posted on December 7, 2000 10:08:41 AM new
I modestly suppose myself to be a relatively high-volume seller (with $30,000 in sales each month, $20 average sale) so I continue to be dismayed that PayPal pays absolutely no attention to any of the urgent comments I make regarding the usability of their service.
Now we have a new-and-unimproved PayPal interface with a completely confusing "Type" selection. Useless.
What I have needed from PayPal all along was this:
1) The ability to search the transaction log for a customer payment by e-mail address.
Or:
2) The ability to search the entire transaction log for a last name (they insist on breaking the fricken thing down into pages, *each* of which must be searched).
These are trivial programming changes to make. Trust me, I know! This is a few hours' work for one programmer. I have been requesting these changes since the debut of the Premier accounts. (Stupidly, I was one of the first to switch over and "enjoy" the fee charges.)
PayPal has a bad case of eBay's go-away-we-don't-need-you-itis. And my customers are fed up too. I get frustrated e-mail every day from people who can't get through.
posted on December 7, 2000 10:39:47 AM new
I've not had problems with payments received via PayPal (of course, I'm not doing 1000+ auctions a month, either). I did, however, discover today that the default source of funds on verified accounts is now the verifying bank account, rather than the credit card, and there's no permanent way to reset that. Needless to say, I will no longer be PAYING for big ticket items via PayPal. I'll use a service where I'm sure my CC will be charged, as I'd intended.
posted on December 7, 2000 11:47:42 AM new
One thing I want to point out is that Billpoint offers the functionality I seek. If I look at Sales History, I get Item Number, Item Title, Buyer Email and Amount. That's what I need.
I can also *search* (hooray!) by Buyer Email; I don't have to know which firstname/lastname combo they used. I have always thought it was dimwitted for PayPal to use firstname/lastname since that's just about the least important information in the whole transaction.
No, I am not a Billpoint shill, but I've avoided them for a long time because of their fees. Now it looks like it's time to go back.
posted on December 7, 2000 12:35:49 PM new
The reason I went to PP in the first place was because I dont do heavy volume and my merchant account with all its annual and monthly fees was just too expensive (about 3.7%). If I was doing over $20K a month in business, that would have dropped to about 3%. I wouldnt have to worry that one bad customer would freeze my entire account. I wouldnt have to worry that I would get charged back due to a fraudulent credit card because I would be doing my own validation through the system. I wouldnt be using Paypal.
posted on December 7, 2000 02:57:37 PM new
Hey Brooklynguy-- what bettylou is doing is NOT whining. It's called constructive criticism. It's a good thing. Go look it up.
posted on December 7, 2000 03:04:45 PM new
I don't use PayPal or any other payment service that isn't regulated or FDIC insured. Although X.com/PayPal has private insurance for it's members, this only insures them against theft. The insurance offers them no protection if the company vanishes or declares bankruptcy.
Everyone has to make their own decisions regarding the use of an online payment service but I think it's important to do your research first so you can at least make an educated decision. Whatever you decide I think you may find these two articles informative.
QUOTE
No FDIC insurance
"When you don't have an account in your name, the question is whether it will be there when you want it," says Sarah Jane Hughes, an Indiana University law professor. "When you don't have deposit insurance, you have to depend on the solvency of the company that has your money."
She is not questioning the financial stability of any Internet-based payment services. She just points out that when these businesses hold your money, it is not backed by federal deposit insurance. Ecount mentions this explicitly in its terms and conditions.
PayPal insures its customers' money, but only against theft."
END QUOTE
This next article from American Banker can only be accessed by a paid subscription so I've temporarily put it on my server since it's against AW's TOS to copy and paste an article in it's entirety.
!!!!