Question for those who take payments on your eCommerce website.

[CobraBob]

So I have been using PayPal Payments on my website for almost 18 years. It's easy to set up, easy to manage, and major credit cards can be used through PayPal. Their fee structure has always been in line with other payment systems like credit card gateways, Square, Stripe, etc. But they just enacted a major fee increase for PayPal (Digital) Payments, basically going from 2.90% + .30 to 3.49% + .49! They included the usual bullshit about them being "focused on helping your business sell more", blah, blah, blah. That's a huge increase of 35%! And I'm paying more now when customers use PayPal Payments than when they use a credit card through PayPal. That's a big change in their fee structure. So I'm thinking about switching from PayPal Payments on my website to Square, Stripe or online credit card/debit card payments. Right now, those services advertise 2.90% + .30 which is what PayPal WAS. Those could increase as well, of course, but at the present time PayPal seems to be the only payment processor that has gone huge for my pocketbook.

One advantage of using a service like Square is that I can process a credit card over the phone along with accepting online payments. I can't process a credit card over the phone with PayPal.

What method of taking payments are you using, or recommend? I would appreciate any and all comments and recommendations, as well as positives and negatives with the available services. I know that pretty much everybody is comfortable paying through PayPal, but there are those who prefer using anything BUT PayPal.

In the meantime, I will talk to Square, Stripe and a couple of the credit card gateway services. Thanks for your help with this!

 

[13COBRA]

My wife uses Square at her store and doesn't have any issues.

Sent from my Potato

 

[C2tuck]

Wonder what the fees are for the Amazon pay? I usually use PayPal myself, but if Amazon is an option it’s just as easy. Not sure if you have to be set up as an Amazon retailer to use it though. Just a thought.

 

[CobraBob]

My wife uses Square at her store and doesn't have any issues.

Sent from my Potato

Thanks, Nick. Square is the one at the top of my list right now. I just called to complain to PayPal (offshore support, of course) and the rep wasn't even aware of the increase.

 

[Great Asp]

Still using Paypal, we increased the prices to offset the cost

 

[L8APEX]

Square is nice as long as they like you, we used it for a backup for when the NCR terminals went down in the stores, i.e. internet outage, preventing credit card transactions. In that case we had square credit card readers hooked up to 4g tablets that could still run cards. Unfortunately Square like many other payment processors have "issues" with supplement companies and have canceled service on just a few of our accounts for backup 4g tablets/square readers (each store has it's own account). We've been told it's from when supplement companies liked to enroll customers in recurring orders/payments, so instead of going case by case they've decided not to provide service to anyone selling supplements. A few stores in colorado got singled out by sqare and their square accounts were canceled, but they can deny you service for any reason they please at anytime (any can). It's a bitch when one processor blacklists an industry or a company as the rest quickly follow suit, I feel terrible for sites doing gun and ammo sales.
As for our website we have authorise.net and somehow paypal even though paypal refuses to allow us to use the portable services/hardware (they have devices similar to square). We can't really balk at what they charge for processing, as we have so few options. But like everyone else prices are going up... (not to cover the payment fees) but just basic production costs are rising fast where even the containers cost much more than ever before.
If you guys like supplements, stock up now. The new costs are generally >133-150% what we paid earlier this year. Creatine monohydrate has easily doubled.