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Whatever happened to just accepting cash in the mail and having some naked chicks (so they don't stuff anything in pockets) do the accounting
That blew up (with the Caddy).
I use it because it is widely adopted by end users/customers, its simple, quick easy and accessible, customers feel safer making purchases with paypal and there is no viable alternative that offers all of those.
I get the whole use a merchant account/direct processing of cards/ stripe etc etc, none of those truly replace the advantages of paypal.
Fee's are a bitch but I suspect they would be vastly outweighed by the loss of business if I stopped taking it tomorrow.
As a consumer I use it because it is the safest and most convenient, hands down. The only other choice is a credit card and that's not advised from a safety perspective. Yes, the CC offers some protection but it's nothing like Paypal, especially regarding convenience. I'd gladly use Bitcoin, but I don't have any and there does not seem to be any practical way to get any where I live.
This is virtually universal in US gas stations, convenience stores, etc.
Tons and tons of places also say no credit card below a $5 or $10 purchase.
There's also the matter of enforcement in meatspace vs cyberspace. There's a teriyaki joint near me that has a sign that says they add a fee if you pay with MC/Visa. Completely out in the open, posted on the wall, and it's been there for at least eight years.
It may be against their merchant agreement...but who is ever going to know? It's not like MasterCard has roving packs of trench-coated justicars enforcing terms.
OTOH I'm sure MC & Visa have web crawlers...
Give me a Bitcoin Address and I'll just send you some. :-)
In my experience, consumers needn't feel safer with PayPal. The Visa/MC dispute resolution process is more transparent and consistent, which is good for both parties. At least in the UK, consumers have complete protection with any credit card, for any unauthorised charge. Some issuers make disputing a charge easy (e.g. Amex), others make your speak to a numpty and fill in paper forms (e.g Santanduh).
If some company charges an unauthorised amount, the main upshot is I waste a few minutes on the phone with the card issuer.
Not sure if this varies from country to country but I think the view that PayPal is safer is a bit outdated and mostly PayPal marketing nowadays.
Staying away from shady clients and suppliers is underrated, by the way
If you're turnover is $5/week then you have bigger problems. Even if they charged 100%, shopping around would not be time well spent LOL.
Emailed our PayPal rep about this and she didn't even know about the political change and fee increase. Ugh.
Unfortunately, customer end up paying, work on an LE range every penny counts so the financial cost has to be take in consideration on the retail prices.
What is pissing me off is the $20.00 charge for a chargeback even if you win, so you going to dispute a $3.00 chargeback and end up paying $ 20.00 for services.
Thank you PayPal. Fuck you!
This does not apply to transactions with seller protection; so it might be better to not accept unverified Paypal (w/ unverified address) and instead direct the customer to pay via card payment processor.
Pavin.
Yup, I LOVE using Paypal for all of my online purchases especially hosting. I don't have to give a bunch of different places my credit card info when I use Paypal (When I used to use my credit or debit card on online stores I got hit twice with fraud due to stores being compromised). I also have a Paypal debit card and it's great - lower atm withdrawal fees then my bank, cash back, and it can use my paypal funds or an instant transfer from my bank and it's free. Their support has also been very helpful whenever I have needed to call them.
I think you misunderstand the idea of safety. There is not usually any problem with the entity from which one is buying. I wouldn't worry much about that, specifically for the reasons you mention. That is something we hopefully all guard ourselves against by making wise choices.
The real issue of safety is that if some unauthorized person gets my credit card details it spells trouble, regardless. Just ask yourself, if you were a crook, which would you rather have, my credit card details or my Paypal email address?
I'm gonna have to sell my house to support my paypal habbit.