Paypal fees for all transactions :(

[simplyjo]

Friends, did you notice paypal is now charging 3.4%+0.30 USD per transaction (for receiving payments) in Personal/Premier accounts A payee gets two options while paying now - Purchase and personal - Only if they choose personal, no service fee will be charged. But if you misuse this Paypal might suspend your account. So, is it OK for you to ask your buyers to choose personal mode just to avoid fees ? I guess not. I had been relying on PP till now - Which is the next best alternate site for payments ? I am from India.

[Fergal]

I've been using PayPal for years and personally I'm happy with their service. If you have a large e-commerce business with huge sales volume you can save money by using bank merchant services on your site. However, PayPal are ideal for handling online sales of low to medium volume and their fees are generally less than you can get elsewhere.

Based on other posts you have made about your business I would suggest that PayPal is the best option for you. But you are absolutely right to look at alternatives to see if they can offer you a lower cost solution.

Have you looked at PayPal's fees page to ensure that you are on the best rates for your business? Depending on the level of business going through your account, you can sometimes apply for a lower fee level - I believe it's if you are doing over $3,000 per month, but check the link for your own circumstances.

If you are looking for other payment options have a look at the links below;

http://aws.amazon.com/fps/ - A relatively new service from Amazon
http://authorize.net/
http://www.rbsworldpay.com/
https://www.alertpay.com/index.aspx
http://www.sagepay.com/
http://www.moneybookers.com
http://www.2checkout.com

Good luck with it and please do let us know what you decide and how it works out.

[simplyjo]

Thanks Fergal.
Due to wide usage of Paypal, Almost all my clients have PayPal (Infact, till now I never even asked them if they use some other payment gateway). I checked out MoneyBookers and it has relatively low fees - 1% to receive payments which is pretty good and around USD 2 to withdraw money to your bank. Seems good but Paypal is just so much more simplier !
Due to my comfort level with PP and wide usage, I guess I'll stick to it.
Though - Does anyone know if charges are same for Personal and Premier accounts ?

I've been using PayPal for years and personally I'm happy with their service. If you have a large e-commerce business with huge sales volume you can save money by using bank merchant services on your site. However, PayPal are ideal for handling online sales of low to medium volume and their fees are generally less than you can get elsewhere.

Based on other posts you have made about your business I would suggest that PayPal is the best option for you. But you are absolutely right to look at alternatives to see if they can offer you a lower cost solution.

Have you looked at PayPal's fees page to ensure that you are on the best rates for your business? Depending on the level of business going through your account, you can sometimes apply for a lower fee level - I believe it's if you are doing over $3,000 per month, but check the link for your own circumstances.

If you are looking for other payment options have a look at the links below;

http://aws.amazon.com/fps/ - A relatively new service from Amazon
http://authorize.net/
http://www.rbsworldpay.com/
https://www.alertpay.com/index.aspx
http://www.sagepay.com/
http://www.moneybookers.com
http://www.2checkout.com

Good luck with it and please do let us know what you decide and how it works out.

[pendelton]

One of the few benefits that paypal gives businesses, is the lower transfer rates.

I pay 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction on my corporate account. My volume has been increasing, and, with luck, I'll be down to 1.9% before the summer ends.

[Fergal]

Jo, I don't believe they charge any less on Premier accounts. At least they don't mention it here on PayPal's transaction fees.

[Nazreen]

You can have 1 Personal and 1 Premier account in Paypal. The good thing about Personal accounts is that they don't charge you any fees for transactions. But the downside is that you will only be able to receive a limited number of credit card transactions. Premier accounts doesn't have this limitation but you will be charged as you've mentioned above, for credit card transactions.

Why don't you ask your buyers to pay you through your personal account first? When you've reached the limit, only then will you ask them to pay you through you premier account.

[devilbatista]

simplyjo, When you upgrade to Premier account, your fees increases. But it's not so in Personal account. Once I had mistakely upgarded to Premier account. But with the great help of Paypal, I was able to restore it back to Personal account.

[GekiDan]

It is the greatest letdown that I have experienced when using PayPal.
In my opinion, they have made this move to earn more on their growing members. I really don't have any choice since PayPal is the only pay processor that have less fees than others.

Is it a good move to upgrade to Premier because they only have almost the same fees?

[vlt]

You can just send the money throw personal tab and not the purchase tab to eliminate all the receiving fees.

[wonder.woman]

For me, I personally think that paying through Paypal is inconvenient and risky. For some, I understand its part of their business and that is just the only mode of payment. Since I'm dun 100% throw myself into the business world, I would prefer to skip paying with such a mode. No offence to Paypal though ....

[Fergal]

...I really don't have any choice since PayPal is the only pay processor that have less fees than others....

It's difficult to criticize their fees, if they are the lowest.

If you are looking for alternatives you can view a helpful list of online payment processors in our Useful Online Business Resources.

...Is it a good move to upgrade to Premier because they only have almost the same fees?

You can view the benefits of PayPal premier and business accounts here. A quick look at that page should let you know if these features are relevant to you.

Please do let us know if you have any further questions.

[Fergal]

For me, I personally think that paying through Paypal is inconvenient and risky. ....

Do you use an alternative? Which one?

[Superbs]

Well i don't think the move from paypal would be good for people earning around $50 or less a month through web and who use paypal to receive the money as the fees would eat up much % of it. although it's good that they have still made a free option available for personal uses. i would suggest you to make a smart use of it and not use the featuresfor smaller transactions. i think it would be safe to use the option once or twice a month max. i would say use it only when u have to transact higher amounts and not for $1 kinda transactions.

Do you use an alternative? Which one?

Fergal, rather than paypal i would suggest alertpay. it's quite the same as paypal with features also lower in fees.

http://www.alertpay.com

[Fergal]

Thanks for that Superbs, however I'm actually happy enough with PayPal and really don't see a need to change. When I start earning huge money online I'll look at options for a lower cost alternative

[DEADMAN]

I'm also a member of Paypal. And I'm happy about their service they been providing. Actually, they won't charge any fees for Personal Account untill you're businessman or go premiere for huge transcations.

You shouldn't be having problem around with it.