Shopping Cart question

[Bethers]

Re: Shopping Cart question

Well, tests have shown that a site with Paypal and an identical site with a standard merchant account - will do better with the merchant account. I have a site that has both - my paypal sales are less than 1.5% of my sales - and I dropped it recently. Again, it's a good thing - but there are people like you Dave who have that perception - and, unlike above, I see that my prices with my merchant account are cheaper at a much lower rate - around $500/month in sales makes the merchant account less for me.

Dave - I use a merchant account with BV - there are ones that will work - Mal's Ecommerce is one - the one I use is Cart Manager. Mal's has a free version, Cart Manager doesn't.

*****, I'm not saying that Paypal isn't a great service - but they still have only a small market share of the world's sales - growing constantly, yes.

[CarbonTerry]

Re: Shopping Cart question

PayPal is an extremely small part of my sales also. However, they accept all credit cards and provide a secure site. Personally, I would not hesitate to complete a sale if I were directed to PayPal to make an online purchase. You are essentially being directed to another site when using a 3rd party ecommerce site.
Are the other ecommerce sites mentioned secure, or is that an add on?

[VodaHost]

Re: Shopping Cart question

Not really if you think about it, PayPal is a multi-billion dollar company
that is owned by another multi-billion dollar company Ebay.

[CarbonTerry]

Re: Shopping Cart question

I'm not quite sure why sales would go down when you are adding another payment method. Right now I have a merchant account and a personal PayPal account. I consider anything purchased through P/P to be more profit.

[Bethers]

Re: Shopping Cart question

No, they will not go down adding an additional one - I was saying I recommend have more than one when using paypal.

Some people consider eBay a discount site - and therefore consider paypal the same - and you do leave your site to purchase on paypal. For those comfortable with paypal it's a great thing. For those not - a traditional method is better. Because I know that my merchant account only will allow me to use it with secure and good carts - my cart is very secure, I'm comfortable in that knowledge.

Amanda uses Paypal and Mal's ecommerce for her shopping cart - I'm sure it's secure also.

[David Marshall]

Re: Shopping Cart question

Carbonterry,

i suppose the question is about would you get more sales and therefore even more profit with another payment system. For me personally I think that someone like Worldpay have a better image than paypal who seem to me to be at the cheaper end of the market, so it is about perception and ease of payment. Maybe it is about perception only and nothing to with practicalities.

I am going to think about it some more. Bethers, you shopping cart is cart manager, who is payments through please?

cheers

dave

[Bethers]

Re: Shopping Cart question

I'm using Authorize.net as my processor and am very happy with them - however, they may not work outside the US - of that I have no knowledge :( sorry.

[David Marshall]

Re: Shopping Cart question

thanks bethers

cheers

dave

[Vasili]

Re: Shopping Cart question

Besides the actual costs involved per transaction between PayPal and traditional commercial credit accounts (a business merchant account available from various banks, processors, etc.), and the superficial nuances of presenting either or both to specific markets, there is the accounting issue and feasibility of how your business is structured.
Some business models stipulate certain payment accounting methods (incorporations, for instance), and sometimes the funding methods via PayPal pose unique issues (which account, how to filter/mate with trans post, etc). Also, whether or not your system of transactional accountability can effectively collect and process the data as required, for there have been some problems merging...say... QuickBooks with PayPal (for instance) and then through the gateway (or payment network) already established by your bank....
It's best to think it through all the way before committing too quickly.

***Don't be afraid to ask a competitor or similarly establsihed business for some tips. Most of the time, they see this as an opportunity to brag about their success, but they will also be honest about the challenges they found (facts can be verified), and hearing about them before you encounter them makes it so much easier to avoid them in the first place!