Comments on: Don’t Use PayPal http://nerd.steveferson.com/2008/01/15/dont-use-paypal/ One nerd's struggle against the beast that is technology Wed, 07 Jan 2009 09:36:23 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: Peter http://nerd.steveferson.com/2008/01/15/dont-use-paypal/#comment-16190 Peter Wed, 07 May 2008 23:17:08 +0000 http://nerd.steveferson.com/2008/01/15/dont-use-paypal/#comment-16190 One reason for using paypal or an equivalent is to cut down on the number of companies that hold my credit card details. If I buy stuff from ten different websites then ten different companies now hold my credit card details and it only takes one to have lax security for my credit card details to be compromised. When you read the on-line security policies of some companies all they talk about is using 128 bit ssl certs, so while they may have a good website for show casing their products they obviously have a poor grasp of security. So rather than miss out on those products I'll trust my credit card details to paypal or google as they are huge companies that would be finished by a credit card database breach. The extra fees that paypal / google charge the merchant as a middle man would be covered by the savings the merchant could make by not worrying so much about the security side of dealing with credit cards. I hadn't considered the issue of credit card purchase protection ( does this count with debit cards) but on reflection I'd rather an item didn't arrive than have to worry about I.D. fraud due to my details being in a compromised database at some small web shop. One reason for using paypal or an equivalent is to cut down on the number of companies that hold my credit card details. If I buy stuff from ten different websites then ten different companies now hold my credit card details and it only takes one to have lax security for my credit card details to be compromised. When you read the on-line security policies of some companies all they talk about is using 128 bit ssl certs,
so while they may have a good website for show casing their products they obviously have a poor grasp of security. So rather than miss out on those products I’ll trust my credit card details to paypal or google as they are huge companies that would be finished by a credit card database breach.
The extra fees that paypal / google charge the merchant as a middle man would be covered by the savings the merchant could make by not worrying so much about the security side of dealing with credit cards.
I hadn’t considered the issue of credit card purchase protection ( does this count with debit cards) but on reflection I’d rather an item didn’t arrive than have to worry about I.D. fraud due to my details being in a compromised database at some small web shop.

]]> By: nerd. http://nerd.steveferson.com/2008/01/15/dont-use-paypal/#comment-6049 nerd. Tue, 22 Jan 2008 21:56:43 +0000 http://nerd.steveferson.com/2008/01/15/dont-use-paypal/#comment-6049 I'm not an expert but "don't know what I'm talking about" is a bit harsh when your own rationale is so simplistic. Yes, merchants have to pay fees to receive credit card payments, but for high-volume traders these are much, much lower than PayPal fees (50p per transaction on debit cards I believe, compared with about 2.4% on PayPal). I'd imagine, though could be wrong, that PayPal have to pay the same fees to the card companies and then add their own margin on top - hence there's an extra middle man. I suppose PayPal could act as their own merchant (or maybe not, I'm not quite sure) but either way their fees are much higher and those fees will be passed on from the seller to the consumer whether transparently or not. Also, as regards chargebacks, PayPal can dispute the charge back and you're not protected by law the way you are with credit cards and you don't have the courts for recompense. Also, PayPal's dispute system is awful - they apply their own rules rigidly regardless of who is actually in the right or wrong. That and they do everything they can to avoid actually having to manually intervene in disputes - that I can say from personal experience. I’m not an expert but “don’t know what I’m talking about” is a bit harsh when your own rationale is so simplistic.

Yes, merchants have to pay fees to receive credit card payments, but for high-volume traders these are much, much lower than PayPal fees (50p per transaction on debit cards I believe, compared with about 2.4% on PayPal). I’d imagine, though could be wrong, that PayPal have to pay the same fees to the card companies and then add their own margin on top - hence there’s an extra middle man. I suppose PayPal could act as their own merchant (or maybe not, I’m not quite sure) but either way their fees are much higher and those fees will be passed on from the seller to the consumer whether transparently or not.

Also, as regards chargebacks, PayPal can dispute the charge back and you’re not protected by law the way you are with credit cards and you don’t have the courts for recompense. Also, PayPal’s dispute system is awful - they apply their own rules rigidly regardless of who is actually in the right or wrong. That and they do everything they can to avoid actually having to manually intervene in disputes - that I can say from personal experience.

]]> By: Insider http://nerd.steveferson.com/2008/01/15/dont-use-paypal/#comment-6045 Insider Tue, 22 Jan 2008 19:23:03 +0000 http://nerd.steveferson.com/2008/01/15/dont-use-paypal/#comment-6045 You don't know what you are talking about, do you? Merchants have to pay fees for receiving CC payments too. So it doesn't make a big difference for them if they pay the fees to PayPal. And if you make a PayPal-payment by CC, it doesn't affect your right to make a chargeback. You can of course make a chargeback, PayPal will then try to fight it (on behalf of the seller), if the seller can provide proof of delivery. In case the chargeback case is lost, then the seller looses the money. Not PayPal! So there's no reason for you to tell other people not to pay by PayPal. It's a safe and easy way to pay for goods you buy online. You don’t know what you are talking about, do you?
Merchants have to pay fees for receiving CC payments too. So it doesn’t make a big difference for them if they pay the fees to PayPal. And if you make a PayPal-payment by CC, it doesn’t affect your right to make a chargeback. You can of course make a chargeback, PayPal will then try to fight it (on behalf of the seller), if the seller can provide proof of delivery. In case the chargeback case is lost, then the seller looses the money. Not PayPal! So there’s no reason for you to tell other people not to pay by PayPal. It’s a safe and easy way to pay for goods you buy online.

]]> By: Phil http://nerd.steveferson.com/2008/01/15/dont-use-paypal/#comment-5889 Phil Thu, 17 Jan 2008 12:18:08 +0000 http://nerd.steveferson.com/2008/01/15/dont-use-paypal/#comment-5889 I used google checkout about two months ago (hadnt neard of it until then) to buy a new HD from dabs. Saved £5 in doing so. But you make good points. I used google checkout about two months ago (hadnt neard of it until then) to buy a new HD from dabs. Saved £5 in doing so. But you make good points.

]]>