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[Kyle Vonder Hulls Contribution Level: 2]

O.k. so what I am about to say has no statistical data to back it up, but I imagine it holds a lot of weight.

As a business owner with a large sales organization I am always looking for informational products online to purchase that may contain useful information that I can pass along to my sales team. The other day I came across a website that was selling an eBook course focused on sales techniques that should increase your closing ratios. The site was informative and designed well enough, I decided to go ahead and purchase the eBooks for $199.00. If one of the techniques could help just one of my agents close one deal; it would be well worth the investment and the author had claimed to have earned over $5,000,000 in commissions from various products.

When I clicked on the “Purchase Button” it took me to a PayPal checkout page. At that point I decided not to purchase the book. Here is why:

When I first started selling online yes I used PayPal to accept payments, but as my business grew and I became more knowledgeable with respects to accepting online payments, I opened an actual merchant account and payment gateway (Authorize.net).

The author of this eBook claims to have earned over $5,000,000 in commissions and that he has helped 1000’s of sales professionals increase their sales with his eBooks. I feel that if this claim of success is true and he is selling 1000’s of these eBooks, this guy would have upgraded to an actual merchant account.

By not having a real merchant account it possibly cost this author around $30,000 in lost profits. Had I bought the eBooks and it contained useful information I would have shared some of this information with all of my sales agents and recommended that they purchase the eBooks for themselves. Had I made that recommendation probably 150 people or so would have purchased the eBook course at $199.

Now I may be way off base here but I would imagine that most people who have reached a level of success to where they can make a recommendation and generate $1,000’s in revenue and understand credit card processing would feel the same way.

What are your thoughts???

[Peter Fuller Company: AdzZoo Contribution Level: 3]

I understand your point, however you are buying information about selling techniques not online payment processing

I work in radio and I know some excellent sales people who are totally inept when it comes to computers but I would still listen to them about how to sell.

[Julieanne van Zyl Company: Vemma Nutrition Company Contribution Level: 2]

I'm not sure that everyone feels that way about PayPal. I actually think it's a "preferred" method of payment for a lot of people.

I've seen some stats somewhere (can't remember where sorry), saying that if merchants offer paypal along with their own merchant account, for payment, their conversion rate goes up.

Personally, I dislike getting my credit card out when I buy online. I would much rather type in my Paypal address and keep my credit card in my purse.

[Rik Rollins Company: 5LINX Contribution Level: 2]

Paypal is a house hold brand name and people trust it.. I use paypal on one of the LLC's I am involved in http://www.findyourbiz.net We do Search Engine Optimization.. From the sales studies I have completed people like the idea that paypal will back them if there is a dispute 100%

My only complaint is I have had customers getting card refused for no reason at all. It says something like card cant be processed please use another card..

Other than that its been pretty good..

[Kyle Vonder Hulls Contribution Level: 2]

PayPal is defiantly a trusted form of payment and for many online businesses it is a good enough form of accepting payments, but any successful online business eventually will want to set up an actual merchant account.

Just from the cost savings standpoint any business that is making hundreds of transactions a month would be foolish to use PayPal as their processor.

Plus anyone can open a PayPal account. In order to set up a merchant account you have to establish yourself as a registered company and open a business checking account, then apply for processing where that company runs the merchants credit and verifies the business. This establishes a little more credibility in my opinion.

Mike Dillard is a perfect example since we have all probably purchased one of his products. I'm sure when Mike first started selling products online he may have used PayPal (??????). Now he has his own check out pages through a gateway (Authorize.net) and runs it through an actual merchant account. Why is that. One, and probably most importantly is that transaction costs are lower so it saves him money and Two, it give him a more successful look and feel to the check out process.

I am not knocking PayPal I think they are great for ebay , they are a very secure platform and a good second option. I also purchase many products using PayPal.

If this guy selling these ebooks had just said, you know what Ive been very successful in my sales careers and I've put together this ebook course to share some of the techniques Ive learned over the years I probably would have bought it. But because he was claiming his level of success and stated that he had sold 1000's of these eBooks at $199, I just found it hard to believe that anyone would not upgrade their processing by that point and it made me doubt his claims.

[Pavol Almasi Contribution Level: 2]

PayPal is much more than just Ebay payment processor. It is a valid option, however, making it the only option does indeed limits your sales, especially if you are selling electronic goods. PayPal is not accepted in all countries, and many people do not have PayPal account. You do not need PayPal account to pay via PayPal, but lot of people are not aware of it. If the guy is selling an ebook and makes millions, I would assume he wants to reach as many people in as many countries as possible. I agree - him using only PayPal is in direct contradiction to his claims, at least I would be very suspicious too.
BTW, you do not need to establish a business to use credit card processing. PayPal Payment Pro is a merchant account (fee is $30/month) and you do not need to provide any business identification. Basically, all you need is your SS#, and you are all set. So just because someone accepts credit cards does not necessarily mean it is a valid/legitimate/registred business.

[Suzie Smith Contribution Level: 2]

Paypal is still a good option for me. I still use it for some of my payment transactions online.
So far, I don't have any problem with it.

[Alex Haines Contribution Level: 1]

I find paypal is like a firewall for internet purchasing