posted on October 17, 2000 07:18:06 PM new
Hi All,
I have been a big yahoo and yahoo auctions fan since last 5-6 months. Have been actively selling on it and have enjoyed using paypal. Now that the paypal guys decided to strangle my profits with the processing fees, I finally swicthed my loyalties to Paydirect. I sell computer/electronic products that are typically priced >$180. I am having a lot of problems with their verification procedure. First I have to force my customers who have been using paypal to sign up for paydirect. Then the paydirect's $200 limit does not allow them to send me the total money. After the bidder has won the auction, he/she does not want to use Checks and Money orders ...that takes 3-4 days to reach me. In the last 4 days, 1 of my customer decided not to buy my products because of this issue. another 2 had to send me the payment through money order and priority mail. I am also seeing that if I ask the bidder to pay the 1.9% processing fees, then that infuriates him/her. I am not sure how to handle this situation. Yahoo uses a verification process that takes not less than 4-5 days to complete and until then the bidder cannot send me more than $200.
I am looking for some help on this and how to handle this with my customers.
thanks in advance
posted on October 18, 2000 09:57:12 AM new
While they are verifying with PayDirect, you can also offer ExchangePath (https://www.exchangepath.com/index.jsp)
I have been very pleased with ExchangePath as have my customers. Right now they are offering a $10 signing bonus. They also take all CC's including AMEX and debit cards. They do state that there is a possibility of fees in the future, but I hope that they are watching the PP fiasco closely and won't make the same mistakes.
I offer both ExchangePath and PayDirect. They are running neck and neck for the number of bidders using each.
Also, you might look at EnergyFlow (www.energyflow.com) and BidPay.
BidPay costs the buyer about $5.00 to send a money order to you. EnergyFlow works similarly, but costs about $3.00 to the buyer and will also accept all major cards including AMEX.
posted on October 18, 2000 10:03:18 AM new
Pain in the neck doesn't begin to describe it. After a week and a half, and probably about 20 attempts, I have not received the activation code for my PayDirect account. When I called their customer service, I was told that my ISP was blocking email from them, but when I called my ISP's customer service, they said they don't block any email from anybody. I have talked to over a dozen different people this morning, and everybody I talk to tells me that it's not their fault. I've just about had it with the finger-pointing, and claims that I need to talk to somebody else (it's not clear just who- apparently, anybody else aside from the person to whom I am speaking) to try to resolve this problem.
I don't have time for this nonsense- I am just about ready to go back to checks and money orders only.
[ edited by mrpotatoheadd on Oct 18, 2000 10:06 AM ]
posted on October 18, 2000 10:18:38 PM new
Remember the good old days when a money order or check was just fine???
Have had it with these overnight sensation services that change policy in the dark of the night.
I am going back to just that and convince my bidders they are SAVING money, time, headaches, security, and all around hassles......... I feel better already
posted on October 19, 2000 06:41:33 AM new
mrpotatohead
I UNDERSTAND where you are coming from - PayDirect is becoming a nightmare, I'm just thankful that few of my customers chose to use it.
We offer PAYPAL, PayDirect, or the customer can phone us with their credit card information as we have our own Merchant's account. Of course we accept checks or MO's also, and for foreign customers there is BidPay.
About 80% of our customers in the United States, chose to charge in some manor, and of those 95% chose PayPal, 4.4% call us direct, and the remaining have chosen PayDirect. The few who have chosen PayDirect, almost without exception have had a problem, or we have had a problem created by PayDirect.
Read my post SHOCKED BY PAYDIRECT....that just about cooked me with the system.
I am not going to bounce all over the internet changing systems, I don't have the time and I don't believe the customers will follow every change whim of the sellers. I have a business account with PayPal and am quite satisfied. NEVER a problem!
I consider the 1.9% at PayPal the cost of doing business - I would NEVER ask my customer to pay it - actually if one does that and has a Merchant Account they can lose their account, it is against the agreement with all credit card companies. I just put the 1.9% in my price for the item to begin with and everyone is happy.
posted on October 19, 2000 06:47:13 AM new
A problem I am encountering beyond all the other problems I have encountered with the few customers who chose PayDirect, is that for some reason because PayDirect is connected with Yahoo, naive "newbies" seem to think when the auction closes and they win that they can immediately go to PayDirect and pay! I've been through 3 transactions like this. They don't seem to even think about shipping costs, so they pay, it isn't the total, and we have to go through a hassle, getting the shipping cost.
Many of our items are large, and I can't calculate shipping till I know where the buyer lives.
There are just too many endless problems with this system. I'll keep it for the moment, but will never encourage any customer to use it. In fact our "winner's letter" contains a paragraph of encouragement to use PayPal.
Don't need the PayDirect hassles and lack of security!
posted on October 19, 2000 06:57:56 AM newjwpc I am sorry to hear that you are having problems with PD!
Of course you know about my problem with PP and the fact that they have taken money from my checking without authorization. Of course I did get it back after 3 1/2 months of back and forth with them.
Perhaps the difference between us is the total of our sales. My sales are more low end and so perhaps they go through easier, but I have not had any problems with PD at all! All of my transactions have been smooth as butter (knocking on wood here ) and a substantial number of people who are purchasing from me either on Ebay or Yahoo are using PD. The rest have chosen ExchangePath and I have had no problems there either. They are running about 50/50 right now.
Again, sorry to hear that you and your customers are having problems.
posted on October 19, 2000 08:52:33 AM new
I dropped Paypal a while back and I feel like
a 1000 pound weight was removed from my neck. I did not like their tactics and I especially did not like the message they broadcast to the world telling their buyers (my customers) to 'use caution when purchasing from an unverified user you do not know or trust'. I complained to them about that via telephone but the message was still there when I signed off for good.
As for PayDirect - I'm keeping an open mind. I did not find their verification process took any longer than Paypal's did when I first signed up with them and became 'verified', as I almost had to do or be discriminated against by Paypal.
In response to the 'against the rules to charge the fee to the customer issue' - it is not agaist Visa/MasterCard rules to charge the customer for the Paypal service. Your contract or agreement is with Paypal, not Visa/MasterCard. Paypal has the agreement with Visa/Mastercard and Paypal is forbidden to charge the card holder a fee for the service. So, Paypal charges the seller (who is not the card holder). This is straight from the horse's mouth, Paypal.
As for taking credit cards over the phone (not via Paypal, etc.), you, the merchant, are liable and leave yourself wide open for fraud. All the customer has to do is tell the credit card company that they did not make that purchase and you get left holding the bag because you do not have an imprinted invoice with the customer's signature on it (I've owned a brick and mortar business for over 13 years and have been on the receiving end of that scam twice.)
By the way, my verification process with Yahoo! PayDirect only took a couple of days and I simply called the bank and they gave me the info I needed to verify the account. Still had to verify my address, but that took LESS time than Paypal did.
Anyway, everybody has a horror story about something - I just don't like Paypal's tactics. I also don't like being told how to run MY business. If I choose not to accept Paypal, the customer can go somewhere else if that is an issue with them. We provide excellent service, have a great reputation for fairness and reliability and we really go out of our way to be helpful. Those things are more likely to keep the customer happy than how you accept payment.
It takes time to build a good reputation but word does get around and people will shop with folks they know and trust (without Paypal's stamp of approval!!!) - I've been in business 12 years longer than they have and I'm not just a name on a computer screen. Anyone can walk right in the door of my business and see that I'm not going anywhere anytime soon (not with 18,000 square feet full of antiques and collectibles!).
posted on October 19, 2000 10:50:08 AM new
Almost every I have is paid via paydirect and I have not had a problem yet. I did have a buyer have lots of trouble last few days but she paid this morning and when I apologized for her trouble with Paydirect, she wrote back to tell me it was her error.
posted on October 19, 2000 01:56:01 PM new
Hey why not ask a Seller who accepts PayPal for a discount if payment is made by method other than PayPal. The way I see it, the Seller would have PAID Paypal $x amount can discount by that SAME amount! You can bet if I thought of this so will others.
posted on October 19, 2000 02:26:51 PM new
Well, it turns out my problem with verifying my PayDirect account is related to some quirk in Yahoo's automated response emails to my CompuServe email account such that they never make it to my inbox. It turns out I have the same problem with my Yahoo email, too- it is set up to forward any new mail to my CompuServe account, but those never get there, either. Neither company knows why.
) and a substantial number of people who are purchasing from me either on Ebay or Yahoo are using PD. The rest have chosen ExchangePath and I have had no problems there either. They are running about 50/50 right now.
