Paymate v PayPal

[*wheels*]

We added Paymate as a payment option on eBay listings a while ago and received our first Paymate payment yesterday.

Sale $61.50 incl post
less Paymate fees $2.18 = $59.32
Payment deposited into bank account overnight

v

Sale $61.50 incl post
less PayPal fees $1.78 = $59.72
takes 3-5 days to transfer to bank account


Not sure if we'll continue to offer Paymate. If buyers don't have a PayPal account they can always pay by creditcard through PayPal.  

[*CountessA*]

Can you specify the Paymate fees to be paid by the buyer - or would that simply put off the buyers?

Have you been thinking possibly about getting credit card facility with your bank, using a third party gateway? You may be surprised at how little it costs; at any rate, it may be worth comparing fees.

[*wheels*]

Can you specify the Paymate fees to be paid by the buyer - or would that simply put off the buyers?

No, Paymate fees cannot be passed on to buyers on eBay

and

Yes, I think it would put off buyers, especially if they have the option to pay by creditcard via PayPal without having a PayPal account.

Most of our website sales are paid via creditcard via PayPal.

[*wheels*]

I doubt the number of buyers using it will ever increase so we'll leave it there till the end of the year and then probably remove it as a payment option. We average 80% of buyers paying by PayPal and 20% by Bank Deposit.

[*Brum6y*]

These are just my thoughts.... You are discussing your business, which you know far better than I ever will - so if anything I say should be taken as 'just and idea'.

I think leaving the Paymate option available is one I would consider for the long term.  Although the fees are higher, they aren't too excessively so.

I know there are some people who despise PayPal - and there may be some sales you might miss by not offering an alternative.  I would not assume that just because you remove PayMate, buyers will automatically drop back to PayPal.

Then there are the issues of 'account holds' and other such infamies of PayPal that would encourage me to have alternatives.


Besides, if we want competition for Paypal to grow, we need to support it.

[acer2u]

I would look into the option of leaving it available for a longer period as effectively it will take time for Paymate to get any headway into a market that has been predominately owned by Paypal  for a number of years and given it has been indoctrinated into our psyche from a buyers perspective to automatically look for it as a payment option, that the only way Paymate can have any chance of succeeding is if Sellers are prepared to offer it as a payment option therefore giving it a chance to grow even though that is of little comfort with the fee comparison, but as brumby has stated there are other issue's that can come into play that would make Paymate an easier option if those circumstances were to arise.

Offering both gives a buyer more choice plus it has the added benefit of promoting the Paymate name getting buyers familiar with it enough to hopefully allow it to grow into the market place.

I doubt it will ever take the lions share of the market from Paypal but it certainly would and could give it a good run for it’s money and that I would like to see.

I can only speak from my own perspective when searching through listings that it would stand out to me from the norm of Paypal to see a seller also having Paymate, so hopefully it would have the same effect on other buyers, that maybe a wishful thinking on my part, but where there is light there is hope.

[*CountessA*]

Of course I can only speak from my own perspective... and I know things have changed since I was a little girl accompanying my parents when my father had seen something in the Trading Post. I vividly remember that whole sense and atmosphere of buying on trust, and rarely being let down. Money would change hands when picking up the item and approving it in person, so there was none of this SNAD business. (But of course this was for face-to-face transactions.)

Fast-forwarding to now, we live in a world in which PayPal has enmeshed itself into auctions and online purchasing... and I can see that PayPal and Paymate and Google Checkout and so on are some of the few methods that enable private owners of things world-wide to be able to buy one from the other. I still prefer using my card for online purchases from businesses; I can then deal directly with my card issuer (bank) if there's a problem, and the merchant is the person who sold me the goods. There's no middleman - no PayPal in the middle. If I make a claim, it's against the seller, not PayPal - if I use my card. This means the seller gets the necessary information to reply to any problem... It also means I am comfortable in the protection my card affords me.

For businesses, I honestly find PayPal as the ONLY payment solution off-putting. (vPost, for instance, ONLY offer PayPal, and it surprises me every single time. I think I deliberately block it out - every single time!) I always appreciate it when a seller has various payment options.

Wheels, you might find in the long run that offering those options brings you more business, as some people are so very opposed to PayPal that they'd rather pay by any other method. It might cost a little more, but it's possible those fees may come down in the future if Paymate gains more ground.

[shyer]

We added Paymate as a payment option on eBay
.....Not sure if we'll continue to offer Paymate. If buyers don't have a PayPal account they can always pay by creditcard through PayPal.  

The question is not just about a few cents for higher priced items  ie $500/1000 the few cents are not a problem. The problem is pay$pal freezing your money, restricting your monthly withdrawals, and the worst of all NEVER quering charge backs or returns.

P$P loses can be $1000s per year paymate at least helps you.

I like paymate as so few buyers have it I get paid instead bank deposit or post office COD no risk or fees .