Paypal as only payment option ?

[RuralWeb]

Dont get me wrong i am a big fan of paypal and would recommend then to anyone.

[PA.com]

I used PayPal as my sole PSP for about 6 months before adding Protx (+HSBC Merchant Account) as my default PSP, whilst keeping PayPal as an alternative for those customers who happen to have accounts.

While I agree that PayPal is fantastic for start-up companies, in that it helps to keep expenses down and is very easy to set up and get going with, I should mention two points to bear in mind.

Firstly, as some people have mentioned, there is a bit of a credibility problem, perhaps unjustified but there nontheless, about having PayPal as the only payment option. I had a few potential customers email me to say that this in fact put them off ordering.

Secondly, more seriously, if you are providing digital downloadable goods, where links are generated upon authorisation of payment, I'm afraid PayPal is a bit of a gamble. I think PayPal account holders get away with it, but I used to find that many non-account holders were contacting me to ask where their files were - a bit of a embarrassment really. Since switching to Protx, this problem seems to have ceased, which can't be a coincidence. Of course if you don't offer digital downloads this point is of less significance.

On the whole though, PayPal is well worth looking at for startup companies.

[runningwolf]

I use paypal, Worldpay and cheque/postal orders as options on the store.
I used to have them in that order and most of my orders came in with Paypal.
A couple of weeks ago a customer called me to say he would prefer to use a credit card and had not realised that was what Worldpay did. To make this clearer I described the option as "Secure credit/debit card" and made it the first option. That caused almost all payment to start coming in via worldpay. Knock on effect of that was all my my money is stuck for 4 weeks in Worldpay and I have nothing to pay my suppliers with.
paypal I like as the charges are pretty low and you are looking at a week to get at the money, I do have one wholesaler that also takes paypal so that handt as well.
Worldpay I have found expensive without really offering me much in return.
I am currently trying to compile a list based on £6500/month with a 75/25 split between credit/debit cards. Once I have this I should be able to put my payments headache away for good.
This has all been very new to me, I am an engineer with no sales or web design experience so the whole thing has been a major mountain to climb.

Cheers

Paul
www.theorderofinitiative.co.uk