posted on October 3, 2000 09:11:18 AM
I have been using PayDirect with success after the PayPal fiasco and am really excited about signing up for ExchangePath which is a free service. ExchangePath is owned by CMGI, some may recognize this name since CMGI is a publicly traded company. The site appears to be very professionally done and is easy to navigate. I would be very interested in hearing others experience.
First, It appears to be the only site that accepts all credit cards which is a major plus!
Their FAQ states that "You can make payments by using the following:
Credit Cards: Visa® card, Mastercard® card, Discover® card, JCB® card, Diners Club International® card. Charge Card: American Express® card.
Debit Cards: Visa or Mastercard.
Existing funds in your account."
Also, unlike PayPal as previously stated it is free and you can earn up to $100 in bonuses which is paid when the buyer uses his/her credit card, NO bank account verification required. In fact, it appears you can even have your account withdrawals go to your credit or debit card so they would never need your bank account!
Potential drawbacks appear to be permitting the sending of $200 maximum per transaction/$1000 per day (no limit for receiving money) and permitting account withdrawals of $500 per day. Outside of those restrictions, I like what I see.
Again, my first impression is really positive and of all the on-line payment sites, this appears to be the most professionaly done. To me this service appears superior to PayPal, especially if your privacy is important and you like the ability to use/accept many different forms of payment. So please let me know what you think and I would be especially interested in hearing the experiences of current users.
Thanks in advance!
[ edited by topprospects on Oct 3, 2000 09:12 AM ]
posted on October 3, 2000 09:47:20 AM
I've used it for a couple of transactions and have been very happy so far. One big drawback is customer service... it takes several days to get a canned response from them.
OTOH, I did manage to get ahold of one of their PTB and I'll share a little Q&A I did with him:
Ummm..... how do YOU plan to make money? I see that it's free now... What's the longer term plan?
We have just launched and are still evaluating different ways to price the
service so that it is fair to both auction sellers who are helping us to
sign up customers, and to ExchangePath which is providing a useful service.
Longer term we will have to charge fees, but we would like to integrate
seamlessly with other services that help merchants to sell at auctions. We
hope that people will be willing to pay for a service if it contributes to
the efficiency of their business. If you have any suggestions for what you
feel would be a helpful addition to our product I would love to hear it.
Do you sweep fund into my existing bank account, or do you have an intermediary account ala PayPal?
As for sweeping funds, there is an intermediary account where all
transactions are performed online. You also have the option to sweep the
funds into your bank account or into your credit card account. Currently
there are no charges for that as well.
What is the approx length of time between payment being accepted and funds availability?
In the online account the funds are available immediately from the time the
sender executes the transaction. If you perform a sweep from your
ExchangePath account the funds will be available within 2-3 days in your
bank account (standard time for ACH transactions) and 1-2 days posted to
your credit card account.
posted on October 3, 2000 10:04:38 AM
I signed up for exchange path too and I read the fine print. Do not be surprised if they, in the future begin to charge fees. It's in there that they may, but you have to look hard.
posted on October 3, 2000 10:28:57 AM
I have had just one transaction with ExchangePath but it was painless and smooth.
PayDirect is getting more usage right now from my customers.
I have removed PayPal from my methods of payment in my auctions and I hope that keeps it to a dull roar. If it doesn't, I will have to close my account.
posted on October 3, 2000 12:12:37 PM
Yes, nothing is 'free forever', no matter what they say... the thing is that ExchangePath isn't saying 'free forever', they're saying 'free for now, we'll charge you later'. At least they are being HONEST about it on the front end!!!!
And they admit a problem with sending money to the wrong address and plan to have a fix in place soon for that.
posted on October 3, 2000 12:21:50 PM
I had a customer use the wrong email when sending me funds via exchangepath, I gave the customer exchangepaths phone number. She called them and they fixed it right away. The customer was very impressed on how fast they responded to her problem.
I also hear they are going to have a built in solution to this problem soon.
posted on October 3, 2000 12:58:42 PM
A built in solution - why that would be much better than paypal. They just send the email and don't do anything when it is undeliverable. Makes for a customer service nightmare! Already sounds better than Paypal.
posted on October 3, 2000 01:09:53 PM
No thanks! 75% of my customers use PayPal, and PayPal has made me lots of money - I have just upgraded and will be staying with PayPal.
It has been my experience that it takes lots of time for customers to make changes, and they have to have a good reason - I see no reason for the customers to make the change, and if the customers don't make the change then.....what is the advantage? Since most of mine seem to be with PayPal, it would be foolish for me to change.
I don't mind the minor charge, and do like the fact it will transfer into my Quicken, and customers can charge from my Web Site, etc.
I joined BillPoint, but am going to close that account, as no one uses it. I use PayDirect, but don't particularly care for it, but have a couple of customers who use it, and since I use Yahoo a great deal, I'll keep it.
PayPal's fees are very reasonable AND the fact is if you are running your business through it - you are a business and fees are merely a part of doing business.
