PAYPAL - Please Offer It!!

[MoneyWhereMyMouthIs2]

If you are collecting grassroots money for anything at all, please offer Paypal as an option.

There's no reason not to offer as many options as possible.

I'm specifically making this post because I just tried to donate for the blimp, and they only offer Google Checkout as a payment option. I'll wind up doing it anyway at some point, but Google already knows way more about me than they need to. In my case, I don't really want a 4th google account.

If you're sophisticated enough to build a site that accepts payments, you're sophisticated enough to offer multiple payment solutions that require no merchant account on your part. It just makes good business sense to offer many options, and definitely makes good business sense to offer the most popular methods.

[hawkeyenick]

paypal charges rediculous amounts for business accounts

[Corydoras]

It's absolutely pennywise and pound foolish for them not to use Paypal.

In my case, THE sole reason I am not buying time for the blimp is because they don't take Paypal or credit cards. I can understand their not wanting to mess with setting up merchant accounts for credit cards, but they should at least take Paypal.

We do support a pro-privacy candidate, after all. I do NOT want to sign up for yet ANOTHER service that will have access to my financial information. Bad enough that Paypal has my info, but at least Paypal is widely used. There is no other site that I use that takes Google.

[Mike S.]

Drop them an email. I just did. Paypal is perhaps even cheaper for them than Google Checkout.
Email at inquiries @ RonPaulBlimp.com

[Corydoras]

Drop them an email. I just did. Paypal is perhaps even cheaper for them than Google Checkout.

The reason they originally gave for choosing Google was that they could get it free for the first month.

I hope you get a positive response. I fear they are just going to say, "Well, go on down to your bank and spend an hour and a half waiting for someone at a desk to take you so that you can fill out all the paperwork to wire the money."

Pardon my pessimism.
:(

[szczebrzeszyn]

The reason they originally gave for choosing Google was that they could get it free for the first month.
That was the reason. Whether it does make sense (losing all the other folks who won't sign up at Google) is another issue.


I hope you get a positive response. I fear they are just going to say, "Well, go on down to your bank and spend an hour and a half waiting for someone at a desk to take you so that you can fill out all the paperwork to wire the money."
Seriously, you make wire transfers AT THE BANK ?!
Last time I was at the bank like 5 years ago and I make tens of wire transfers a month. Use internet, Luke :D
Anyway, I'm not sure they still accept wire transfers - there's no such option on the webpage.

[Rob]

If you are collecting grassroots money for anything at all, please offer Paypal as an option.

There's no reason not to offer as many options as possible.

I'm specifically making this post because I just tried to donate for the blimp, and they only offer Google Checkout as a payment option. I'll wind up doing it anyway at some point, but Google already knows way more about me than they need to. In my case, I don't really want a 4th google account.

If you're sophisticated enough to build a site that accepts payments, you're sophisticated enough to offer multiple payment solutions that require no merchant account on your part. It just makes good business sense to offer many options, and definitely makes good business sense to offer the most popular methods.

For those who are fellow internet business owners I'm sure you share my feelings about Paypal.

For those of you who don't know, Paypal is a very questionable service that does a terrible job of protecting both the rights of business owners and consumers. Both parties are highly susceptible to fraud and other dangers, and due to Paypal's unique terms of services, each party actually has FEWER rights than if they simply made a direct transaction with each other.

If you're interested there are extensive sites covering it further. The 2nd site ranks 3rd on Google for search term "Paypal"

http://www.paypalwarning.com/

http://www.paypalsucks.com/

http://www.aboutpaypal.org/

I can completely understand why Paypal would not be accepted. For those consumers who use Paypal, you should read this to as you are waiving rights you probably don't realize you are waiving by simply making transactions with them.

[Corydoras]

Last time I was at the bank like 5 years ago and I make tens of wire transfers a month. Use internet, Luke :D

Not everyone uses banks with extensive web capabilities.
:)

[Corydoras]

For those consumers who use Paypal, you should read this to as you are waiving rights you probably don't realize you are waiving by simply making transactions with them.

Thanks for the warning, then. I buy stuff through Paypal maybe two or three times a year, and it hasn't given me any problems, so peg me as ignorant. Ah, well, I'll just give up on contributing. I refuse to sign up with Google.

[angelatc]

For those who are fellow internet business owners I'm sure you share my feelings about Paypal.

For those of you who don't know, Paypal is a very questionable service that does a terrible job of protecting both the rights of business owners and consumers. Both parties are highly susceptible to fraud and other dangers, and due to Paypal's unique terms of services, each party actually has FEWER rights than if they simply made a direct transaction with each other.

If you're interested there are extensive sites covering it further. The 2nd site ranks 3rd on Google for search term "Paypal"

http://www.paypalwarning.com/
http://www.paypalsucks.com/
http://www.aboutpaypal.org/

I can completely understand why Paypal would not be accepted. For those consumers who use Paypal, you should read this to as you are waiving rights you probably don't realize you are waiving by simply making transactions with them.

I've been with PayPal since before X.com bought them. They absolutely suck.

Paypal is a virtual monopoly! I hope more people realize that Google Checkout is a far better business than PayPal ever hopes to be, if for no other reason to give free market principles involving competiton a chance to work.

Plus, Google is free right now. For those of you who say that it is only 3.5% to take PayPal, I would like to say that I am a cost accountant. If I could find an easy way to shave 3% off of just about any project we do, I'd be employee of the month.

THere's an interview out there, where a Billpoint executive was asked why eBay was entering the money clearing market. She (paraphrased) said, "OH god! There's just so much profit in it!"

3.5% of $300,000 is $10,500. Tell me again how it is an insignificant amount.

[angelatc]

Thanks for the warning, then. I buy stuff through Paypal maybe two or three times a year, and it hasn't given me any problems, so peg me as ignorant. Ah, well, I'll just give up on contributing. I refuse to sign up with Google.

Then you're enabling a horrible business model to monopolize an entire industry. Good for you.

[angelatc]

Anyway, I'm not sure they still accept wire transfers - there's no such option on the webpage.

IF they have a bank account, they can accept wire transfers.

[szczebrzeszyn]

Not everyone uses banks with extensive web capabilities.
:)
Change the bank, save lots of time and nerves. That's what I did. Life is so much easier now :)

[szczebrzeszyn]

IF they have a bank account, they can accept wire transfers.
There was an option 'wire transfer' on the page, but they removed it a few days ago. So the logical conclusion is - they don't want people to make wire transfers anymore. But I assume it has something to do with the removal of ALL the company info from the webpage - wire transfer details contained some information about the company, so it probably had to be gone too. Who knows? I asked them many times about it.

[Corydoras]

Then you're enabling a horrible business model to monopolize an entire industry. Good for you.

Thank you for your ringing endorsement of the individual consumer's right to choose merchants to deal with.
:rolleyes:

[Corydoras]

Change the bank, save lots of time and nerves. That's what I did. Life is so much easier now :)

Nah, I've got free unlimited ATM use and no minimum balance. Did I mention no monthly fees for anything?
:D

[szczebrzeszyn]

Then you're enabling a horrible business model to monopolize an entire industry. Good for you.
I hope you're not the one who buys PCs with MS Windows preinstalled, so you're not supporting this horrible business model that monopolized an entire industry :D

[Mike S.]

I have been using PayPal for 4+ years now without a problem. There have been MANY phishing schemes launched on me throughout the years trying to get my account #. When people get taken, PayPal is often blamed.

I have a PayPal acct with a few bucks in it from some affiliate marketing income. I use this for ebay purchases and contributions above and beyond my authorized WIFE limit on Credit Card donations.

[Mark]

I've been with PayPal since before X.com bought them. They absolutely suck.

Paypal is a virtual monopoly! I hope more people realize that Google Checkout is a far better business than PayPal ever hopes to be, if for no other reason to give free market principles involving competiton a chance to work.

Plus, Google is free right now. For those of you who say that it is only 3.5% to take PayPal, I would like to say that I am a cost accountant. If I could find an easy way to shave 3% off of just about any project we do, I'd be employee of the month.

THere's an interview out there, where a Billpoint executive was asked why eBay was entering the money clearing market. She (paraphrased) said, "OH god! There's just so much profit in it!"

3.5% of $300,000 is $10,500. Tell me again how it is an insignificant amount.


Thanks for the 411 !! I'll look into google!!

[Mark]

Nah, I've got free unlimited ATM use and no minimum balance. Did I mention no monthly fees for anything?
:D

Perhaps open up a second account at another bank that offers the wire services ect?

[drexhex]

I know this may seem kinda sketchy, but so does the blimp in general. If anyone is willing to pay for the paypal fees for the transfer, I'd be willing to donate anything you send me via paypal to the blimp (or anything else) through google checkout.

You can find out how much you would need to send via paypal here: http://www.ppcalc.com/ (Use the Reverse fee calculator on the bottom right). Send me a PM.

[jstmike]

I've been using PayPal from day one and I love it both as a company and personally. I also know that Google checkout makes sense right now while it is free until Feb 1st, 2008 then it goes up to 2%. The PayPal transaction fee for a business account range from 2.9% with gross sales under $3000 per month down to 1.9% over $100,000.

Now I think that the more choices you give people is better. So they have to pay 1.9% to 2.9%. It would be better than not getting the donation at all. They could give people the option and state the facts. "If you use Google to pay then we don't have to pay a transaction fee but we also offer PayPal for your convenience."

PayPal does have a new browser plug in that generates a one time use credit card # you can use for services that don't take PayPal which I think is great. So if you have a PayPal account just generate a credit card # and use it in the Google checkout. See:

https://www.paypal.com/paypalplug-in

[Birdlady]

I am not sure if this was seen by those posting in this thread.
It's on the blimp blog site.

http://ondecember16th.com/archives/125
Google CheckOut

Google CheckOut works in a very similar fashion to most shopping cart checkout systems. If you have used Google CheckOut previously you can login using your Google Credentials. If you are have problems using your existing Google Credentials to checkout it is recommended you logout and then login again. You do not need a Google email account (Gmail) to use Google CheckOut. Any valid email address works just fine.

Credit Cards are accepted via Google CheckOut… you can use your Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover cards. Simply make the appropriate selection and enter your information.

Paypal

We are not using PayPal for a number of reasons. First, Google CheckOut is free for the first month. That means that more of your money goes to support the Ron Paul Blimp message. No fees or percentages are being taken out of your payment thanks to this promotional offer from Google CheckOut.

PayPal is also not being used because the Blimp Company was only conceived in November. We do not have the corporate history to have full access to all the PayPal processing options without limitations. When large sums are processed by PayPal it can setoff “flags” and the account can be temporarily suspended pending review by PayPal. We did not want to encounter such potential future problems. Personal PayPal accounts were not considered due to the same suspension issues. In addition we did not think it wise to allow the Blimp funds to be in a personal account of a single individual.

[MoneyWhereMyMouthIs2]

For those who are fellow internet business owners I'm sure you share my feelings about Paypal.



I'm not a giant fan of Paypal, either. However, you pretty much need it if you're selling anything to webmasters. Just don't leave large sums of money where paypal can get to it.

And maybe I shouldn't have focused on paypal so much. I just made two donations elsewhere with paypal right before I went to the blimp. I would have chosen any method over google checkout. I have several business accounts at google. They pretty much know everything about me. Almost every time I touch google, searches, tranactions, advertising, you name it, it's all hooked up to me by name. Google is such a store of information, it's only a matter of time before someone legislates their way into it. Not to mention, that the information is pretty much theirs to sell. That's why I refuse to use gmail. I don't want to support google's data collection/retention anymore than I absolutely have to.





Plus, Google is free right now. For those of you who say that it is only 3.5% to take PayPal, I would like to say that I am a cost accountant. If I could find an easy way to shave 3% off of just about any project we do, I'd be employee of the month.


I've had my share of accounting/business training, myself. The blimp could have $96.50 of my money headed toward them right now if they also accepted paypal, or probably any method besides google checkout. Instead, they wound up with $00.00. I should have focused on options instead of paypal specifically, as there are many who aren't hot on paypal either. The blimp will still get my money at some point. :) If it would have been a decal or something else, I would have just moved on.



I am not sure if this was seen by those posting in this thread...

...the account can be temporarily suspended pending review by PayPal...

I didn't see that. Thanks.

I'd also think that would be an issue at any number of places. If you're going to blow that much money through any third party processor, you probably need to let them know what to expext. Even with 2checkout, they would have had $94.50 on the way versus zero.

[angelatc]

Thank you for your ringing endorsement of the individual consumer's right to choose merchants to deal with.
:rolleyes:

I just resent the fact that most consumers don't do their homework, instead they make their decision based on what the rest of the herd is doing.

[angelatc]

And maybe I shouldn't have focused on paypal so much. I just made two donations elsewhere with paypal right before I went to the blimp. I would have chosen any method over google checkout. I have several business accounts at google. They pretty much know everything about me. Almost every time I touch google, searches, tranactions, advertising, you name it, it's all hooked up to me by name. Google is such a store of information, it's only a matter of time before someone legislates their way into it. Not to mention, that the information is pretty much theirs to sell. That's why I refuse to use gmail. I don't want to support google's data collection/retention anymore than I absolutely have to.



Then you should re-read the PayPal / eBay TOS. They'll turn any and all information over if the request is merely signed by a law enforcement officer and faxed to them on letterhead.





I've had my share of accounting/business training, myself. The blimp could have $96.50 of my money headed toward them right now if they also accepted paypal, or probably any method besides google checkout.

And if that $96.50 happened to set off an arbitrary alarm, then every single dime in the PayPal account could be held for 60-90 days while the juevenile detectives at PayPal "reviewed" the case.

That's a huge difference between "real" payment processors and PayPal. Real payment processors only hang onto the funds in question. PayPal freezes the entire account, with the exception that they will allow more funds to come into the account! They just won't allow the merchant to wothdraw the funds.

Heck, it's even a hassle to get permission to pull more than $500 a day out of PayPal.

Anything that serves to put a chink in the PayPal armor is worth $96.50. I'll spend my christmas money and give the blimp guys that $100 on your behalf.