What type of payment processing would you use in this case?

Hello all,

I am building a small e-commerce store on WP, using wp e-commerce. Everything is ready and I need to choose the type of payment processor. The one main requirement is that I want the visitors to have a seamless checkout (ie. I don't want them to leave the site).

The plugin offers several options, and from what I understand, the options that would allow for the checkout process to start and finish without leaving the site are 1) Paypal Pro and 2) Authorize.net. As such, I have been researching those 2 options for a few days now, but I still cannot figure out exactly what is so different between the two.

From what I understand, with Authorize.net you would need to open an account with a bank (would that be a "special" account or would any acc work?), whereas with Paypal you would just need your PP account. Ok - that's a big difference I guess, but it doesn't sounds like a big deal.. Is there anything else other than that? Is it easier to work Paypal Pro than it is with Authorize.net? If so, why do most people say that "PP is good for the beginning but when you get bigger you will need Authorize.net"? If PP is easier, then why not stick with it in the long run?

I do understand that PP can freeze your account and that their support is not the best one out there, but is that the only reason why Authorize.net would be a better option? Lastly, it seems to me like the costs for Authorize.net VS Paypal Pro are very similar.. am I wrong?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have everything ready and I just need to choose the payment processor to launch the site!

Thanks in advance

 

Authorize.net is a payment gateway, which means you need to have a merchant account as well for it to work. The payment gateway is what allows the website to connect to a credit card processor. The merchant account is what allows you to accept cards and have them deposited into your checking account. Paypal takes the place of both the merchant account and the payment gateway. You will get a completely seamless checkout with Authnet. With paypal there will most likely be 1 step that the customer is on Paypal's website. With Payments Pro and Express checkout, the customer does end the transaction on your site.

As far as holding funds, since anyone can sign up for Paypal with virtually no verification they are much more strict in holding funds. You can do your own research on it, there's a lot of bad stories regarding them holding funds, but in many cases it's due to restricted products, chargebacks, and other risk factors. Non tangible products or downloads tend to be much more prone to getting account holds. Make sure to review Paypal's policies for restricted products and digital products if that applies to what you are selling.

I typically recommend offering direct credit card payments such as through authorize.net and offering paypal as an alternative method. As many people that use paypal, it wouldn't be a smart business idea not to have it as a payment option. At the same time there's a ton of people that would prefer to pay with their credit or debit card and many refuse to use paypal. We still have 90% of our orders on credit card vs 10% on paypal.

 

Thank you very much for the great answer jestep.

Now I think I am beginning to understand things more clearly. So, Authorize.net is only part of the equation, whereas Paypal (only considering Pro or Express) would be the whole thing.. What does a merchant account involve? Is there a long process involved or a high cost associated with it or is it like opening a "free" checking account at any bank?

This is going to be for a tangible product, so I wouldn't expect many chargebacks or anything like that.. but still.. I would prefer to stay off Paypal if the costs associated with the alternative are not too much higher. Could you give me a rough idea of the difference?

Lastly, I have never used Authorize.net before so I am not sure how it works.. Would I have to get it from one of their resellers or straight from Authorize.net? If it's the former, could you recommend any reliable resellers?

Really appreciate the help - rep added

 

I've used PayPal Payments Pro and it worked beautifully with a site I had awhile back. I had a web designer/programmer set up and install everything for me, but once up, I had no problems and it ran beautifully. You can pretty much do anything you want with it, as it includes practically everything you need.

It has my recommendation between it and Authorize.net