For many PayPal is a love/hate relationship. PayPal is like the popular girl in school that no likes but everyone fights to sit next to in the cafeteria. Most of us have a PayPal account and most ecommerce sites are now accepting PayPal. Yet, we have all heard the rumors, complaints, and horror stories of those who use PayPal. Many swear it off and refuse to ever do business with PayPal again. From the high fees to their policy of siding with the consumer even at the expense of the seller PayPal has gained some enemies. Seller’s burned by con artists taking advantage of PayPal’s refund policy have no plans of reconciliation. Yet, more than not PayPal is used by those in ecommerce and those on eBay simply have no choice but to use PayPal. Even with the negatives I will have to admit as I side step the tomatoes that I still like PayPal. Despite the difficulty in working with their tech or customer service departments, I use PayPal for my business.
I continue to use PayPal because everyone uses PayPal. Like it or not, if you make it hard for customers to purchase they simply will not. Since I use my PayPal account often I like to use sites which accept it. It is an unending vicious cycle which PayPal owns with little apology. Yet, I will let you know that through eBay and my business over the past several years I have not had a negative experience with PayPal. I am not fond of the fees but such is life.
What I like:
Makes getting paid easy and fast.
A bounced check from a customer will have no effect on your banking account.
I can design an “add to cart” button with my own image and easily add to my website using simple HTML code.
Since I have a PayPal debit card I can use my balance on purchases immediately when offline.
Like it or not, many customers are still more apt to use your services if they can pay you by PayPal.
Easy to set up for your Zen cart, Etsy Store or on your website.
In the end, you will have to decide if PayPal is a friend or a foe. Right now, it seems a necessary evil for most. I do encourage you to at least consider this payment option for your customers. Take a look at their merchant tools and see if it can benefit you.
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