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Welcome
Ah,
summer, my favorite season: shorts, sandals, long days,
and pickles. I know it's old fashioned, but late this
month or early next, I'll be canning over 50 pint-sized
jars of gherkins (small cucumbers). It takes a weekend
to make them, but then I have pickles for a year that
are so much better than store bought. They make great
gifts all year long: low cost, unique, and hand-made.
Can't you just taste 'em?
Paypal:
Love 'em or hate 'em?
You've
heard about Paypal and have probably used it to buy
something on the Web. But is it right for your business?
I'll
give you a few examples of how it works really well:
Example
1
I email my clients their monthly invoice with all of
the details. Most clients send me checks, which I prefer,
but a few love the convenience of Paypal. They could
access my website and click the Paypal link, but it's
easier for them when I send them an invoice with the
amount and particulars already filled in. They just
have to supply their password and press a button. Let's
face it; you want to make it convenient for clients
to pay you.
Example
2
You have just one product that you want to sell, like
an ebook. It takes just seconds to create a "buy
me" button that you can put on your website. For
low volume, with just a few products, Paypal works really
well.
Example
3
I have a client who provides a regular service, month
after month, for her customers. They started asking
for a way to have a recurring payment process so they
don't have to access Paypal each month. We set up a
button, a recurring payment button that customers access
once for any dollar amount we set, and the customer's
account is debited that amount each month. The customer
maintains full control and can stop the recurring payment
at will. Everybody's happy: My client gets paid on time;
the customer pays her provider with no worries.
So
for low volume items and for dealing with your regular
customers, I think Paypal is great.
What
are its Disadvantages?
Well,
it's not free. Each transaction costs you, the vendor,
2.9% of the sales price plus a $.30 transaction fee.
So if you sold services of $500, the fee would be $14.80
(500 x .029 + .30 = $14.80).
Paypal
is just a middle man; they call themselves the "payment
service provider." You don't have the relationship
with the bank or the gateway provider. So if transactions
go awry, you have to rely on Paypal to be your advocate.
I've never been in this situation and don't want to
be.
Not
all of your potential customers will want to use Paypal.
Some people really don't like doing transactions over
the Internet at all or they've had bad luck with Paypal
in the past. Give these customers the check option and
all should be well.
What
are its Advantages?
It's
simple. I don't have to apply for a merchant account
or for gateway services. I don't pay monthly fees when
I don't have sales. There are no setup fees. It's very
easy to use once you get used to the website, which
is vast and can be daunting at first. I only pay fees
when I have a transaction and they take a cut for being
there and providing all the technicalities behind the
scenes.
I've
used their customer support line several times (for
clients) and I have to say that I'm impressed with the
service.
When
should you move on?
How
will you know that it is time to move beyond Paypal?
Here are my criteria:
- Your volume of sales is so high that you don't blink
at paying $50 per month minimum for a cart, merchant
account, and gateway fees.
- You've had so many problems with Paypal that you
think you are losing customers because of it.
- You've been burned by customers who receive your
product or service, but you never get their money
for whatever reason.
- You want the control of working directly with the
gateway and merchant account providers.
- You need services that Paypal doesn't yet provide
like affiliate programs and autoresponders.
Summary
Paypal is great and I recommend them. You'll know when
it's time to move on, but until then, Paypal is a cost
effective, simple option.
Quick
Tip: Fixing Word
Sometimes
MS Word gets messed up and you just want it the way
that it used to be. Before resorting to reinstalling
it, try:
Help>Detect
and Repair.
It
finds and fixes MS Office files. You may be asked for
your MS Office disk. Give it a try!
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