PayPal

[web guru]

I am looking to use PayPal on one of my sites. I have never used it before and I was wondering if anyone had any advice or knew of any good tutorials. I have already got an account set up but its the Instant Payment Notification (IPN) I was mainly wondering about. But any other bits of advice would be great, Thanks!!

 

[Corey Bryant]

I never used paypal myself, but just a few warnings. Create a checking account that you give Paypal to deposit the money into. And then move that money to another checking account. You are doing this because if something happens, Paypal can freeze that checking account & if that is your main account - you can be up the creek without a paddle.

Paypal should have all the tutorials on their site for implement the IPN.

If you start selling over $1200 a month, consider getting a real merchant account. This will usually cover the monthly minimum of $25.00 a month.

 

[web guru]

Paypal can freeze that checking account & if that is your main account - you can be up the creek without a paddle

They cant freeze your bank account can they??

 

[Corey Bryant]

Yes - I have seen it happen. And actually I have seen it happen to the COO's wife of a CC processor company. They froze her account for 6 months before they finally released it - and it was all their mistake. But due to the fact that they have so many rules & regulations to follow from Visa/Mastercard, they fall back on these if they suspect fraud or abuse.

Another site to check out: http://www.paypalsucks.com/forums/

 

[web guru]

Is there any thing else I could do to accept payment with out have to set up a merchant account (Cant afford it yet)??

 

[Corey Bryant]

Well even though I do speak bad about it - I do recommend paypal - or stormpay is another. These are all 3rd party processors (aggregators). Very easy to setup & get started. Easy - always comes with some sort of a price. I have just set up a paypal account for someone who wants to sell e-books. She wante amerchant acount but I told her - let's wait a couple of months & then get a merchant account. This way, she does not have that monthly fee to deal with & in case something happens, she is not in a 6 month contract.

Just watch your account with Paypal - maybe even change your password weekly to help prevent hacking. And if someone is unhappy with whatever you are selling - refund their money promptly - if Paypal gets too many complaints - they will shut everything down immediately.

 

[web guru]

Thanks for all your advice so far, just one more question. Once the cutomer has paid through paypal, whats the best way to deliver my product. Its a piece of software, I was thinking about emailing it to them?? But what if I was just using a buy now button and not using IPN??

 

[Corey Bryant]

Well it depends on how large the ZIP file is. A lot of ISPs block large attachments. Or if they are on a dial up & downloading e-mail - it could take a while. You could e-mail them a link with a user name / password (http://www.outfront.net/spooky/login.htm) - not too sure how busy you will be in the beginning or what. Of course you could always create a generic user name / password every 15-30 days. That way you are not creating one for every order. And then give them 5 days to download.

 

[web guru]

Ok I know I said that I had no more questions but I only have one more. With PayPal I have a personel account. I dont think this is able to accept credit crad transactions, is it?? Also if its not should I upgrade to a Premier accout or a Business account?? Thanks for all your help!!

 

[Corey Bryant]

No worries. This is what I found on their site:

Personal Account
Send money for FREE
Receive money for FREE (non-credit card payments only)
Can upgrade to a Premier account at any time

Premier Account
Send money for FREE
Receive any type of payment, including credit cards, for low fees
Exclusive customer service hotline 7 days a week
Special tools for sellers
ATM debit card for select users

Business Account
Includes all the features of Premier accounts
Do business under a corporate or group name
Can have Multiple Logins

http://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/gen/accounts-outside

So with a Premier Account, you can accept Credit Cards.