hey all I know paypal has its good and bad points but usually on DP a lot of people won't buy off you unless you have paypal which is understandable. However I've always found it quiet risky using paypal for non-tangible good I usually sell website templates on here and sometimes if a user with 0 itrader and very few posts wants to buy off me using paypal I have to think twice about it just incase they do a chargeback! So was wondering what are your views on this? Paypal obviously isn't safe for non-tangible good for neither the buyer or seller in some cases, so which method is the best for non-tangible good. Thanks
I think Paypal is good, you could also try escrow you should also read this : https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=xpt/seller/ChargebackRisk-outside What are some best practices for avoiding chargebacks? * Describe the item that you are selling in as much detail as possible and as accurately as possible. Include pictures, measurements (if applicable), and other relevant specifics. * Make every effort to know your customer and to respond promptly to any customer service requests. * Keep as much information as you can about the transaction and your customer, including email or other correspondence. * Publish your return policy in your auction listings or on your website. Also include your return policy in email correspondence with your customer. Please note that certain laws and credit card issuer policies provide that buyers may have chargeback rights for merchandise that is not delivered or is defective, even if your policy indicates that all sales are final and that you do not allow returns. * Ship to the buyer's address listed on the Transaction Details page and retain proof of delivery that can be tracked online. * Use this helpful checklist for typical decision points when considering whether or not to accept payment. * You can find more Best Practices to avoid chargebacks in Security Tips for Sellers, Communication Tips, and Chargeback Guide Part 2: Minimizing Chargebacks.
PayPal is what we use for hosting a non-tangible good ... charge back are a little difficult to contest unless you have a signed agreement
I would not recommend using Paypal for non-physical items because if you seriously read their Legal Agreement you would know that there is totally no Buyer's or Seller's Protection when it comes to non-physical items and you are at the mercy of Paypal to decide when it comes to a dispute. If you understand credit card policies, when it comes to online purchases where no physical verification of the card is made and no signature is needed and to make it worst, no address verification is done (ie physical goods delivery to card billing address), the onus is on the merchant to proof that the transaction is legal. This means the merchant/seller must take the risk and must proof that he has done his due diligence before he accepts the transaction and thus would need to accept the consequences. It is difficult to provide proof for a non-physical delivery. Paypal usually would not contest a chargeback because it is time-consuming and costly process and they have nothing to prove that the seller actually delivers anything. It would be in their best interest to fight for the seller because if they give in to the bank's decisions, they would lose their low commission, they would also be responsible for a chargeback fees and would tarnish their good standings. But since it is not possible to fight, they would usually give in. Phyiscal items on the other hand which have 3rd party proof of delivery and customer's signature to prove acceptance of package would be easier to ascertain that the seller did everything in their power to deliver the item and cannot be put at fault.
eddy that's exactly my point, but a lot of people in these forums want to use paypal and will not accept any other method of payment, this is one thing that sometimes gets to me, i know they have a lowest fees compared to others but recently i've been thinkin of using protx its a UK company, i will be implementing it on my site, but i know for a fact a lot of people won't purchase if i don't accept paypal as a method.
The bulk of the members in this forums are from India and Pakistan and for some reasons, there seems to be an obssession with Paypal which I don't really understand. However, the thing is that as you know, you probably need a credit card to verify your paypal account or to up the spending limits so I always thought that once you have a credit card, you could always be able to pay for everything online. IMHO, if you asked me, I think it might not be a bad idea to just implement a platform which handles credit card payments as that is the widely accepted means of cross-border and online purchases. The thing is that people who can only pay by Paypal and no other means are probably people who may have not have their paypal account verified either because they used fake information, from non-supported countries, underaged, have bad credit history or are out to scam. My experience was that I always accepted credit card purchases and last year after hearing how great paypal was, I decided to add that as a payment means. However what happened is that I got loads more disputes from those who pays via paypal and the funny thing is that those who pay via paypal made up of a small minority. I've since stopped using it and my profit margin has not fallen. I still do get a couple of people wanting to pay via paypal but after telling them to pay via credit card, they do so. In the end, DP really isn't the representative of the global online market, it is merely a small bias subset.
I use escrow.com for larger orders, i may just stick to using a credit card processing unit, it will be better and cheaper for me to handle. Since escrow fees seem to be quiet high and only really seem worth it to me when making larger orders. Anyway thanks for the comments everyone.