PayPal vs Authorize.net for ecommerce store?

I'm starting a new online store. What is the better way to go... PayPal or Authorize.net?

What are the fee differences?
How will shopper conversions be affected either way?

With PayPal... is Wesite Payments Standard good enough? (My understanding is that the shopper will be transferred to the PayPal site for checkout)
Or is Websites Payment Pro ($$$) the way to go? (Isn't this completely transparent to the user... like Authorize.net?)

(looking for some advice from experienced users)

 

for a new store, go with paypal. you are not sure if you will make enough to support a gateway.
go for standard. You neeed to be experienced with API's and have a merchant account already for merchant pro. and if you have a merchant account, why bother use paypal? I am speaking specifically for your situation, there are advantages to merchant pro

 

Thanks bccruzer for the info.

You're right, I don't know if I'll make enough money to support a gateway. I'm hopeful though!

I believe my shopping cart, X-Cart, supports PayPal standard and Pro. So hopefully the API integration is already complete.

I looked further into the Payment Pro setup offered by PayPal... and it states that they the merchant account is "supplied".

 

Authorize.net is a payment gateway and paypal is a 3rd party processor, so you're comparing apples and oranges if you're trying to do it head-to-head.

Assuming that you are referring to setting up a traditional merchant account with authorize.net and comparing it to using paypal. For starting out, paypal makes a great choice, but once your business grows, you will probably find that you want a traditional merchant account.

Here's a great article comparing 3rd party processors and traditional merchant accounts.
http://www.merchant-account-services.org/article/merchant-accounts-compared

 

Excellent resource... I rated it a 10. Highly recommended reading.

 

merchant account is supplied? hey, maybe I should switch

 

Jestep,

That's a terrific article. Didn't know much of that stuff...

Thanks!

 

I cant take credit for that one, but I'm sure that stymiee appreciates the praise. The merchant-account-services.org blog is his.

Check out his other articles if you are interested in some other related topics. He puts a lot of work in every one of them.

 

Payflow is owned by Paypal so you can always consider that as well. For some, people think it is more expensive, but if you have a lot of transactions, it will work out to your benefit since most gateways are going to charge you for a transaction fee as well as the merchant account provider. And then some gateways don't even bother to charge a transaction fee at all.

If you are worried about downtime and want a gateway that some of the larger corporations use, Cybersource is an option as well.

 

So far PayPal is best as i used.

 

Hey guys, how do you upload paypal's credit card gateway API certificate to cubecart. I followed Paypal's instruction to the word, but I still get a message saying the certificate hasn't been found.

At the moment I have the standard paypal gateway, meaning I can only accept paypal payments, but iIwant to accept credit card payments through paypal too.

At the moment people complete credit card transactions, but money never comes through to my paypal acccout.

 

Authorize.net is a great payment gateway, the daily payouts is nice. You may want to look into 2co as it is not only a credit card processor, but it also gives the user the option to pay with Paypal.

It would be nice to see Authorize implement Paypal in the system, but for now if you need both options, give 2checkout a look.

 

If your just starting then paypal should work just fine. It all depends on the dollar amount you are processing.. I like having a merchant account, they do a direct deposit to your bank account once the order has been successively settled. There are a number of other benefits with a merchant account over paypal. (It's the same thing as authorize.net)
Regards,
Brian

 

i use both authorize and paypal. paypal is cool cuz you can get instant payouts with the credit card. and authorize is cool because it makes you look more professional.

2co sucks balls!. . who the Heck wants to wait 2 weeks to get paid
authorize is only 36 hours at the most

 

use paypal.more common

 

PayPal Standard is the best way to go because it has no monthly fee. If you find that you have an extremely large volume of sales, you can upgrade PayPal to Payments Pro or Payflow Gateway.

 

Just look at all of the Paypal hate / poor support rants in this forum. There's good reason that it's not difficult to compete with paypal. Their support is terrible. Their risk management is even worse. There's always something to be said of the cheapest out there, but in the end you get what you pay for. When your business's future is relying on a company that freezes money and sometimes permanently bans businesses for no reason, but doesn't give any decent channel for support, you're playing a dangerous game.

I use paypal all the time. I think they have some great programs, and are a great entry point to get into accepting payments. However, as a business owner, I couldn't even entertain the idea of only using them for accepting payment.

 

for a new store, go with paypal
It easy and good

 

One great advantage of authorize.net is its easy and fast to withdraw money. Its a hassle free solution for intangible items.

 

PayPal can ban your business with no reason!!! It's awful!!! Authorize.net is more professional and supportive.