC payments would only be for emergencies.

So in short I'd think it's better to have it than not, certainly wouldn't make me look elsewhere.

I'd have thought it was pretty cheap and easy to have someone integrate the payments and cart? The email linky thing would put me off far more than the method in your case.

not at all, use paypal all the time to buy things, makes life easy.

What Bez said.

After having had my credit card rinsed in the CRC hacking issues, I prefer to use paypal wherever possible.

Edit - email thing would definitely put me off, regardless of system used.

But.... would this payment system put you off as it would take a bit longer?

TBH, yes I think it would put me off a little.

Having an email to respond to also would worry me a little too, security wise.

I wouldn't follow an email link and put my card numbers in. You might find that a lot of them won't get through mail filters either, leaving you with a lot of "hung" orders where the goods are on order but not paid for, stock control nightmare.

I don't like paypal, they take far too much percentage.

Sounds like a shonky workaround to me, sorry ! (And yes I do know how expensive payment systems are)

fair point about bulk above, however, as an individual, probably the reverse, I have Paypal and get on fine with it

What would put me off is having having to register/login, give a username/password, give address details, state mail marketing, special offer, my birthday and date of car insurnace renewal and badger wrestling preferences, cunningly and maliciously worded as to make it difficult to easily tick the 'NEVER NEVER contact me, as I know what I want to buy without crap from you box'.

For me this is possibly making me align with ebay/papyal (other other paypal suppliers as well)as it's quick and painless and I don't have to remember even more userids and bleeding passwords and reenter countless personal deatils), so can you reuse or by default mail to paypal address and let people override (*not sure if technically/legally possible), and (I hope I'm not stating the bleeding obvious) put pls use a postcode search facility - it will help revent misdelivery etc.

Doesn't put me off at all. Personally I use PayPal and we pay for stuff for our organisation using it as well. We also receive donations using PayPal and although initially not many people used it now we find they use it all the time and mainly via a credit card rather than a pp account as far as I can see

No problems with using paypal, I tend to use it, like others, for websites I find things on but maybe wouldn't want them to have my c/card details. Though you would need to make sure that you have the option of credit cards as not everyone has a paypal slush fund.

The linky thing is a no-no though, I've seen plenty of small sites go through straight to paypal so I can't see it being a massive issue.

I specifically look for online shops that use Paypal, its so much easier than constantly entering card details and as said above, trusting those details with unknowns.

However, I don't like the idea of getting an email with a link to follow, no sir..

Yes. I would be highly suspicious of this email linky. Even then I'm distrustful of Paypal.

I got stung for getting on for a grand by either eBay or Paypal and never did work out who was to blame, with both parties blaming the other. I got most of it back but it has made me wary of Paypal ever since. If I've queried a dodgy looking transaction with my credit card they (Capital One) have always been quick and responsive and refunded when appropriate. I much prefer paying directly by credit card.

Hmmmm, OK. 😕
Integrating any online payment system with the catalogue's shopping cart is [apparantly] not possible in its current incarnation - this is being fixed in the next version.
I know what you're saying about the email link - it's not what we're used to and therefore makes us wary.

I'll see what my other options are.

DezB..... yes there will be kids stuff. 🙂

Why couldn't you do the link to Paypal like Wiggle, CRC etc do?

I'd avoid for the hassle/amateurishness of it, unless you had really good prices or something unavailable elsewhere.

As one of a selection of different ways I wouldn't have a problem.
Will you be stocking cycling kit in team colours?

As (mostly) above. I don't have a problem with Paypal but I'd wonder about the whole email aspect of it - enough to put me off.

paypal are amaizingly shite at what they do

i have 4 cards from reputable companys ( BOS and nationwide - both visa and mastercard) the only card that actually works with paypal is the nationwide visa debit ! - i think thats mental and for that reason i avoid using paypal where possible and much prefer just to transfer the money via bank transfer.

- coupled with the fact i travel alot and sometimes buy stuff when im traveling and they shut down my account - yet i cannot reactivate it till im back home with my land line - sometimes 7 weeks away. Usually resulting in my posting on here for someone i know to take a bank transfer and buy said item on paypal on my behalf

[i]Integrating any online payment system with the catalogue's shopping cart is [apparantly] not possible in its current incarnation - this is being fixed in the next version.[/i]

then buy a different piece of software for the rest of the site - retail systems are virtually 10 a penny and I can't believe they've released one that relies on an email link to accept payment.

and don't believe that 'next version' line either - if it doesn't exist now then I'd assume it never will unless you're specifically paying to have it added.

Integrating any online payment system with the catalogue's shopping cart is [apparantly] not possible in its current incarnation - this is being fixed in the next version.

Well I'd be suspicious about any company which wasn't capable of doing it properly by linking direct to paypal. As others have said, no problem with using paypal (I buy quite a lot of things which take payment that way), but I'd be very put off by all the extra hoops you're making me jump through.

Integrating with PayPal for payments is dead easy. At the end of your shopping cart process you just construct a form that posts to PayPal with details of the transaction. Then you need to set up a listener URL to received PayPal's Instant Payment Notification callback; you get this when a payment has been successfully made and use it to mark the transaction as "paid" (or whatever) in your database.

No, I always use paypal when I can. Its less hassle and safer.

Why couldn't you do the link to Paypal like Wiggle, CRC etc do?

sharkbait - Member
Because the catalogue/shopping basket I can set up quickly doesn't support integration with it at the moment. Will do in the future but that's [b]at least[/b] 6 months away

Yes it would put me off but not because of the time or extra clicks. [Edit: Ah, I missed the bit about the email, that would get a definitely no from me.]

I simply don't like Paypal. I try to avoid using them if at all possible. If a product is available at a similar price somewhere else that allows me to use a credit card without going through Paypal, I invariably shop there instead. But then I'm weird...

Exactly my position. I'd add that a company using Paypal immediately advertises itself as being very small, and that alone would put me off. Sure, the actual payment system is secure (it's just that I don't like it), but the use of it conjures up the image of someone flogging bits of kit from their front room, who may or may not be in business in a week's time.

trail_rat - Member
paypal are amaizingly shite at what they do

i have 4 cards from reputable companys ( BOS and nationwide - both visa and mastercard) the only card that actually works with paypal is the nationwide visa debit ! - i think thats mental and for that reason i avoid using paypal where possible and much prefer just to transfer the money via bank transfer.

- coupled with the fact i travel alot and sometimes buy stuff when im traveling and they shut down my account - yet i cannot reactivate it till im back home with my land line - sometimes 7 weeks away. Usually resulting in my posting on here for someone i know to take a bank transfer and buy said item on paypal on my behalf

We all know you are a Nigerian scammer. 😉

no, would not put me off at all.

My dad uses it for the studio (photography), he is a small business, and it works well.

I far prefer paypal now, and get annoyed with ANY vendor that doesn't use it (e.g. Lufthansa now use, Hurrah!), as using credit cards seems a rather antiquated faff these days.

Kev

I'd add that a company using Paypal immediately advertises itself as being very small, and that alone would put me off. Sure, the actual payment system is secure (it's just that I don't like it), but the use of it conjures up the image of someone flogging bits of kit from their front room, who may or may not be in business in a week's time.

Weird. So you'd rather pay more to support the overheads of a large business, and don't want to encourage small enterprise? If they go out of business you get your money back from Paypal.

CRC allow card payment through paypal and they turn over more than £50 million?

Sharkbait - I am happy to pay for stuff with email and would be happy enough if it (and paypal's credit card processing) was the only option presented. BUT wouldn't like your email route. Don't do what you are suggesting. There are plenty of shopping carts which do proper payment integration either cheap or possibly free. The better ones should let you import your entire catalogue typically from something like a CSV file.

Ignoring the public perception / risk / email thing you want your checkout process to be as slick as possible because if people have time to think about it or get distracted answer the phone etc then you loose them. Our website guru tells us that for every click on checkout process you typically loose 10-25% of customers [although this depends on how good the product is, alternative competition, pricing etc]. Sending people via their email is going to loose way more; they've "booked" the order with you got the price, at least notionally "reserved" the stock - so now I'll go see if I can get it cheaper somewhere else before I pay for it.

Paypal is fine. But not if you're messing about sending emails etc. It's just too unprofessional. Get an Ebay shop if you've got problems taking paypal payments via a dedicated website. All IMO of course.

aracer - it's more around backup, returning goods in 3 months time etc. For those reasons, I'd rather deal with a company that seems a little more established.

And I know CRC allow payment by Paypal, but they don't [b]require[/b] it, do they?

I was told by a friend who runs an e retailer than keeping your payment section as clean as possible is imperative so that customers are not diverted from closing the deal. Following this logic, your proposed payment process does not sound great - too many opportunities for the customer to go off and do something else.

No, I wouldn't be put off. I find Paypal really handy as it already has the delivery address etc. set up.

I do worry a bit about something going wrong with a transaction and them not being easy to contact though.

Whilst you're here, another little tip - be upfront with delivery costs, preferably with a link on your site to precise costings, or if you need to calculate cost for each purchase, then do that calculation in the basket - don't make people register or log in to see delivery costs. I'll generally go elsewhere rather than register just to see the total cost to me.

Some great thoughts here.... cheers boys and girls 🙂

To be honest if the shopping cart can't even handle on line payments through paypal or CC don't even bother with it. There are loads of carts/e-commerce systems that do already, from free ones to expensive ones. The emailing of a payment link will be a massive turn-off.

Try oscommerce, open source freebie with loads of mods available.

On the Paypal subject - it is becoming more and more acceptable to Joe Public nowadays compared to all the scare stories around 6 or 7 years ago.

We use CC and Paypal processing and percentage of PP has grown over the yeras to approx 25% of total.

The email payment link thing is how a basic PayPal business account works. You send people an email "invoice" and they follow the links to pay via PayPal.

The next step up from that costs a LOT more money (i.e. fully-integrated e-terminal).

We process maybe 20 transactions a year via credit card, so it would be a bit daft to get either a real or a virtual terminal. Generally, people are fine with using the link through system once it's been explained.

That's from a small holiday business though, where people have already had a fair bit of dialogue with the owner, not from a "faceless" e-commerce site.

ditto what stevo just said..

I use the paypal invoice email system all the time for All Mountain Venture and no-ones ever had an issue with it. I do give other options to pay but everyone chooses paypal because its secure, free and an easy established method.

I guess its different for me though because like steveo I run a small holiday business and I am always in email/telephone contact with the customer ; when it comes to payment I tell them they are going to receive an invoice from my paypal account with a link to click and pay.

Different if that was automated and came out of the blue, I am not sure it suits your business.

I like Paypal as a payment system but reckon it's seriously flawed (in their favour of course) for payment receipt. I sell quite a bit of stuff on ebay and this week received cleared payment for some new bike parts so posted them off straight away as always. Goods were signed for this morning but I've received an email message from Paypal saying that the payment has been reversed by the buyer's bank, leaving me with a negative Paypal balance 👿 .

Whilst you're here, another little tip - be upfront with delivery costs, preferably with a link on your site to precise costings, or if you need to calculate cost for each purchase, then do that calculation in the basket - don't make people register or log in to see delivery costs.

But Paypal is fine as long as you have the option of not needing a paypal account to pay. Which it sounds like you have covered.

Nothing wrong with PayPal itself. Plenty of big companies using it and it's one of the most secure out there. But I'd suggest getting someone to integrate it into your cart.

Generally, with the smaller eCommerce sites do, is send the customer off to PayPal (or whatever payment solution they're using), where they make payment securely, and any relevant order info is sent back to your site.

There are simpler ways of doing it, if you want to be really primitive about it, but I do think your idea of the way it will work would put me off. I wouldn't want to go through all that hassle. Unless it was a hard to come by product that I was prepared to labour over.