http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/ User submitted comments to Practical Ecommerce's article entitled Analysis: The New PayPal en-us Copyright 2007 Confluence Publishing Wed, 23 Apr 2008 12:22:27 -0600 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/rss/ Practical Ecommerce v2.0.1 Ecommerce kmurdock@practicalecommerce.com bgetting@practicalecommerce.com 60 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment9382 Is there a good alternative to paypal for Canadian merchants? Wed, 23 Apr 2008 12:22:27 -0600 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment9382 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment8601 Given the number of complaints listed in these comments against PayPal, we at Practical eCommerce thought it was only fair that they have the opportunity to respond. You can listen to Publisher Kerry Murdock's interview with Colin Rule, PayPal's Director of Online Dispute Resolution and read the corresponding interview if you look above right in the "Related Articles and Podcasts" box. Brendan Gibbons Editorial Assistant Mon, 07 Apr 2008 16:02:31 -0600 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment8601 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment7853 I agree with all the above. I've only had problems with Paypal. I am selling services and have my clients sign a contract with a clear refund policy. Paypal disregards the legally binding contract siding with the client all the time. Thu, 13 Mar 2008 10:38:57 -0600 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment7853 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment5490 Hi I'm Troy Owner of host it plant Yes we have had the same problem, Pay pay froze $12,000.00 of our funds and after sever so called customers are making fruadulant chargeback, paypal will not fight for your money! charge back fraud. 15 U.S.C. 1601 and Electronic Funds Transfer Act. as stated from your page https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=xpt/cps/securitycenter/sell/ChargebackGuide2-outside Reducing chargeback fraud. Chargebacks are also used as a tool to commit credit card fraud. Fraudsters complete a legitimate transaction, receive the goods, and then dishonestly request a chargeback from their credit card company in the end , Us merchants suffer, basically people ares stealing from us and paypal is allowing them to take our product while paypal collects transaction fees from is so we are losing double .. do a search on Google or visit our site, look for the paypal info, you will see that since 2003 in California alone, over 250 companies or... Sat, 09 Feb 2008 14:24:18 -0700 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment5490 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment4571 PayPal. OMG. Too many problems, I'm a power seller in eBay, and they froze the money. more than one week to resolve problems. I only can send 500.00 to my cheking account at month. too many problems, bad customer service. (people don't know what they are talking about. PayPal. is only for ecommerce (100.00 USD) no more. In the end, I changed, too. Sat, 05 Jan 2008 10:26:19 -0700 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment4571 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment4560 We asked Massimo to write the article because of his knowledge and integrity and because his company, Early Impact, does not operate in the payment space. I'm not sure what Lori means when she includes "Ecommerce" as being within the same company as PayPal and ProStores. Certainly it is not Practical eCommerce, which my wife and I own. We look forward to Massimo contributing for us in the future, which he always does for free, by the way. Kerry Murdock Publisher Fri, 04 Jan 2008 07:54:52 -0700 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment4560 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment4556 "Analysis"? Maybe, but certainly not an unbiased one... ECommerce, PayPal and ProStores are all the same company, probably the one paying Mr. Arrigoni to write this "article." Caveat emptor.. Fri, 04 Jan 2008 07:46:13 -0700 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment4556 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment3949 I will never use PayPal as a merchant again! They have exhausted my time and efforts without budging an inch after demanding proof of shipment of one out of over 100 sales of the same item (a book) that was not confirmed. We had lost that one shipping number, but no amount of explanation, calls, emails, etc. were accepted. As noted by others, the more you argue the more they restrict your account until they freeze it completely. I finally was told after six months that I could transfer my funds to my bank -- we'll see if they actually do it! I hate PayPal. Fri, 26 Oct 2007 20:00:49 -0600 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment3949 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment3940 I have been completely shut down by PayPal for the second time this week. First their servers were having problems and were not resolved for an entire business day. Today every sale is immediately voided because of a problem "upgrade"...it is still not resolved. They give a generic "we are sorry for the inconvenence and are working on the problem" response after being on hold for hours, and have not been responding to emails. I use Payflow LInk and will be switching to LinkPoint as soon as I am approved. Wed, 24 Oct 2007 19:01:50 -0600 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment3940 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment3928 I have been on hold waiting for Paypal merchant support for almost 2 hours right now. This is typical for paypal. They are consumer oriented, not merchant. I'm looking for another provider, will take a look at Google's offering. Having access to knowledgable support people is mission critical for a merchant. Paypal doesn't have it. Look elsewhere. Here is the number for Paypal merchant support, if you want to try to call and see how quick you get to a human: 888-883-9770. Don't hold your breath! Since PP took over Verisign Payflow products, support has become non-existent Mon, 22 Oct 2007 22:37:11 -0600 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment3928 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment3530 Paypal is horrific when it comes to customer service and taking care of the ones who actually make them money...you, the merchant. They will freeze your account and lock it and then won't free up your SSN or FEIN ever, at no time, it's closed for life, so you can never get another Verified account under your same, legal information by using your SSN or FEIN. No budging on this, they flat out won't listen or change a thing. Go with Google Checkout. Tue, 28 Aug 2007 11:45:45 -0600 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment3530 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment2742 Nice article, though the title is kind of misleading. Google Checkout is a competitor of Express Checkout (not the other way around). Payments Pro along with Express Checkout was launched in October of 2005, almost a full year before Google Checkout was introduced. The latter looked like it was prematurely released, which may have created a backlash resulting in more interest in Paypal. Thu, 31 May 2007 19:23:17 -0600 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment2742 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment2381 WOW Thanks for these great comments. I have a PayPal account but have not sold anything through it yet. Now I will use caution. Thanks again. Thu, 24 May 2007 15:53:39 -0600 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment2381 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment2017 There is aother global payment alernative, similar to a Paypal like service, competitive in rates, particularly for digital content sellers and subscription services, called ClickandBuy.com Mon, 14 May 2007 20:44:30 -0600 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment2017 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment2001 To the OP. I had many problems with PayPal and after 89 emails I contacted the Nebraska Attorney General's office. This was very helpful and PayPal paid attention. Problem was solved within one day from the receipt of the AG's letter. Never leave any money in your PayPal account. PayPal is not governed by the FDIC. They make their own rules. Proceed with caution. Mon, 14 May 2007 09:23:28 -0600 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment2001 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment1893 I encountered serveral times when PayPal refunded my money to customers who complained they never receive my software items. These items are download from our server. It is rather frustration when PayPal always refund money to any customer who complain to their credit card company.If I got a choice, I will give PayPal a run for their money...:xxxx Fri, 11 May 2007 09:59:32 -0600 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment1893 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment1812 I hope PayPal will soon start supporting Estonia. I hate being left out like this while most of the e-trade is done using PayPal. Mon, 07 May 2007 09:26:33 -0600 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment1812 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment1732 We offer our customers various alternatives for payment selections on our websites at AvanteHandsFree and DakotaLady. They can choose to use a direct credit card payment, PayPal or Google Checkout. We have used PayPal services for more than three years without any problems, and customers seem to like the choice. We move funds a several times a week to our regular bank account. So far.... so good! Mon, 30 Apr 2007 13:03:43 -0600 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment1732 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment1725 I have had a PayPal account for little more than five months now. The response time is pretty bad. I can also relate to the customer issues. I have had an issue with a customer, and I just refunded him and let him keep the product to avoid a negative review on accepting payments. I am also concerned about giving them a bank account number, and I also would not like to set up another. I am letting my money sit there and earn interest, but how much should I let sit there? Mon, 30 Apr 2007 09:15:23 -0600 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment1725 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment1642 I want to backup the comment about poor communications. It's impossible to e-mail or call any decision maker at PayPal. When you call the customer service number the people are not empowered to do anything other than listen and quote policy. In my dispute I was unable after two weeks of effort to call or even get an e-mail address. I will be shutting down my Paypal account within a few days. If Paypal feels the customer is always right, I guess they forgot who the customer is: The people paying them a percent of the sale, us, the merchant. I would recommend Practical eCommerce run an article about PayPal and the relationship issues between merchants and PayPal. Fri, 27 Apr 2007 06:56:41 -0600 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment1642 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment1641 PayPal is famous just because it is the oldest and is "widely used and accepted". Over a period of time the number of PayPal members (personal, premiere and business) have increased drastically and are increasing continuously as the sales made over the Internet are surging high; but to my surprise PayPal has done nothing to tackle this increase and to improve its customer service. You still get a reply from them after 3 to 4 working days and in some cases no reply at all followed by a mail after 20 to 30 days indicating to contact phone support people as PayPal cannot reply due to heavy increase in the number of mails. Google Checkout will soon make PayPal history just because PayPal is not aware of the fact that "business is all about making new customer's but at the same time keeping current ones happy." All in all, go in for PayPal if you don’t have any better alternatives like Authorize.Net, Google Checkout, etc. Fri, 27 Apr 2007 06:54:17 -0600 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment1641 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment1616 Hillel: the pricing information listed in the article is correct. WPP costs $20 a month. PayFlow Pro costs $59.95 a month (so around $40/m more than WPP), plus a setup fee of $249. For details, see the PayPal Web site at: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_profile-comparison Thu, 26 Apr 2007 17:19:54 -0600 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment1616 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment1614 PayPal is definately for the online merchant with millions in revenue, I think the service only serves the purpose for which it was initially launched. The company operates with very small headcount and assumes the customer is always right. We at Priceshoppe.com once flirted with the idea of using PayPal but scrapped that plan after we found out that they treate their merchants like a bunch of criminals. To anyone looking to get into the online retail game please call EPS OR PAYMANTCH and get your own merchant account. YOU ARE BETTER OFF THAT WAY. Thu, 26 Apr 2007 16:16:57 -0600 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment1614 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment1613 Be careful using PayPal. There is no communication with PayPal especially if there is a problem. PayPal is quick to freeze an account. Your account funds are froze until PayPal decides you can have access to your funds. There is no communication. During this time, PayPal will process payments but you don't have access the the account or funds. The forums have thousands of complaints about PayPal. Be careful. Thu, 26 Apr 2007 16:05:34 -0600 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment1613 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment1612 Very nicely done. Anyone notice how bizarre it is that PayPal is invalidating the seamless (WPP) solution? By forcing Express on WPP users it's alienating the heck out of my customers. They are defecting to other merchant solutions. I've investigated alternatives for my own projects as well. What's the point of a seamless solution if the cart also has to have a garagey PayPal interface as well? Thu, 26 Apr 2007 15:56:34 -0600 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment1612 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment1611 I have had issues with PayPal as well. They don't communicate well when problems arise and you're definitely at their mercy. Thu, 26 Apr 2007 15:47:44 -0600 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment1611 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment1609 From experience, you are much better off getting your own merchant accounts. Don't get me wrong . . . PayPal is a good payment option to have for your customers but don't make it your primary payment option. If a complaint arises from a customer, you will have a hard time getting any help from PayPal and in most cases the funds disputed will be held by PayPal for weeks and maybe months while they investigate. In most cases the merchant will loose the dispute and the funds will be withdrawn from the account. Anyone new in the credit card processing with get burnt at some point in time by fraudulent transactions. Do your homework and learn how to minimize credit card fraud. When it happens, and beleive me it will, consider it as a "cost of doing business." Just like shoplifting, you can do a lot to prevent it but you will never be able to avoid it completely. Thu, 26 Apr 2007 15:47:07 -0600 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment1609 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment1601 Be very careful selling using PayPal. I sent an item that was received damaged. The buyer informed me the box was torn open. I advised him to file a claim with the USPS since the item was shipped insured. I also requested a picture. None received and a claim with the USPS was never made. Buyer instead filed a complaint with PayPal. After two months, no discussion and no emailing anyone at PayPal, they decided to refund the buyer's money and took my funds without authorization. No recourse for me at all. I have to eat the sale and shipping fees. Paypal has a strange way of treating its customers (merchants). Thu, 26 Apr 2007 13:09:18 -0600 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment1601 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment1593 Great summary, I could have used this a month ago when were trying to sort our way through the PayPal jungle. Unfortunately all options but the Website Payments Standard are only offered to US merchants. Thu, 26 Apr 2007 12:22:35 -0600 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment1593 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment1591 The New Website Payments Pro 2.0 only Costs $20.00 A month and Doesn't have the $249.00 set up fee It has the same fees as the Regular website payments pro. Thu, 26 Apr 2007 12:11:03 -0600 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/469/Analysis-The-New-PayPal/#comment1591