I always take precautions when I’m dealing online whether it’s paypal or anywhere else. You’re putting your trust in any company that has your personal, business, and account information in order for them to process payments. Any one of those companies could rip you off if they were crooked enough. No matter who you use they have access to funds and could reverse any charge or charges they want. That’s a big reason why I will always have a secondary no matter who I’m dealing with. I’m sure many people don’t though. Maybe I’m old school for that but I don’t think it makes Paypal any worse than the rest of them. They aren’t much different than any other 3rd party service. I’m not exactly sure how traditional merchant accounts work but I’m sure it’s separate from your primary. It’s probably just streamlined to where payments automatically go into your merchant and then to your primary or account of your choice. Kind of similar to using a secondary on paypal you just have to manually transfer into your primary. I’m guessing a traditional merchant processing account isn’t always cost effective for all small businesses so that might not be an option for everyone. That doesn’t make 3rd party a poor choice just be sure to take precautions to protect yourself.
Even eBay is switching from PayPal. I was at an ecommerce meetup and someone mentioned eBay transitioning to a different payment processor and phasing out PayPal.
I heard that too. They’re going with some Dutch company. I guess it’s so eBay can offer cheaper fees to their users. When eBay and Paypal went independent of each other in 2015 Paypal alone was a $50 billion company. They are now over $100 billion. I guess they said the split up was solely an investment move that paid off.
When I first heard that eBay was no long going to use Paypal it made me wonder their fate. That’s a lot of business they’re going to lose. I’m surprised Paypal didn’t make cuts or changes to keep eBay. After going from $50 Billion to $200 billion in a few years I’m sure they have something up their sleeve to continue growing. Either that or they’ll go bankrupt and the government will bail them out.
Actually, when I did setup my traditional merchant card processing account in 2006, I did receive an imprinter and die embossed with my company name and account number.
Seeing how I cannot say anything negative about PayPal, I will leave it at this.
You are fortunate to have 18 years without being burned, but, it only takes once to change your outlook.
I have been a merchant processing credit cards for 12 years. But what do I know?
I didn’t realize they still had those imprinters in 2006. Kind of neat you got one.
We’ve had well over 10,000 transaction without issue so I personally don’t have anything negative to say about our experience with them. People always have different opinions about businesses. I agreed with you multiple times how you made great points and even said people need to make sure to read the fine print. I’m not going to say they suck just because you say they suck. All I can do is share my opinion based on my experience. I do understand where you’re coming from and I respect your opinion. A merchant account probably is the safest option there is but it might not be a viable option for everyone. All I’m saying is take some precautions and Paypal can be a pretty safe option. Can we end this if I say we should I just get a traditional merchant account?
I’ve enjoyed the civil conversation. Seems like very few can do that nowadays on these forums.
@JimLuke I might be wrong but I think it’s just mainly firearms, and any accessory that has different regulations from state to state. I’ve purchased magazines and holsters in the past on ebay and paid via paypal. Most recent was a 10 round mag for an lc9 about a month ago. Maybe they changed their policy from what it use be. It could be one of those policies only used to cover their butt against a lawsuit or something in case a magazine is ever used in a shooting? Being a NRA member I definitely appreciate where you’re coming from!
I wonder if their gun accessory policy is different depending on the state?
