To the users that registered with PayPal Shops---it is now up and running on the site. Some other features will help make the navigation easier down the road, but I just wanted to make sure that you were aware if you registered.
I am going to include some information on the web site and from the press release.
Some additional info for those that have not seen some of the features with PayPal Shops on the site--
Join PayPal Shops and open your doors to over 6 million PayPal users! Just give us the URL, title, category, and a short description for your website. PayPal will use this information to drive customers to your website in two ways:
We will list your site in PayPal Shops, where over 6 million PayPal members will be able to find your online store. Please allow 1-2 days after registration for your listing to become active.
Beginning when you register, every time a customer sends you a payment for purchases made somewhere other than your website, such as an online auction site, we will invite them to shop at your website as well. This service is absolutely free for members of PayPal shops.
Fees: Placement in PayPal Shops is currently free. Fees may be introduced in the future, but no changes will be made without first notifying you.
Note: At this time, registration with PayPal Shops is only open to domestic (U.S.) members.
PayPal Makes E-Commerce Easier with “PayPal Shops”
Directory of 5,600 PayPal-Preferring Merchants Helps Guide Shoppers;
Businesses to Benefit from Millions of Unique Weekly Visitors
PALO ALTO, Calif. – March 13 – PayPal (www.PayPal.com) today announced “PayPal Shops,” a directory of e-commerce merchants that prefer to be paid through PayPal, the leading online payment service. The collection of more than 5,600 businesses, arranged by merchandise or service category, will provide PayPal’s nearly seven million members with a new, convenient way to shop online. In turn, PayPal-preferring merchants will get to compete for the attention and dollars of PayPal.com’s more than three million unique weekly visitors – people proven to use the Internet not just to browse, but to buy.
“For our seven million members, finding the right place to shop online just got easier with PayPal Shops,” said David Sacks, executive vice president of product, PayPal. “That’s because our members have told us they prefer to shop at e-businesses that accept PayPal. Sellers listed on PayPal Shops also benefit by using the number one online payments provider, fueled by more Internet traffic than any other financial website.”
PayPal members spend approximately $8 million a day in more than 160,000 transactions. PayPal allows people and businesses to send and receive money instantly and securely over the Internet, funded from credit cards or bank accounts.
PayPal is the leading payment service for online auctions, including eBay™, where most auctions advertise PayPal as a preferred payment method. For eBay™ seller Tim Grayson, listing in PayPal Shops is a great way to increase bids – and sales.
“Lots of my buyers like to pay through PayPal and I’ve already accepted thousands of dollars in successful sales through the service, so it just made sense to list my business in PayPal Shops to get in front of their millions of buyers,” said Grayson, whose recent auctions include name-brand leather goods and electronics equipment. “As an eBay™ seller, also listing in PayPal Shops makes my merchandise available to an even broader market, and one whose members are ready to pay online for faster shipment. I like that.”
PayPal is also increasingly being used for non-auction e-commerce, and as a cost-effective payment service for off-line businesses looking to receive payment at their corporate website.
“Our customers are located all over the country,” said Paula Banks of Georgia-based Automotive Transport, Inc. “Having people pay us through PayPal is convenient for them and fast, easy and inexpensive for us,” she added. “With PayPal Shops, we can advertise our transport service to a national audience of millions of Internet users – people who are already set up to send us payment by email. That’s a very valuable service for a small business.”
For frequent online shopper Heather Ryan, the value of PayPal Shops is obvious. “It’s hard enough finding exactly what you want online at a price you’re willing to pay,” she says. “The beauty of PayPal Shops is that once you do, you don’t have to worry about how to pay for it and how long it’s going to take to get it – I can pay by email and have it shipped the same day.”
About PayPal
PayPal is the instant and secure online payment service that allows people and businesses to send and receive money by e-mail from bank accounts or credit cards. With nearly 7 million members and growing, PayPal is the world's first and largest Internet-based payment service, and the #1 financial site on the Internet, according to PC Data Online. PayPal is the preferred payment service for online auctions, online community and group Web sites, and is seeing tremendous growth in e-commerce transactions for small businesses. PayPal members send approximately $8 million in more than 160,000 payments each day. Free to consumers, PayPal can be used from PCs or web-enabled mobile phones. Business users pay transaction fees to receive payments through PayPal.
posted on March 14, 2001 04:19:02 PM
Hi, paypaldamon. I tried to visit some of those shops yesterday. What I found was that most of these were just links to someone's eBay auctions or their About Me page. I was really hoping for more traditional web-based shops. Oh, and I also found a high number of the shops had non-working links. I probably won't try again.
posted on March 14, 2001 04:19:28 PM
Hi, paypaldamon. I tried to visit some of those shops yesterday. What I found was that most of these were just links to someone's eBay auctions or their About Me page. I was really hoping for more traditional web-based shops. Oh, and I also found a high number of the shops had non-working links. I probably won't try again.
posted on March 14, 2001 05:06:20 PM
paypaldamon; You didn't answer my question on the PayPal boards. Why do sellers have to sign up for the uninsured money market fund to be listed in the "Shops Directory"? Why can't PayPal try an upfront approach instead of consistently living up to their reputation of being "sleazy" and "underhanded"?
As with most promotional items/registration items there will be certain conditions that have to be met in order to register on the site.
This may change down the road, but this is how it is for the moment.
I look at it this way--
I have to provide my ssn to register in PayPal shops. Why not get the added benefit of going into the Money Market fund (you are supplying the information anyways and you are earning a dividend on money left in your account)?
I don't have any additional details about fees and the like, but I do know that it will be expanded to include a search function and that additional changes will be the result of user feedback.If you have any additional thoughts on how to make it better---please let us know.
Broken links could mean that the person pulled the site down or that there were connectivity issues to their site.
posted on March 14, 2001 08:28:55 PM
Sorry, paypaldamon, I don't buy it. There is absolutely no reason that I should have to have a money market account in order to use paypal shops.
It's rather like a SUV dealer requiring you to get the burl wood trim and leather seats in order to get a CD player. The two are unrelated and you're just arbitrarily attaching them together to sell the less desirable thing.
posted on March 14, 2001 08:41:33 PMThere is absolutely no reason that I should have to have a money market account in order to use paypal shops.
Maybe your participation in the Money Market gives PayPal the tools to do a credit check.
By registering, you grant PayPal the right to run a credit check on you or your business at any time.
I've got a money market account, I've used money markets for years with several institutions. After you sign up there is a problem with black helicopters circling your house, but after a few weeks you get so use to the noise you don't even notice them anymore.
posted on March 14, 2001 09:23:08 PM
damon, your response is nonsensical but thats ok. My questions were rethorical. It's not a matter of PayPal living up to their reputation. PayPal IS underhanded.
But I have a question about the money market fund. If I sign up for the money market fund can I still withdraw all the money out of my PayPal account on an hourly basis without paying some penalty?
I don't trust PayPal now, I would trust the money market fund even less.
Also if I sign up for the money market account can I quit the money market account without having my PayPal account terminated?
As I mentioned, these are the requirements at this time. However, I did mention the concerns to our Product/Policy teams about the requirement.
Basically, what I am trying to reinforce is that there is a mutual benefit for providing the ssn for PayPal shops---you will be earning dividends on funds left in the PayPal account if you also apply for the Money Market account.There is no underhanded reason for bundling PayPal services and there are a fair number of organizations that bundle products and services to give the user something more attractive.
You can withdraw money at any time without a penalty or you could even apply for a debit card if you were interested in withdrawing funds.
The money market is run by Barclay's bank and additional information can be found on the web site.
I placed this information about the opening of PayPal shops because there are a fair number of eBay users that have PayPal accounts that have registered for the service.
As an FYI, because users have asked this question before---what if PayPal goes bankrupt? While this is a most unlikely scenario given our recent round of financing, I can provide this information (because you mentioned uninsured accounts and seem to be concerned about losing money)---
1. Users enrolled in the Money Market account could go directly to Barclay's for the monies in the unlikely event of a bankruptcy.
2. User monies are kept separate from operating expenses to help reduce the probabilty of user issues in the unlikely event of a bankruptcy. The laws of bankruptcy still apply, and this is no guarantee, but this is done to assist in reducing customer concerns.
posted on March 14, 2001 10:22:24 PM
Sorry, but I feel this message is spam, considering it was posted by a PayPal rep. Doesn't it belong in Partner Services?
posted on March 14, 2001 10:24:33 PMdamon, your response is nonsensical but thats ok. My questions were rethorical. It's not a matter of PayPal living up to their reputation. PayPal IS underhanded.
A rhetorical question is a question that is asked in order to make a statement and which does not expect an answer. With that in mind sanooy why are you pressing Damon for answers to questions you don't want answers to?
paypaldamon; You didn't answer my question on the PayPal boards. Why do sellers have to sign up for the uninsured money market fund to be listed in the "Shops Directory"? Why can't PayPal try an upfront approach instead of consistently living up to their reputation of being "sleazy" and "underhanded"?
I'm not the greatest at diplomacy, but I've refrained from calling your posts "combative" and "inflammatory" or "baiting".
Would you be inclined to respond to questions that had already labeled you as 'sleazy' and underhanded'? THAT was a rhetorical question and doesn't really need an answer.
I started the thread by simply mentioning that it was opend for the users that had registered (that may not be aware and the thread developed on its own). I was actually trying to be helpful. It continued on by a question about what it is and another user had some additional concerns.
Information had already been posted by another user in the Partner Services forum about PayPal shops.
posted on March 14, 2001 11:16:29 PM
Sounds like PayPal is getting ready for another fee increase in the near future.
Here it comes folks. AW just released their store fronts and then hit us with fees. Now PayPal is introducing "shops". Here comes higher fees for all of their services.
