11 replies to this topic

[Sambo]

I've looked around the forums for info on this to no avail. I'd like to insert a "Use Paypal" button below my regular "Buy Now" button (which redirects to an Authorize.net shopping cart). The point would simply be to offer the customer an additional payment option. As Paypal seems to be gaining popularity/trust, this seems reasonable. Anyone had any issues or problems with this?

Thanks!

[Randy]

It shouldn't matter or conflict Sambo. Users are going to choose whichever link they feel most comfortable with.

[nethy]

I've looked around the forums for info on this to no avail. I'd like to insert a "Use Paypal" button below my regular "Buy Now" button (which redirects to an Authorize.net shopping cart). The point would simply be to offer the customer an additional payment option. As Paypal seems to be gaining popularity/trust, this seems reasonable. Anyone had any issues or problems with this?
Thanks!

Sounds Good Sambo.

It is generally considered good ecommerce practice to offer multiple payment options.
Paypal is definitely one of the ones I'd have on there. In my experience, it gets far less use then cc. But, since its free to offer paypal (you pay per transaction), there is no need for a minimal vlume to justify it. Google Checkout is a similar addition you can make. Google/Paypal are both trusted but one or the other may still appeal to those that have an account with one of them.

I would definitely add one (or both) of these to your payment options. Particularly if you accept CCs via and xml integrated gateway (usually the best option) or 'on-site' (users stay on your domain for the duration of the payment process with these options, so while its a smoother checkout process, you may encounter trust issues).

More options you might consider (again multiple payment options are usually good, but have an easy default. Don't overload with choices):
- Check/Cash/COD
- Invoice
- Finance/Pay Later

[Jill]

Were there any specific issues you were concerned about?

[arlen]

I may be reading this wrong, however unless you are only offering a single product and going directly to checkout when clicking "buy now", I'd be a bit concerned about having 2 'add to cart' buttons for each product. A more conventional way of handling multiple payment options is to have a single cart and have the customer select payment method when they are finalizing their order during checkout.

My concerns would principally be that you could confuse your customer ... i.e. they add a first item to one cart, then add a second item to another ... not realizing they are using 2 different systems it could be confusing why the 1st item isn't "still" in their cart ... does that make sense?

I realize since you are using a hosted cart system your options are limited, however I'd be concerned that the confusion generated could outweigh (or worse)any benefit gained from having a 2nd payment option.

[Sambo]

Were there any specific issues you were concerned about?

No specific issues. Like Nethy already said, it just makes sense to offer alternative payment options when there are no extra costs to do so. And I don't think the customers will get confused as this is a single-product site.

Thanks for the advice!

[Catz]

There is no cost if you SEND money through PayPal but there is an additional cost when you take payments this way.

There is no actual cost to offer it as a payment option to but when you get money through PayPal, they take a percentage of your payment + .30.

If you are selling items through someplace like eBay, you get hit with double the fees when you take PayPal (you are paying for the convenience). I saw eBay was testing taking only PayPal in one country. It is convenient but your profit margin has to be pretty high to pay eBay fees, PayPal fees and commissions on sales. Guess you have to pay Credit Card fees too so they get you no matter what.

One payment option I didn't see mentioned is Wire Transfer. Can't beat that, it gives you cash in hand within a matter of days, even from someone out of the country. The sender pays the fees and you get payment up front, in full, right away. Of course you really need to be established for people to feel comfortable paying this way. When selling items that are several thousand dollars, this is a viable option for customers but if you sell small items, their bank fees might keep customers from paying this way.

[roxyyo]

I've seen a lot of top retailers showing icons for alternative payments right on the product page. I think it's a great idea because many people don't want to give cc info to every single retailer they buy from. You could also put the paypal icon in your banner, doesn't look as pretty but it reminds your customers you offer the option.

Having a buy now and paypal icon in close proximity is not a big deal, since most people understand what paypal is. It's not as confusing as putting a Google Checkout, Amazon Payments or Bill Me Later icon - these are less understood icons. You could always add a text link saying "what's this?" and make a popup explaining it.

[Sambo]

Thanks, that's really helpful. That's exactly what I was trying to figure out.

[nethy]

Having a buy now and paypal icon in close proximity is not a big deal, since most people understand what paypal is. It's not as confusing as putting a Google Checkout, Amazon Payments or Bill Me Later icon - these are less understood icons. You could always add a text link saying "what's this?" and make a popup explaining it.

Some carts offer this at the end of the checkout process. My prefered setup is usually:

Payment method: |dropdown menu|

Ideally, cc would be default. Then you have all your alternative methods underneath. this way you don't overcrowd or give more options then nesecarry for the mythical Torka's Mother. To display we accept...., I like images in the template or throughout the checkout process.

[Randy]

I don't use it myself yet, and not sure I ever will, but I kind of like the concept of what Google's doing with their Google Checkout. This being that listings in the SERPs actually display the Google Checkout graphic when a site that utilizes it appears in a SERP page.

Dunno if it helps clickthru rates or not since Google Checkout is still pretty new in the grand scheme of things. But I can see how it might make a little difference on the front end as it becomes more well known.

[torka]

the mythical Torka's Mother.

Hey, my mom's as real as they get. And at least as nervous as I've alluded to when it comes to doing anything with a computer beyond basic word processing (which it took her months to get used to back when they first introduced computers in the office where she worked).

I'm the one that's possibly a made-up story.

--Torka