Re: Online payment options......

[NewComputer]

Just a query to see who uses what for online payments and what people find the best as far as integration, cost, setup, payment options etc.... I am really only familiary with paypal, but would like to hear others feedback. I would like to incorporate into our structure some different payment options if possible.

[ViciousSummer]

I'm currently using Paypal, exclusively. You just can't beat it, in my opinion.

Everyone I have talked to says that merchant accounts are just a hassle. Although, I am going to be implementing a merchant account next month, to see if it increases sales at all...I'll keep you posted :D

[SEO_AM]

We use GeoTrust. Have been good so far.

[mopacfan]

I've had a merchant account and it is a PITA as well as expensive when you're a small business. The merchant account fees, statement fees, transaction fees, chargback fees, software lease, terminal lease, etc........ all add up to a substantial financial burden. Granted, it's much, much easier for the customer if you have a merchant account and accept payment directly.

Now that PayPal does not require an account to make payments, I've integrated it into my shopping cart and even though it adds a bit to the checkout process, it is inexpensive and very well known. It may discourage a small percentage of buyers, but it's a heck of a lot cheaper and easier for me than the expense and hassle of a merchant account.

Just my .02¢

[disgust]

I've always been of the opinion that paypal comes off as a tad bit unprofessional..

actually, from what I've read, the fees from setting up something with authorize.net isn't very bad at all- like 100$ setup, 20$ a month, and a small % of each transaction.

I've never actually set one up yet, though.

[payoutwindow]

I use Ikobo.com for credit card processing ... not setup fees .. charges are reasonable, you also get an atm card to draw your money virtually anywhere in the world :-D ... and they have nice customer service.

I also take moneybookers and paypal ... but i hate the paypal customer service .. it sucks.

[money]

I second payoutwindow.
Ikobo is a good alternative. 2checkout is a alternative too. But it has setup fee and its transaction fee is relatively high.

[mnemtsas]

I'm selling shareware so my experience is probably not entirely relevant. I'm also in Australia which also taints my views somewhat.

I use regsoft exclusively at the moment, who charge around 10-15% with no monthly fee but can send me a cheque to the land of kangaroos and wallabies. They accept payment in any form you can think of (probably including giant beanstalk seeds if you ask).

I'm going to move to another provider soon who can electronically send the money to the land of koala bears and dingoes thus eliminating the 8 week gap between end of month and the money appearing in my accounts. This provider charges around 5% less per transaction but includes a setup fee and a monthly fee of $20. I'll put their name here when I've used them for a bit.

[schlottke]

Credit card via a merchant account.

[misohoni]

I've just come across the Live Human Software on Ikobo.com - amazing!

https://www.livehuman.com/

[daemeh]

I also use ikobo. It's a good alternative for people who can't use paypal, and it has quite a considerable country coverage. Someone mentioned Asutralia, I think they cover that as well. I'm not certain, you'll have to check that out.
About livehuman, I also like it, from a user's perspective that is. It has helped me, actually the operators from ikobo did, with a few problems I've had.

[mopacfan]

I've always been of the opinion that paypal comes off as a tad bit unprofessional..

actually, from what I've read, the fees from setting up something with authorize.net isn't very bad at all- like 100$ setup, 20$ a month, and a small % of each transaction.

I've never actually set one up yet, though.
That's just for the gateway, that's not a merchant account. Those fees are on top of the cost of having a merch. acct. Unless you're doing a booming business, the merchant fees will eat you alive :(

[compar]

I've always been of the opinion that paypal comes off as a tad bit unprofessional.
I'd like to know what is unprofessional about it? eBay use it almost exclusively. Would you say eBay is a tad unprofessional?

[daemeh]

That's just for the gateway, that's not a merchant account. Those fees are on top of the cost of having a merch. acct. Unless you're doing a booming business, the merchant fees will eat you alive :(
Yep, that's right. Authorize.net is only a gateway, in order to use it you also have to sign up for a merchant account. For small businesses a wise solution would be signing up with a third party merchant account provider which doesn't have high fees. I know it's not the same as having your own gateway, but still, it's a good choice.

[debunked]

for US 59.95 mo which includes hosting, secure gateway, shopping cart, merchant account (your own) and more. I have been using it for a few years. Our charges are through Nova and are 2.34 percent plus 30 cents I think.

I first started using CCnow in the beginning, it was 8 percent flat rate, but I think it is 9 or 10 now.

[sisqo]

Yep, that's right. Authorize.net is only a gateway, in order to use it you also have to sign up for a merchant account. For small businesses a wise solution would be signing up with a third party merchant account provider which doesn't have high fees. I know it's not the same as having your own gateway, but still, it's a good choice.

I own a small business and I need a third party merchant account. What payment provider do you recommend ?

[compar]

I own a small business and I need a third party merchant account. What payment provider do you recommend ?
For your brick and mortar business, or your online business?

1. For brick and mortar ask your Bank.

2. For online business I'd go with PayPal.

[vinyl]

iKobo covers every country that has mastercards atm/pos machines because they give you MC debit card (iKard) connected to your account. Their fees are cheap, so whats the problem? They process Visa only. No Mastercard, Amex or Discover. That sucks, at least for me because my main customers have one of those three cards, alhough Visa is the most presence on the Net. No need to mention that in the last three-four months (thats how long they stopped processing amex & mc) I got so many messages from their support that they will fix it "in the next week" - they acted completly unprofessional. Beside that, their fraud protection is a bit rude - 50% of your cash is frozen for three months, without any incentive. Yet, their live chat is one of the rare easy-to-get support systems [2co has terrible system, you can wait a week or so to get your questions answered]

For me, PayPal sucks. Maybe for USA people its good, but their international support is VERY poor. Id rather use iKobo/2co with all their limits/fees than PayPal. I cannot say anything about their support team/software because I never used it. Because I couldnt. Due to my geographic location...

I also think that your own merchant account is the best solution for online payments - if you can afford it [paying setup & account maintaining, but note that you get the best processing fees around!] & if you really need it for your type of business... otherwise, Id go with iKobo (again, note that you have Visa processing support only with their 3rd party merchant acc.!) or go with 5.5%'s and choose 2co [higher setup fee, transaction fee, monthly card maintain fee, card withdrawal limit ($307 per transaction), ATM [per transaction] fee... everything, in comparation to the similar feautures @ iKobo]

[money]

sisgo:
I think you can try Ikobo first. Because it has no setup fee and monthly fees. If you do not satisfied with it, You can switch to other providers without any costs. ;)

[money]

sisgo:
I think you can try Ikobo first. Because it has no setup fee and monthly fees. If you do not satisfied with it, You can switch to other providers without any costs. ;)

[money]

I also use ikobo. It's a good alternative for people who can't use paypal, and it has quite a considerable country coverage. Someone mentioned Asutralia, I think they cover that as well. I'm not certain, you'll have to check that out.

Asutralia is in the coverage of IKobo. You can visit http://www.ikobo.com/view_country_php.html

[daemeh]

For your brick and mortar business, or your online business?

1. For brick and mortar ask your Bank.

2. For online business I'd go with PayPal.
I for one wouldn't recommend PayPal for an online store. I mean it may work once you’re from USA or Canada, but once you go into Europe working with paypal won't be such a pleasant experience. I think if you really want a good business you have to go globally and use a merchant account provider with real coverage like 2checkout or ikobo. If fees are what matters most then ikobo has some of the lowest ones I think.
Basically I agree with everything vinyl said. :D

[vinyl]

Theres nothing to agree or dissagree - things I said are facts. All over the world is main keyword in this discussion and since PayPal doesn't cover all the world, actually they cover a VERY small portion of it, I wouldnt recommend them to anybody! Why is compar doing that - probably because hes quite happy with his limited portion. Maybe he will change his mind when he starts loosing cash or receiving complains about the PayPals limited processing service, from people who arent in PayPals famous accepted list of countries.

Take eBay for instance - doing PayPal transaction only will just harm them - there are so many people who whould join the auctions (or should I say that their members might be more than doubled, because PayPal doesnt even cover half of the world) if only they didnt stick so much to it. I know many people who must contact their friends and family from foreign countries just in order to buy/sell something there. That probably has nothing to do with ya USA/CA guys, but be sure that if you choose PayPal, you will more than certain come in situation that you will loose customer because of its limits. One, two, ten, hundreds of them from Kazahstan, China, Malta, Russia, Iraq... does it really matters?

[daemeh]

The sad part is indeed as you said that people are clinging to paypal with their teeth. They don't seem to care if there are better options out there, they only know paypal. I admit, it's not a bad service, although the people who got their accounts emptied or frozen wouldn't say the same thing. True, some of them did this to themselves, but still, security at paypal leaves a lot to be desired. Paypal's biggest break was the fact that they got under eBay's wing and since so many people use eBay, well you do the math.
Internet coverage keeps expanding and since paypal isn't willing to meet the world's (W O R L D) needs ;) someone else may take their place. The good thing there's been a lot of competition appearing lately but people are still reluctant to give up their paypal accounts or even use something else as an alternative. It's something sad to see, especially for those of us who couldn't use paypal even if we wanted to. :(

[ViciousSummer]

Alrighty, I've got to jump on in here, since this is something I know a little about...

I use Paypal exclusively on my websites and I received payments from all over the world. Just off the top of my head, recently I've received payment from: Australia, Japan, UK, Europe...You can receive payment from ANY where in the world with PayPal because you no longer have to have a PayPal account to pay through PayPal. You can simply use your credit card. Although I do think the "pay by credit card without Paypal account" set-up is a bit unprofessional, but hopefully Paypal will fix that someday.

On the flip side, I love shopping on websites that allow payment by Paypal! It's quicker and easier then paying by credit card. You don't have to enter your shipping info, credit card info, or anything else.

IMO, I think the best website setup would be a merchant account and a Paypal option.

:D

[compar]

Alrighty, I've got to jump on in here, since this is something I know a little about...
Vicious,

Welcome back. I was just asking about you on another thread yesterday. Where have you been?

But I have to say that I have problems with the quote above. When did lack of knowledge ever stop you from jumping in before :)

I see you arm is still bleeding. Can't you fix that? We could take up a collection to pay your medical bills, or you could move to Canada where thing like that are taken care of by our "socialist" government :D

[ViciousSummer]

Vicious,

Welcome back. I was just asking about you on another thread yesterday. Where have you been?

Awww, I'm glad I've been missed :) . Business has been BOOMING! I havn't had time to do anything except work lately. But, I know I can't miss out on all the knowledge here, or else I'll fall even farther behind in the long term!

But I have to say that I have problems with the quote above. When did lack of knowledge ever stop you from jumping in before :)

Oh gee thanks :rolleyes:. Haha...I do love to give my opinion, don't I...

I see you arm is still bleeding. Can't you fix that?...you could move to Canada where thing like that are taken care of by our "socialist" government :D

I've recently been shopping for health insurance (seriously), and you can't get anything for less then $200 a month here. It's ridiculous, so I guess I will have to just let my flesh eating disease munch all of my skin and muscle away. Then perhaps I can become a supermodel. In the meantime, Compar, why don't you just adopt me so I can use the handy Canadian Healthcare System!

[vinyl]

I am sure there are many people like you two who are impressed by paypal - yet, there are many of us who arent. Both of us have our arguments - you said its easy to pay thru it & to recieve worldwide payments - I say I never saw any site offering me to pay thru paypal, without having an account - theres always login/register account procedure which must be completed in order to execute payments. Is it webmasters or paypals fault? I dont care, as long as "PayPal is currently available in 38 countries worldwide" statements stays in their FAQ, they cannot be taken as worldwide merchant account. It might not affect you, because you managed to make it worldwide for selling, but thats only one site and only one aspect of merchant accounts - what about sellers? As this is thread should help people decide what merchant account they should register, so assuming that they are sellers, just tell me how will they get their paypal merchant account when they are not allowed to do so? How can you promote & glorify that, when its obviously a limit which stands as a wall between 38 countries & rest of the world?

[Weirfire]

What are the fees for using paypal? Do they charge anything to the buyer or seller for each transaction?

[expat]

apart from this payment gateway does this and that there is a thing called customer choice and not to forget investment.

PP is easy clean fast and requires no upfront investment. A growing populus has used it at ebay or amazon or any of the other zilon stores.
But hey it requires no upfront, has a tiered fee structure and works.
Europe still requires registration but again lot's of people already have an account. So give it to them.

Once established I would always advise to add a mainstream gateway which has a name and recognition value and allows you to co brand the payment pages.

The customer is not interested in what is behind the scene, they want to pay hassle free and secure. If they get a choice its even better.

From a small site standpoint bringing on PP adds some credebility and allows "big boys payment" at no initial investment. Once up and running a high recognition gateway with broad apeal to users would always be my next choice, regardless of their fee structure, but this usually requires a cash payment.

If the business growth further a more "localised" gateway for either home or emerging regions is a potential next step.

Below site ships world-wide has been active for about 6 month now does 5 digit monthly turnover

cheque 5% (mainly UK)
PP 32% (mainly UK US CA D)
WP 63%
shipping
UK 35%
US 30%
CA 10%
other 25%

Probably what I'm trying to write is that PP has it's merrit and there may well be "localised" systems that allow an easy fast and "cheap" start. It very much depends on geo location and geo targeting BUT if at all possible give the customer a bit of choice they as well as we all have our litle preferences.....

M

PS I'm not a friend of integrating own payment gateways as I've yet to see a really secure installation.

[ViciousSummer]

...I say I never saw any site offering me to pay thru paypal, without having an account - theres always login/register account procedure which must be completed in order to execute payments...

Every site that uses Paypal has the option of paying by credit card, without signing up for a Paypal account. Here are the directions for doing so (cut and pasted off of my customer service page):

"If you would like to make payment via credit card, follow these steps: Choose "Paypal" as payment method during check out, you will be directed to the Paypal screen where you can click "If you've never paid thru Paypal, click here", just follow the prompts, enter your credit card number & you're done"

Your more then welcome to try it out at either of my sites: http://www.viciousstyle.com or http://www.hustlerpanties.com

...Is it webmasters or paypals fault? I dont care, as long as "PayPal is currently available in 38 countries worldwide" statements stays in their FAQ, they cannot be taken as worldwide merchant account. It might not affect you, because you managed to make it worldwide for selling, but thats only one site and only one aspect of merchant accounts - what about sellers? As this is thread should help people decide what merchant account they should register, so assuming that they are sellers, just tell me how will they get their paypal merchant account when they are not allowed to do so? How can you promote & glorify that, when its obviously a limit which stands as a wall between 38 countries & rest of the world?

Well, as far as I'm concerned Paypal works great as a worldwide merchant account, as long as it is an option for you. If you are in a country that does not allow you to have a Paypal account, obviously it's not an option.

So, rather then arguing *against* Paypal, why don't you just let us know what the best option for a merchant account is ;) ?

[ViciousSummer]

What are the fees for using paypal? Do they charge anything to the buyer or seller for each transaction?

The buyer pays nothing to use Paypal. If you have a business account with them, the seller pays a small percent. I think I end up paying about 3%.

[WilliamC]

Lately we have been using http://www.solarbilling.com and found them to be extremely fast in the customer service department and decently efficient with processing needs. Ryan has helped us with several issues we had in a very professional manner.

[expat]

one note PayPal US works without opening account
PayPal Europe (via UK) does not yet have this option (don't ask....)
(sitting in UK they assume that I do wish to use UK services given no choice in that matter.......

Hey great to hear from you VS

S long
M

[Weirfire]

I was browsing the paypal UK web site and according to the site you don't need an account to send money in UK either

http://www.paypal.com/uk/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/mer/WAX_acquisit_landing-outside

It doesn't say anything about limitations in Europe.

[expat]

I was browsing the paypal UK web site and according to the site you don't need an account to send money in UK either
You are right to an extend, just checked and

.....The streamlined new checkout process applies to the following Website Payments types: Buy Now Buttons, Donations, and PayPal Shopping Basket, as well as Request Money......

Does not work when one doesn't use buy now or their basket.......

this still requires membership and the process is a bit weird......

But a valid point I may have to wrigle my shopping basket into a buy now or so...... something to check out soon as I need their feed back routines to trigger shipment of the order....

Whereas WP just takes the card ....
cheers
M
PS If you try buying below and use PP you'll see

[search eyes]

We started out using the Worldpay bureau service as we could not get a merchant account. They are reliable but very expensive and hold onto your money for ages ( two months in our case). After we had a three month trading history we got a merchant account and moved our creditcard processing to Protx. They are a fraction of the cost of Worldpay and you get the money in three days

[expat]

We started out using the Worldpay bureau service as we could not get a merchant account. They are reliable but very expensive and hold onto your money for ages ( two months in our case). After we had a three month trading history we got a merchant account and moved our creditcard processing to Protx. They are a fraction of the cost of Worldpay and you get the money in three days
Hi welcome (if I haven't already).

it's a nice tip, although do they provide the backoffice functions like sending back payment status - basket info etc? As I need that to for the order automation...

Cheers
M

[search eyes]

Hi

Yes they offer all the back office services that Worldpay do (with a better user interface in my opinion). They also have some nice anti fraud services with a partner company called the 3rd man which which was useful for us.

All in all we were very pleased with them because they offered a similar service to Worldpay but with reduced costs and improved cashflow. In the UK they have been very successful with SMEs

[expat]

...yes they offer all the back office services that Worldpay do (with a better user interface in my opinion). They also have some nice anti fraud services with a partner company called the 3rd man which which was useful for us.....
thanks had another look and yes looks usefull as you said may well concider when WP is up for renewal (down to two weeks and nice tiered fee structure so I can't complain too much)
M

[Weirfire]

I think I might have found a cheaper service. It's by Natwest and they offer 9p per transaction.

If you go to www.fastpay.com and tell me what you think.

I don't know what their service is like but it seems to be the cheapest I've seen so far. No start up costs or monthly payments.

[expat]

If you go to www.fastpay.com (http://www.fastpay.com/) and tell me what you think.I looked at it a while back.
It's not bad for starters as one can play on NatWest which would potentially work in the UK BUT it is like the old PayPal it requires long winded registration process and it looks like when you register that the max amount one can send is £50.....

But having said that it could yet be another choice to give to customers.....

M

[daemeh]

Since we're talking about alternatives for Europe, I'd suggest someone takes a look at www.ikobo.com. To me it seems a good alternative since it's not limited by country coverage as paypal is and they have relatively low fees. Tell mw what you think of this service.

[expat]

.....I'd suggest someone takes a look at www.ikobo.com. To me it seems a good alternative since it's not limited by country coverage as paypal is and they have relatively low fees. ....
small print....
.Have funds directly deposited to a US bank account or receive a Visa PLUS debit card to withdraw money at 800,000 ATM's worldwide


Not for me and it requires registration by the user

cash back 5% is just a blinder
signs up as an iKobo Affiliate, they will automatically receive a 5% rebate on the fees that iKobo charges for each transaction

so it's not 2.9% it's just 2.76% +.29$ plus transfer fees us ->europe or atm fees via visa .

I just don't think companies triying such foggy tactics should get a license.

PayPal for all it's faults in Europe is under UK / EC banking rules no transfer fees and three or four currency accounts for free. Don't forget PP is one of the few that hold funds in each one of these three currencies (YEN USD EUR GBP) untill you decide to transfer or exchange. Presently it's absolutely phantastic as I can pay all US and Euro directly without any conversion loss even bank transfers (in currency) are free above £50.

M
PS Funny the more I look into this the more attractive is the combination of PP & WP

[daemeh]

Well, you may be right, I can't be so sure about that. I've only used them for p2p money transfers so far and it's been working ok. I've looked into their merchant account offer and to me it seemed good enough. I could have been wrong of course, but if you're from somewhere where you can't use paypal, what other options are you left with?

[expat]

I haven't used them but looked at them and have come across them fairly often

2Checkout.com (http://www.2checkout.com/) (they do international with few exeptions)

I opted for WP as we needed a well known name.
M

[Fishing Forum]

Ive just started using nochex (http://www.nochex.com/sell/)

Seem alright - will post how they go

Any good reports or horror stories on these guys

[ViciousSummer]

A while back I signed up for Ikobo, but it was just too much of a hassle. I don't remember the specifics, but it just didn't seem worth it.

Why don't people that don't like Paypal, etc, just sign up for a merchant account at the bank :confused: ? Is it not that easy in non-US countries?

[expat]

...Why don't people that don't like Paypal, etc, just sign up for a merchant account at the bank :confused: ? Is it not that easy in non-US countries?
Hi VS,

well to be taken seriously here in the UK and I guess in most of EC Europe one should have a Limited (Ltd) company or equivalent (similar to LLC?). As this has limited liability banks are cagy. The catch 22 is you have to be trading for a while to get a credit record. How does one trade without a merchant account? Well this is why we see all these funny offers......
Once established it becomes easy - just send the your merchant bank / payment gateway the latest offer and ask for their reaction.....
M

PS Than you have mentality French think nothing of using carte blue (Visa) for everything, Germans love cash, UK similar to US has so much plastic we take an atache case when we go shopping..... , but using multiple cards to find one that still is accepted is a bit alien to most Europeans

[ViciousSummer]

Hi Expat!
Hmm. Interesting! That explains the long threads on international payment providers :) .

Getting a merchant account in the US is like everything else here...fast and easy (but not necessarily good)!

[Weirfire]

I reckon I'm going to go with Paypal and fastpay to begin with.

[expat]

I reckon I'm going to go with Paypal and fastpay to begin with.don't forget with paypal you can do USD prices and accept USD which allows you to list in Froogle! I think they are not yet ready for GBP.
M

[expat]

Just came off the phone to PayPal Europe. Still the slick US version of no registration required is not available in Europe and still no target date given.

So still: If you don't have a bank account in US or CAD you can't have the US version.http://forums.digitalpoint.com/images/icons/icon8.gifhttp://forums.digitalpoint.com/images/icons/icon9.gif
M

[carowan]

Why not go with both Paypal and a Merchant Account?
Granted, the CC fees aren't the greatest (setup fee+ $20/mo +1.5% of sales, on average)- but its the cost of doing business.

Many people (myself included) prefer to pay with a CC; as it adds a level of safety when purchasing online with a company you have never dealt with before. I do not believe that paypal offers this type of protection, and tend to shy away from Paypal only sites.
Also, have you considered that you might be losing sales because you don't offer CC payment options? It is a distinct possibility. The more payment options you offer, the better off you are, no use in losing a potential customer because they want to use their AMEX and cannot.

I would suggest doing both, and just chalk off the expense as fixed and variable overhead.

Good Luck!

[arestia]

i use verisign payment services with emerchant solutions account for all my clients and myself

[Weirfire]

don't forget with paypal you can do USD prices and accept USD which allows you to list in Froogle! I think they are not yet ready for GBP.
M

Thanks for that expat. I wasn't even thinking about Froogle.

Why not go with both Paypal and a Merchant Account?


I think I'll be using PayPal and Natwest's Fastpay. I'll come back to this thread later and let you know how I'm getting on with it. :)

[expat]

i use verisign payment services with emerchant solutions account for all my clients and myself
Hi,
out of interest and a ballpark number is fine, how much is veri ? allow multiple currency ? if yes how much?

Maybe you can summarise your experience in a couple of sentences...
Thanks and cheers
M

[Fishing Forum]

Hi Weirfire

UK merchants - have a look at NOCHEX (http://www.nochex.com/sell/)

Cheaper than paypal but do not have the name working ok for me

https://www.nochex.com/web/gfx/comparison.gif

[Weirfire]

Thanks that looks like a competitive price.

Is there any drawbacks to Nochex over Paypal UK? I don't think my client is interested in using Dollars at this time though.

[arestia]

Hi,
out of interest and a ballpark number is fine, how much is veri ? allow multiple currency ? if yes how much?

Maybe you can summarise your experience in a couple of sentences...
Thanks and cheers
M
they have two options for credit card processing, payflow pro and payflow link. Here (http://www.verisign.net/products-services/payment-processing/accept-credit-card-pricing.html)

1) payflow link consits of a easy to use popup to a page hosted on verisign to process transactions.

1) payflow pro is the processing that is installed on the server and can run higher prices based on having to purchace a SSL certificate.

i have used both for multiple clients and they have been good to us. the processing has a setup cost, a monthly cost and then they charge about a 1.8% processing fee on each transaction.

im not sure if they have multiple currency processing or not tho.

-Dan

[Fishing Forum]

Is there any drawbacks to Nochex over Paypal UK

Their name - no one knows them and the payment screen is very poor as it does not ease the client into paying

Has to be a UK credit card as well

Plus side is no reg were as Paypal UK does

But what choice is there for th UK with out splashing out on say worldpay and then 4 weeks to get your cash

If someone knows a good UK one there are lots of people looking

[Weirfire]

Well as I've mentioned already in this thread FastPay (http://www.fastpay.com) looks like a good deal for UK users.

[Fishing Forum]

Thanks

Also found this list of gateways | Click Here (http://www.x-cart.com/payment_gateways.html) |

No sure how up to date but at least their all on one page

[Weirfire]

Cool they are all American though. Might set up a page with all UK payment types.

[Fishing Forum]

No mate - Merchant account states country

[Weirfire]

Sorry. That's my lazy eyes again! :o

[debunked]

If you are in north America here is one I use which includes hosting, cart, gateway, merchant account, etc and a great price.
Online Merchant Account (http://shawnolive.evsholdingco.com/)

[WilliamC]

If you are in north America here is one I use which includes hosting, cart, gateway, merchant account, etc and a great price.
Online Merchant Account (http://shawnolive.evsholdingco.com/)
Isn't that just an affiliate for cyshop?

[money]

I want to add ikobo payment option to OSCommerce. Does anyone know how to do it?

[money]

Great. I found a module written for Ikobo. It can be integrated into OSCommerce. This is the link.http://www.oscommerce.com/community/contributions,2258/page,6 Share it with you guys.

[Tapanti]

Anyone who has actually being using iKobo Merchant and CC processing services for a while and can recommend them?

I have been searching the net for info about this company and as usual, I have found very mixed opinions, which is normal, as some people like one service and other people like other service, but I’ve come to trust (most) opinions in this forum, so it might be helpful getting the word of someone I can trust.

Thanks :)

I found this, but since I’m not from the U.S. and not familiar with this organization I’m not sure if this is reliable. Please advice.

http://www.atlanta.bbb.org/commonreport.html?compid=7000398

.

[daemeh]

I'm not sure whether you can trust me or not, me being new here and stuff, but I'm using them and so far I haven't had any problems. If you need more details, feel free to ask. Bottom line is, I would recommend them, especially now since their services seem to be improving. This is just me of course.

[Tapanti]

Hi daemeh,

First of all, welcome to DP.

Being new doesn't mean not being worth confidence. I would just like to ask you if you have used their service as a Merchant or just to send money p2p. And if it’s true that you can withdraw the money 15 minutes after it’s been deposited or a payment has been made.

Would you share the address of the web site where you are using it?

Thank you for your comment.

.

[daemeh]

Thanks for your kind words. So far I've only used their p2p service, it's true. I am however trying to start my own e-store and this is why I posted here. I did some research so I think I have a general impression about them. Of course, I can add my personal experience with them as a p2p money service and I can assure you that has been a good one so far. It's also true about the time it takes from the moment you've received a payment to the moment you can actually get your hands on the money. Actually, I think the process takes a lot less, but you'd have to be near an ATM to be able to get them faster. ;)

[Tapanti]

Good to hear, as I could be recommending them to some of my own clients & friends. They have a nice affiliate tree program and it's nearly impossible to have a decent online CC processing service in Costa Rica. The local service charges 7% and you need to have around $10.000 deposited and frozen in your account as backup to get the account started. :eek:

Any other iKobo review/report would be highly appreciated... specially from someone who is using Merchant and CC processing services.

.

[daemeh]

I think this is one of ikobo's strong points: the fact that they work practically anywhere in the world. About more reviews, I could provide you with some links but apparently the forum won't allow me. (It says I must have 10 posts and I've got them, maybe I'll have to wait a little longer or something).
Anyway, as soon as I can I'll give you these links.

[daemeh]

Discussions about ikobo's merchant account can be found here (http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=329207&perpage=15&pagenumber=1)

P.S. Wow, finally I can post links. :D

[Tapanti]

Thanks for the info daemeh.

I sure feel a lot more confident now, but I guess I'll start slow and give it a try before begin spreading the word.

But if it does work as advertised, they'll find a big fan and promoter here... I'm sick and tired of PayPal being willing to take my money, but not wanting to process payments on my behalf. I have been using PayPal to make payments for over 2 years, but still they don't allow me to receive payments through their system, just because I'm in Costa Rica.

So... GO IKOBO!!! :)

I'll keep the community up to date.

.

[daemeh]

You're welcome. Just trying to do my part. :)
I completely understand the way you feel, I was the same way at first, a little skeptical I mean, but after a while I realized it's for real. I agree about paypal, I wouldn't use them also, even if I could, after all the tuff I've read about them I wouldn't trust them with my money.
All I can say is that I wish you all the best, and don't forget about us. ;)

[Tapanti]

All I can say is that I wish you all the best
Thank you for the wishes :D


..., and don't forget about us. ;)
Who is us? :confused:

.

[daemeh]

Hmm, should be the folks reading this thread. I hope we're not the only ones here. Are we?
Anyway, keep me/us posted about things go with you and ikobo. :)

[Weirfire]

Ok, one of my clients is going to be using HSBC banks online payment system. They charge £50 start up, £20 a month and 2.9% of every transaction. My clients motives for choosing this service were that they will be totally secure, they are the biggest bank in the World and will be well renowned, there is no need to register to pay, the usability of the payment is good and the customer support is fantastic.

I'll post here later to let you know how he gets on with it :)

[werebear]

In the UK worldpay is popular I have used them for a year now.
Most online shopping software packages integrate well with it.

[Weirfire]

Welcome to the forum werebear :)

[werebear]

Welcome to the forum werebear :)
Well thanks for the warm welcome :D

[Mia]

We have a merchant account and use ViaKlix though Elan. It is extremely flexible, and customizable. It is supported in OG, and we use it with several other vendors as well. Best of all it does not cost us anything, like a lot of the other payment gateways!

[Weirfire]

We have a merchant account and use ViaKlix though Elan. It is extremely flexible, and customizable. It is supported in OG, and we use it with several other vendors as well. Best of all it does not cost us anything, like a lot of the other payment gateways!

What do you mean it doesnt cost you anything? There's no monthly or start up costs? Do you not still have to pay a charge per transaction? There must be some continuous costs?

[daemeh]

Usually something like this, which sounds too good to be true, usually is. Don't get me wrong, I'd love a service that didn't charge anything, but let's get serious. Ten again, who knows, I though ikobo was good enough when I found it, but this seems to be even better. :p Could you give us more details about this charity merchant account? :rolleyes:

[Mia]

Nope. NO charges. Let me be a bit more specific. Sure, our merchant account has the usual % fees , but there is no ongoing fee for the processing gateway. So it is not like we have to have a merchant account, and then a 3rd party payment gateway from some rip off company charging $50/mo, plus God knows what else.

What I mean is our merchant "Elan" in this case, has the gateway. So since we already pay Elan for our merchant account, there really is no cost for the gateway.

[Weirfire]

Neither does Paypal, Fastpay, Ikobo

But there are features to these which stops them being as usefull as the ones where you have to pay a setup or monthly fee for. Such as Paypals limited use worldwide, fastpay doesnt send data back to the server.

Whereas HSBC, you dont have to sign up, you can use it anywhere in the World and you won't lose as many sales through it due to poor usability features.

[Fishing Forum]

Whereas HSBC, you dont have to sign up, you can use it anywhere in the World and you won't lose as many sales through it due to poor usability features.

Sorry to jump in - are you using them and how easy is the gatway intergration

[Weirfire]

I'm in the process of setting it up with them.

My client will be paying £50 start up and £20 a month and 2.9% per transaction. I've been very impressed with their set up so far. I'll come back here in 2 months when it's been going a while. :) I'll let you know which ones the customers picked as well because I'm going to offer several methods of payment. :)

[Mia]

Neither does Paypal, Fastpay, Ikobo

But there are features to these which stops them being as usefull as the ones where you have to pay a setup or monthly fee for. Such as Paypals limited use worldwide, fastpay doesnt send data back to the server.

Whereas HSBC, you dont have to sign up, you can use it anywhere in the World and you won't lose as many sales through it due to poor usability features.

I guess I am not being clear enough.. My bank/merchant account through ELAN has the payment gateway facility already in place, so there is no need to get a 3rd party payment system/gateway. Since we already had the merchant account, adding the online payment system was a breeze and cost nothing..

Now if you do not have a merchant account already, I suppose it is a different story. Either way, the functionality is pretty much endless. I have not found a single thing we cannot do with ViaKlix.

[Weirfire]

I got you now :)

Are there not more security issues though with the way you have done it? Do ViaKlix take full responsibility for any fraud etc?

I know a guy that has set up his own SSL certificates and got a merchant account via the bank and he gets at least 2 fraudsters a week.

[WilliamC]

I know a guy that has set up his own SSL certificates and got a merchant account via the bank and he gets at least 2 fraudsters a week.

If that is all he gets then he should consider himself a very lucky man.

[Weirfire]

Really? Do you get many?

That is the main reason putting me off setting it up myself. I don't mind paying 2.9% per transaction for the peace of mind :)

[daemeh]

Hmm, I also pay 2.99 per transaction and so far no frauds have reached me. I suppose they've been spotted by the verification process, some complain is too strict, at ikobo. Eh well, complain all they want, if that's what it takes to be safe then I'm ok with it.

[Weirfire]

Yes but you're not using a merchant acount, you are using a payment service provider (thanks TOPS). We're talking about frauds for people that have set up their own merchant account with their bank and have installed all the SSL certificates on their own server. :)

[daemeh]

Yeah, I thought so, but since worldpay was mentioned I thought I'd give my input as well since it's also an online service like ikobo, although a lot more expensive but with better services. :D

[Weirfire]

I reckon the payment service providers will get their fair share of fraudsters but they dont let you know about it. It's like the banks. There's probably loads of thefts every year but if the banks publicised this then no-one would bank with them so they keep it under wraps ;)

[SoniaJr]

Hmm, I also pay 2.99 per transaction and so far no frauds have reached me. I suppose they've been spotted by the verification process, some complain is too strict, at ikobo. Eh well, complain all they want, if that's what it takes to be safe then I'm ok with it.

2.99% for merchant transactions and 3% + 5$ for any p2p transactions between those 170 countries supported by ikobo. For p2p tranasactions below 60$ the fee is only 3$.

[daemeh]

I reckon the payment service providers will get their fair share of fraudsters but they dont let you know about it. It's like the banks. There's probably loads of thefts every year but if the banks publicised this then no-one would bank with them so they keep it under wraps ;)
You're probably right. It may be so at ikobo as well, but as long as these frauds don't affect users, I don't consider this a problem. Frauds are something that happen anyway, it's a matter of being able to deal with them.

[SoniaJr]

I don't think ikobo or other new payment processors have the same rate of fraudulent acts like paypal. Paypal is the number one in the list of the most hacked payment services ever. Really. :)

[SEbasic]

I don't think ikobo or other new payment processors have the same rate of fraudulent acts like paypal. Paypal is the number one in the list of the most hacked payment services ever. Really.So is windows.
Why?
Because it is one of the most wisely used. :)

[Weirfire]

Paypal is also probably making more money than ikobo! :rolleyes:

[SEbasic]

Because it is one of the most wisely used.
Damnit...
I meant widely...
I can't edit the post.

[Weirfire]

hehe.
pretty funny mistake ;)

[darksat]

Its about this time I normally point and laugh. :)

[Weirfire]

Its about this time I normally point and laugh. :)


There's always 3 fingers pointing back at yourself. :p

[darksat]

Actually when I point my fist is normally slightly clenched and since I point with my right hand my other 3 fingers are actually pointing to a spot to my right hand side.

But its good to see you learned someting from your parents. :p

[Weirfire]

hehe

Who else would tell you such a pointless fact?

[daemeh]

Ok guys, enough finger pointing, you wouldn't want to use that finger by mistake during all of this, right?
It's true what's been said about paypal, they do make more money than ikobo and are more popular, but it's also true that people aren't aware of the fact that there are other, perhaps even better, alternatives out there. Pretty much like the windows vs. Linux dispute. :D

[Weirfire]

Exactly, which is why this thread started indicating all the alternatives out there. There is some really good information here. I think as soon as I've got a bit of free time I'll collect all the data on each PSP and display them on my site. It's quite difficult to obtain up to date information on all the sources as they keep updating their plans.

[SoniaJr]

Paypal is also probably making more money than ikobo! :rolleyes:

It is understandable considering their fees. But I don't think this is a factor to take into consideration. iKobo has a wider coverage so ... this could compensate. ;)

[daemeh]

It may be so, but this will happen in time. So far it's pretty much a paypal monopoly out there, although smaller companies such as ikobo are coming strong from behind. Just hope they’re in this for the long run, enough to prove they're worthy to be viable alternatives.

[SoniaJr]

From what I read about ikobo, they are a small company with a legitimate business and they did manage to conquer a pretty good share on the market. Also some people don't like their slow customer support service but they like this payment service because it has very low fees.

[daemeh]

Well, I suppose that as with everything we have to take the good along with the bad. With ikobo their weak point is indeed their customer support, but lately they seem to improving in that. Just hope they'll keep it up with the improvements.

[SoniaJr]

I already use ikobo and I like their livechat system except when I am trying to talk to them and I realize that they have other time zone and there is night over there and everybody is asleep. :)

[daemeh]

Yeah, I think this may be one of the reasons people complain about customer support. If you look carefully at the bottom of the LiveHelp page anyone can see that there some chat hours mentioned there as well as the local time for ikobo. If the local time is out of the chat hours... well, you know what I mean. Maybe some people don't notice that and think that they aren't answering them for some reason or another.

[ampalian]

I haven't seen mention of Worldpay here. They are very good, a tad arrogant but an excellent solution. Not the cheapest but you get what you pay for.

I have applied for it because for my business PayPal and the like have an image problem.

Malc

PS Nice to be here, I look forward to getting acquainted.

[daemeh]

First of all, welcome!
About worldpay, it's pretty much as you said; for me at least their fees are unaffordable. Maybe once my business will grow I may consider them, but so far ikobo is sufficient.

[Weirfire]

Try HSBC. They are the cheaper and the image is better. HSBC is the biggest bank in the World so you can't really go wrong with them. People will trust it because they recognise it. That's the theory anyway. :)

[daemeh]

Yeah, pretty much so, but since it's the biggest bank, their fees should match that, if you know what I mean. They didn't seem to do very well with yahoo paydirect, maybe online business isn't something they're good at. :D
Just guessing here!

[Weirfire]

I'm in the process of setting one of my clients up with them and they charge £50 start up and £20 a month after that. Then there is 2.9% per transaction. Not the cheapest but it's better than WorldPay.

[szy]

I know many people who must contact their friends and family from foreign countries just in order to buy/sell something there. That probably has nothing to do with ya USA/CA guys, but be sure that if you choose PayPal, you will more than certain come in situation that you will loose customer because of its limits. One, two, ten, hundreds of them from Kazahstan, China, Malta, Russia, Iraq... does it really matters?

... Poland. Words you have wrtten are the words I have read and heard hundred of times from people in Poland. Probably PayPal doesn't care about 40,000,000 country. So we don't care about Paypal... :/

Szy.

[SoniaJr]

daemeh: does your customers still have to go with the verification process when they purchase something from your online store?

[ROAR]

How about Yahoo's small merchant program?
I already have a merchant acct. Is this a waste of time?

[daemeh]

daemeh: does your customers still have to go with the verification process when they purchase something from your online store?
First of all HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone.
Now for your question, no, the verification procedure is no longer required for customers. Helps make things a lot smoother! :)

[Olney]

I would be in heaven if ANY of these could do a transaction from start to finish in JAPANESE.

[SoniaJr]

How about Yahoo's small merchant program?
I already have a merchant acct. Is this a waste of time?

I know that Yahoo's merchant program is out of business so even if it was cheaper than ikobo (which I doubt because usually Yahoo has higher fees than a lot other similar services), I couldn't signup with them. :rolleyes:

[swaz]

does ikobo charge setup fees and stuff? for personal account.

[SoniaJr]

No. Both for merchant or personal account, ikobo doesn't have setup fees. You can view their transactions fees here: http://www.ikobo.com/ikobo.cgi?action=info_fee#p2p

[swaz]

oh thanks for the info!

[daemeh]

For me, one of the things that made me decide in favor of ikobo was exactly this, no setup, no monthly fees and so on. It's only a per transaction fee you're required to pay and that's it. Pretty simple and cheap, right?

[SoniaJr]

There is also a $.99 iKard Monthly Maintenance Fee but I guess it's too small to take into consideration.
@reallybites: You are welcome.

[ROAR]

I know that Yahoo's merchant program is out of business so even if it was cheaper than ikobo (which I doubt because usually Yahoo has higher fees than a lot other similar services), I couldn't signup with them. :rolleyes:

you sure about that?

[SoniaJr]

No. I am sorry if I made a mistake. All I know is that Yahoo Paydirect has gone out of business. Am I right or not?

[ROAR]

No worries Sonia... You are correct re: Yahoo paydirect
"We regret to notify you that we are closing the Yahoo! PayDirect from HSBC service, effective November 22, 2004."

[swaz]

one more thing,do i need to enter my credit card's info to have my ikobo account verified? (like paypal)

[mudnik]

Has anyone tried Cardservice International? They have provided a Merchant Account Buyer's Guide (http://www.expandyourbusiness.com/buyers-guide.htm?kbid=1783) which you can download for free.

[daemeh]

one more thing,do i need to enter my credit card's info to have my ikobo account verified? (like paypal)
No, back when I first created my ikobo account I didn't even have a credit card. To verify it you only need to send a copy of some form of picture ID as well as a household bill in your name (I think any kind of bill will do). After that the account is up and running, or at least that's how it was for me. I hope I could help, if not, feel free to ask... :p

[SoniaJr]

one more thing,do i need to enter my credit card's info to have my ikobo account verified? (like paypal)

In order to verify your account you must send them a copy of your ID and one of some house utility bill. You cand send them by fax or you can scan them and send them by e-mail. I don't know exactly the addresess but you can find them here (http://www.ikobo.com/blocked.html).

[daemeh]

So it's pretty much like I said... right sonia?
@mudnik is this some sort of new trick to get us to signup with cardservice using your referral ID? Don't get me wrong, I always appreciate any help, but tricks like this i can hardly admit... :cool:

[SoniaJr]

Yes ... I think this should do the trick ;)

[daemeh]

Eh well, maybe the poor man was for real and I misinterpreted his post... could be, can't know for sure. :)
Anyway, were you guys aware of the fact that ikobo has finally introduced the return URL feature for the shopping cart? You know, it returns the customer to your site after they've completed a purchase. It may not seem like much, but it may prove to increase sales quite a bit.

[SoniaJr]

I think that you are talking about 3rd party shopping carts because ikobo's shopping cart works fine as it is. Yes, they've introduced the possibility to choose your return page in case of error, successful payment and other actions that a 3rd party shopping cart would require.

[mudnik]

@mudnik is this some sort of new trick to get us to signup with cardservice using your referral ID? Don't get me wrong, I always appreciate any help, but tricks like this i can hardly admit... :cool:

No, it's not a trick. I'm just posting a link to a merchant account guide that I thought some forum users might find useful since the thread is on this topic. True, it's an affiliate link but everything is above aboard; I do not use url redirection or link masking to hide the fact that it's an affiliate link.If people find the guide useful, then it's a win-win situation. The guide is free anyway.

At the end of the day, they decide themselves where to sign up for their merchant account. Notice also that my original post did not talk about the benefits of card international. This is because I do not know how good it is as I do not use it personally. Thus, my original qn of whether anyone uses card international is also to get more feedback on it from other users.

[compar]

No, it's not a trick. I'm just posting a link to a merchant account guide that I thought some forum users might find useful since the thread is on this topic. True, it's an affiliate link but everything is above aboard;
The normal protocol when posting an affiliate links is to state so right at the time. There is nothing wrong with offering a useful link, but people want to know if you have any vested interest.

[Mia]

The normal protocol when posting an affiliate links is to state so right at the time. There is nothing wrong with offering a useful link, but people want to know if you have any vested interest.

Given the technical nature of these forums, one can kinda assume that this was the case.. I agree with making mention of it though as you said :-)

[mudnik]

The normal protocol when posting an affiliate links is to state so right at the time. There is nothing wrong with offering a useful link, but people want to know if you have any vested interest.

Thanks for pointing it out. Point noted.

[daemeh]

well, I'm glad we've got that sorted out, I hope nobody got upset... :D
@SoniaJr - yes, you're right, my mistake, I meant 3rd party shopping cart(s). I apologize, I suppose I forgot the 3rd. Basically, what matters is that it works with OSCommerce, a lot of folks seem to be using it.

[SoniaJr]

Yes but it's not only OsCommerce. Theoretically, any kind of shopping cart might work with ikobo but usually people use osc or any other similar e-commerce shop based on osc. Also if somebody wants to make his own shop, ikobo offers the tools needed the integration process.

[daemeh]

or, one could just use ikobo's shopping cart which isn't all that bad either and it's pretty simple to implement. This way you can create your site any way you wish, not just the way OSCommerce helps you to create it.

[Mia]

It should work with eShox as well, if not, we can certainly make it work :)

[SoniaJr]

Yeah, but I still think that is much easier to implement it with an already known shopping cart. Besides, how many of us have to knowledge to create such shopping carts.
@mia: you should download shopping cart manuals or scripts from the ikobo webiste

[daemeh]

so do I, I was only suggesting it. I know it's much better to use something already developed by people with solid knowledge in this field.
Good thing ikobo provides third party shopping cart support. ;)

[SoniaJr]

I understand you. Your suggestions are always welcome, don't worry. And yes, made a good choice by making ikobo available to everybody.

[plmerlin]

We had problems with paypal.... a $1,800 charge back as the customer didn't "recognize" the charge... Paypal said that ok... $1,800 lost + fees.

We tried to use IKobo to pay our engineer in UA... good luck!

We have a regular merchant account with monthly fees for visa/master, fees for Ax, fees for discover.... but abusive charge back are quite easy to defend.

If not we use Travel agent systems called ARC, low fees but good luck with abusive charge back! they don't even investigate that's our fault :mad: even if if the customer signed a CC authorization. The only solution is collection, lawyers and court.

If you know a good system to send money to Ukraine... tell me, we use Western Union with very high fees and weird process to collect.

Thanks

[ViciousSummer]

We had problems with paypal.... a $1,800 charge back as the customer didn't "recognize" the charge... Paypal said that ok... $1,800 lost + fees....I've had similar problems with Paypal. It seems like anyone can dispute a charge for any reason and Paypal will happily give them your money. :rolleyes:

[Mia]

That's why you get a signature. It makes it a bit more difficult in the dispute process.. In the end, the merchant almost always loses though :(

[ViciousSummer]

You don't have an option to get a signature with Paypal or Ikobo. Even with a merchant account, with online sales it's nearly impossible to get a signature.

[Mia]

Not really.. Are you shipping merchandise to them? Make them sign for it. If you send it USPS, UPS, FedEX, whatever, have them sign to confirm receipt. That signature is the same as if they signed a CC receipt in the eyes of any merchant, including paypal.

I won't ship anything tangible to another carbon based life form without a signed confirmation of receipt.

[daemeh]

We had problems with paypal.... a $1,800 charge back as the customer didn't "recognize" the charge... Paypal said that ok... $1,800 lost + fees.

We tried to use IKobo to pay our engineer in UA... good luck!

We have a regular merchant account with monthly fees for visa/master, fees for Ax, fees for discover.... but abusive charge back are quite easy to defend.

If not we use Travel agent systems called ARC, low fees but good luck with abusive charge back! they don't even investigate that's our fault :mad: even if if the customer signed a CC authorization. The only solution is collection, lawyers and court.

If you know a good system to send money to Ukraine... tell me, we use Western Union with very high fees and weird process to collect.

Thanks
That is a big problem with paypal: fraudulent chargebacks. I think there was also an investigation by the FBI in this matter. Maybe that's still going on, I'm not sure.
As for a service to transfer money to the Ukraine, I'd say ikobo since it works quite nicely for me and I'm pretty close to the Ukraine (geographically speaking). If you were to trust what's being advertised on ikobo's website, I suppose ikobo would work for the whole world, or almost. Maybe you should give it a try to see if it really is like this... ;)

[SoniaJr]

I heard that too. About the FBI investigation that is. Regarding the matter of sending money to Ukraine, I think ikobo is the winner here. I don't think that you will find anything cheaper than that.

I won't ship anything tangible to another carbon based life form without a signed confirmation of receipt.
Why do you say that? I am really interested ... Thanks.

[Josh]

I use paypal only.. e-gold is the oddest online payment I've came across, and its generaly used tons by the scam artists and shady people. And most of the other decent ones aren't very widely used.

I think Paypal is the standard right now.


Josh

[SoniaJr]

It could be Josh, only if you live in one of those very limited list of countries covered by paypal. Unfortunately, this is not my case and I am sure that many others are in my shoes. So, taking this issue into consideration, I think that ikobo, worldpay or 2co are offering us the chance to develop our own online business without needing to wait for paypal to cover our home countries and I really appreciate that. :D

[daemeh]

Yeah, unfortunately that's the cold hard truth... Paypal's lack of coverage drives many of us to alternative services. The interesting thing is that, although not enjoying paypal's popularity, they still provide pretty good services. Some of them even have even lower fees than paypal - ikobo for example, while offering far better coverage. For now at least, I'm not that anxious to use paypal.

[SoniaJr]

ikobo has similar fees to paypal but paypal has the popularity and ikobo has the coverage and the ikard system. Time will tell which one is the best.

[daemeh]

I suppose that for those within paypal's coverage, this will be their choice... although I've heard of quite a few people who wanted to move away from paypal to alternative services such as 2checkout, ikobo and so on. For the rest of us, I think ikobo is among the best choice we could make. This is me of course, someone else may think differently.

[Doughty]

After taking more than a week to do serious research on the right companies to process credit card payments, I was quite disappointed with the outcome. As most of them don’t cover the countries I am interested in. And if they do, their fees are too high for me.
And as to paypal I just cannot say anything, as I never used it because of its poor coverage.

[daemeh]

OK, so you've done your homework... What did you eventually decide? What is your conclusion after all this research? Wanna share with he rest of the class, please?
Do you have something in particular you like, or you're just going to give up this whole business because you can't find the right processor?

[Doughty]

First of all I think that it's just impossible to find something perfect :p
In my opinion the most popular companies with a wide coverage are 2checkout, ikobo, moneybookers and worldpay.
All of them have their pros and cons.
Some people like worldpay – but I think their fees are very high.
2checkout is new but also rather popular company. However I read a lot of horror stories about it. Well, sure I understand that the more popular company is, the more bad feedback one can hear. But they have a set up fee, and if something goes wrong, $49 will be lost. But again, many people are satisfied with this company.
As to moneybookers and ikobo I read different reviews about them… but I suppose that ikobo is the best choice for the beginners and small vendors who are interested mostly in a wide coverage and low fees.

[yfs1]

Doughty, daemeh, SoniaJr -

Thank you for providing such entertaining threads. I don't know if you are all the same person but it still cracks me up.

Every payment thread is dominated by this same conversation that just goes around in circles and each and every time it turns into a "ikibo is just the best" post.

I love the - I am going to go out and research it - then posting the next day that ikibo is the winner after having already posted all the pros and cons (cons of others and pros of ikibo) of the major providers a few days earlier in another thread.

Truly classic stuff and I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoy your payment threads :D

Keep pluggin along!

[Doughty]

:) Doughty, daemeh, SoniaJr -

Thank you for providing such entertaining threads. I don't know if you are all the same person but it still cracks me up.

Every payment thread is dominated by this same conversation that just goes around in circles and each and every time it turns into a "ikibo is just the best" post.

I love the - I am going to go out and research it - then posting the next day that ikibo is the winner after having already posted all the pros and cons (cons of others and pros of ikibo) of the major providers a few days earlier in another thread.

Truly classic stuff and I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoy your payment threads :D

Keep pluggin along!
If you know a payment processor that works in Central and Eastern Europe (covers Poland, Ukraine, Russia), has low fees – you’re welcome with your suggestions.
Because as for now ikobo really seems to be the only option. So no wonder that I am interested in it :)

[daemeh]

No need to get irritated. The idea is that for eastern Europe in general (Romania in particular) ikobo is the only processor that actually works and you can actually withdraw your money. That's why I am talking about it, it may not be great, it may not be the best, but for me it's my only option and it's ok.

[SoniaJr]

Yes Doughty ... everyone it's entitled to an opinion. We can continue to help each other here regardless of what other say or do about it.
If you want, you can subscribe to an ikobo mailing list on Google groups. You can find it by doing a Google search or just go to http://groups-beta.google.com/group/iKobo. It could be useful for any ikobo user.

[daemeh]

Yeah, pretty much so. I'll go check that google group because who knows, maybe we'll get kicked out or something for discussing the things we're interested in. Anyway, enough about this, let's discuss something else. Anymore updates on any of your ikobo situations? :D

[subseo]

I don't think you will get kicked here - this is one of the least censored forums I have seen. That's why there is so great atmosphere I think (at least that's my experience).

The occasional anti-spammer paranoia (and sometimes very rightful) can't hurt :).

[daemeh]

I sure hope not (not getting kicked I mean). I was beginning to like this community, I'm glad I found others sharing the same interests as myself. True, spamming paranoia is natural I suppose and I don't blame anyone experiencing it, but I tend to dislike it if it's aimed at me. Again, I have to agree, it is a pretty nice atmosphere here and I hope I won't have to leave it.

[expat]

I've been informed that Wo has increased prices to new accounts at least here in the UK. Now ikobo.com is a real alternative.


New customers are now (typically) charged £200 setup (was £100) and £360 a year ongoing (was £160). Sounds like rather a lot to me... £560 first year charges, and that's before you've started paying 4.5% transaction fees...

Expat

[yfs1]

Are you talking about WorldPay? (Not sure what Wo is). I know when I signed up the fees were quite high but I asked for a discount and got 50% right there and then.

Its like Hotels, if you just ask, they will usually drop the price.

If you arent talking about Worldpay, ignore my last statement.

(Keep in mind Ikibo doesn't accept Mastercard if you are switching)

[expat]

Are you talking about WorldPay? (Not sure what Wo is). I know when I signed up the fees were quite high but I asked for a discount and got 50% right there and then.

Its like Hotels, if you just ask, they will usually drop the price.



As the title said it is worldpay and yes I'm aware that you can negotiate.
You always can and should.....
Expat

[Doughty]

(Keep in mind Ikibo doesn't accept Mastercard if you are switching)
They promise to solve the problem with Master Card telling it’s temporary; but as for now I think it’s their main downside and they can lose customers.

[subseo]

Yes, IKobo not accepting Mastercard is a major problem. If IKobo is your only option, you can easily lose some 50% customers (my private estimate based on own stats).

[daemeh]

They promise to solve the problem with Master Card telling it’s temporary; but as for now I think it’s their main downside and they can lose customers.
Yeah... do you know more about this? Some sort of timeframe in which this issue will be fixed? They're telling me it should happen the next month over at livehelp, but I don't know what to think. Any updates or anything?

[SoniaJr]

If you can use something else I say to keep ikobo as a second payment gateway because we never know when MC is going to be accepted and then, they will kick ass :)

[LinkPopularity]

I can't help it ... people who don't like or use paypal or just snobs, I really can't find any other real reason ...

[debunked]

I can't help it ... people who don't like or use paypal or just snobs, I really can't find any other real reason ...

such a lame comment to resurect a 1-1/2 year old thread with! At least put something useful in if you are going to do that.

(now how do I red rep again? oh ya....)

[WilliamC]

not to mention that he obviously has never seen http://www.paypalwarning.com

[LinkPopularity]

hey William,

Nice to see you here, I'm glad you give me some pointers, I've been asking about this around and couldn't get any straight answer ...

Debunked,

sorry, but I didn't know it was such an old tread, it was suggested on the bottom of the page and it interest me ... because I could never figure out why people are against paypal ...

by the way, excuse my bold language, I've learned it's the best way to get responses ... oops, hihi ... it worked ... again !

ok, back to the point ...

so, the website reports paypal abuse, no referrals to officials records and they are selling an alternative ... they seem more suspicious to me then paypal ...

did anybody actually lost money from using paypal, I'm using it for more then 3 years now, never any problem, why should I be against it?

I still don't get it ...

if you transfer money with your bank account they take it of your account yesterday and forward it tomorrow, so they keep the money 3 days, it's very common in bank business, I see no difference ... all I know ... it's F*cking easy to use !

let me conclude with this ... many people are against google and microsoft as well, why? why ? why ?

sure, they are not perfect ... are you ?

[debunked]

hey William,

Nice to see you here, I'm glad you give me some pointers, I've been asking about this around and couldn't get any straight answer ...

Debunked,

sorry, but I didn't know it was such an old tread, it was suggested on the bottom of the page and it interest me ... because I could never figure out why people are against paypal ...

by the way, excuse my bold language, I've learned it's the best way to get responses ... oops, hihi ... it worked ... again !

ok, back to the point ...

so, the website reports paypal abuse, no referrals to officials records and they are selling an alternative ... they seem more suspicious to me then paypal ...

did anybody actually lost money from using paypal, I'm using it for more then 3 years now, never any problem, why should I be against it?

I still don't get it ...

if you transfer money with your bank account they take it of your account yesterday and forward it tomorrow, so they keep the money 3 days, it's very common in bank business, I see no difference ... all I know ... it's F*cking easy to use !

let me conclude with this ... many people are against google and microsoft as well, why? why ? why ?

sure, they are not perfect ... are you ?

Much better, my red repping finger has calmed down now, I think you are currently safe.

Most of the complaints I have seen about paypal are from people selling questionable items, etc... High risk for a merchant account, thus the reason they probably used paypal. I am sceptical of the policies and some ways people have been treated, I am even nervous to use them using a credit card knowing that if I do a card charge back they will have an issue with that. They want control and if you give it to them it may be too late to do a chargeback. (I don't have any personal proof, but a few stories along with their policies make me nervous)