posted
Greetings, for those who have & use a website for their shop, is Paypal a useful & safe option for recieving deposits from clients ? We don't "presently" use Visa,etc.-too busy just doin' the darn work & planning kayak & golf trips !, but more & more clients are asking for a quick means to submit a deposit on their jobs, rather than visit our shop-to get the job going, i mean. Thanks upfront- "Southern Md. Wallslopper "
-------------------- mark zilliox mark z signs 8425 pushaw station rd. owings md. 20736 301-855-5407 thezs@earthlink.net http://www.markzsigns.com Posts: 348 | From: maryland | Registered: May 2003
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Paypal is an online payment service whereby someone can wire money to another person over the Internet at no cost to the payer. And, the company deserves credit for coming up with an innovative idea that has become wildly successful. An average of 2,000 people a day use PayPal, and estimated 15 million people have used the service before. But you need to be careful before using Paypal anytime soon. Reports in Smart Money magazine and other publications show that Paypal is providing terrible customer service to its members. Apparently, if you make a payment to someone or they pay you and something goes wrong, you will receive no help and are refused when you ask for your money back. When asked by Smart Money magazine why this is happening, PayPal responded with arrogance and indifference. That is the sign that something is seriously wrong with the company. There are two lawsuits against PayPal right now, and this number will probably grow. The problem is that Paypal’s terms of agreement give members no legal outlet if something goes wrong with their transaction.
-------------------- Paul McDowell 7 Hills Signs Virginia Posts: 84 | From: Lynchburg, Virginia | Registered: Oct 2004
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Mark: I just got finished "working with" PayPal. Some joke {on Me}. As Paul mentioned above, they are near IMPOSSIBLE to work with when a dispute arises, and they will! Biggest problem is you have NO WAY to talk directly with them. they hide behind cryptic e-mails, and standard form letters that Rarely deal with your personal situation. I ended up going to my credit card company to resolve the dispute and get my money refunded to my account. Once I got my credit card company involved, PayPal dropped my dispute without any prior notice to me. That was after TWO 1/2 MONTHS of back and forth about the disute. PayPal promises to deal with disputes within 30 days. B.S--T,PayPal is a RIP OFF.
If you want to use "credit" with your customers, work directly with your bank to set up credit card purchases. They will add a service charge to each transaction, but you can add that to your invoice with a statement to the effect" 3% service charge added to all credit card purchases". All merchants factor that into their selling costs. I attend auctions on a regular basis, and there is ALWAYS an "add-on" for credit card use. hope this helps
A VERY UNHAPPY PayPal user.
Vinylman®
-------------------- Bob Cole American Sign Company 14163 Akron Canfield Rd. Berlin Center, Ohio 44401
A.K.A. Vinylman® Posts: 575 | From: Berlin Center, Ohio, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
I, on the other hand, just had a disputed PayPal charge (a small one albeit) but I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was and how responsive they were. I had no trouble finding a phone number to call PayPal directly, spoke with someone who not only spoke english but was friendly and helpful. He walked me through the steps to file the dispute - stayed on the phone with me while I did so rather than saying - Do this, bye!
Within a week, I received an email from them that the charge was negated and they were crediting my PayPal account.
Just another experience from the otherside of the coin.
-------------------- Kimberly Zanetti Purcell www.amethystProductivity.com Folsom, CA email: Kimberly@AmethystProductivity.com
“Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up.” AA Milne Posts: 3722 | From: Folsom, CA | Registered: Dec 2001
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posted
Mark, talk to your bank and see what they can do for a merchant account for ya. The rates from a good bank will smoke paypal's rates and you can run the cards when people come in or call instead of sending them to a website.
-------------------- Chris Welker Wildfire Signs Indiana, Pa Posts: 4254 | From: Indiana, PA | Registered: Mar 2001
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Cashiers check or money order, if they are too lazy to mess with that, they are too lazy to mess with!!!!!!!!! I've heard a lot of bad things regarding PayPal.
[ April 26, 2005, 11:12 AM: Message edited by: George Perkins ]
-------------------- George Perkins Millington,TN. goatwell@bigriver.net
"I started out with nothing and still have most of it left"
posted
PayPal was sued by the NY attorny's general for what they did. Pay Pal was sued by a number of other gov agenices and lost to them too.
There was a large number of people who had problems and did not get their money ever. Paypal simply kept it. Until they got sued.
Many people have no problems with them. But when you do its 100% pure frustration. If you use them make sure you clear your account every day. This is the main reason why I will not use paypal at all.
If you look on ebay in the printers section for example. People who demand paypal and no other means of payment get a smaller bid on the very same products verses those who accept money orders. That tells me something.
By the way, I use the ACH system for direct payment.
-------------------- Leaper of Tall buildings.. If you find my posts divisive or otherwise snarky please ignore them. If you do not know how then PM me about it and I will demonstrate. Posts: 5274 | From: Im a nowhere man | Registered: Jul 2001
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posted
If you give customers a choice between PayPal and credit card processed directly through you, 99.999% of the time they will opt for the direct transaction.
I have PayPal as one of the payment options available on my website but I also accept Visa, MC, AmEx, Discover, Novus, Diner's Club, etc.
I never had a problem using PayPal but since adding credit card processing a couple years ago hardly anyone opts for PayPal anymore.
In fact, nowadays based on my experience fewer people are using their credit cards. They're using debit/check/ATM cards in place of credit, but the cards still work with credit terminals without any extra fees or downsides - it's just as seamless.
I set up my merchant account through my local bank who is a reseller of AuthorizeNET service. Using AuthorizeNET, credit/debit payments can be ran in realtime on my website, or I can simply use secure forms to collect information and enter it manually into a virtual terminal (via web) or customers can call me and I can take their information.
Sometimes I'll have a job to drop off at a local customer's place so I'll call ahead to see if they'll be in. Occassionally they'll say "Hey, can you come by tomorrow? I forgot my business checkbook at the house today." Usually I have my trips planned and sometimes running out the next day doesnt fit in so I can suggest "Well I've got a pretty hectic day tomorrow but if you have your business account Check/Debit card handy I can run that right now before I leave. I can drop this off today while I'm out and everything will be taken care of."
They LOVE it!
If you plan on selling online the ONLY way to go is to offer your own credit/debit card processing.
I used to think the same way George does but then I realized people *are* lazy, and while you might think they aren't worth messing with because of it, they think the same thing of you because it's too difficult to do business with you. They have plenty of choices of people to spend their money with and payment convenience ranks right up there at the top. Like Ricky Jackson's quote "The fast eat up the slow".
I saw a dramatic increase in my bottom line when I added card processing so it stands to reason I was losing those previous possible sales simply because I didn't offer it. Now I get all those impulse purchases.
-------------------- "If I share all my wisdom I won't have any left for myself."
Mike Pipes stickerpimp.com Lake Havasu, AZ mike@stickerpimp.com Posts: 8746 | From: Lake Havasu, AZ USA | Registered: Jun 2000
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Mark, Just bite the bullet and get set up for Visa-Mastercard. It's much easier. I'm still surprised at how much one will pay when its the company card! John
-------------------- John Arnott El Cajon CA 619 596-9989 signgraphics1@aol.com http://www.signgraphics1.com Posts: 1443 | From: El Cajon CA usa | Registered: Dec 1998
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posted
I think Mark is wanting only to accept deposits/payments via the internet. This is better for both him and his customers. The customer has already approved the job, but Mark needs the deposit to get started. Paying via the Internet gets Mark his money more quickly and spares his customer an unnecessary trip. I don't believe he's planning on selling any merchandise through his website, which is really more like a brochure for his company.
Having glanced (didn't get a chance to read it all carefully yet), it looks like paypal offers a service whereby people may send and/or recieve money via email. In such a case, it appears a website is not even needed to receive money this way (interesting, I thought!)
It looks to me like Mark could accomplish his goal by opening a paypal premier account or a paypal business account and that he wouldn't even need to add paypal/credit card processing capabilities to his website, which is what he is considering. Am I right or have I overlooked something important and obvious? [unfortunately, my overlooking-the-obvious skills are very finely honed!]
-------------------- William Bass wjb71@bellsouth.net Northwest Florida Posts: 636 | From: Pensacola, FL | Registered: Aug 2004
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posted
thanks for the tips, advice, & time to chat ! WB-that's it, just need their deposit to "proceed", 99% of the time they pay @ completion-folks are 90 miles an hour around here DC "mentality" i guess, i'm busy too !
-------------------- mark zilliox mark z signs 8425 pushaw station rd. owings md. 20736 301-855-5407 thezs@earthlink.net http://www.markzsigns.com Posts: 348 | From: maryland | Registered: May 2003
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posted
Processing credit cards directly is faster in that case Mark. You can get their money while you have them on the phone, and they don't have to wait til they can get to a computer where they can access their email or paypal's website. Then inevitably the email server is down or the email bounces back for some reason or it never even goes through in the first place.
If you don't want or need processing for your website, just get a regular swipe terminal with keypad for the shop.
The more people that know you take plastic, the more will make use of it.
-------------------- "If I share all my wisdom I won't have any left for myself."
Mike Pipes stickerpimp.com Lake Havasu, AZ mike@stickerpimp.com Posts: 8746 | From: Lake Havasu, AZ USA | Registered: Jun 2000
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