Online payment systems

toxicvoxel

I'm looking into choosing a card payment system for selling downloadable software. I would appreciate any input or feedback from users or merchants using Paypal, Google Checkout, Plimus or any other recommendable service.

solo

I use Paypal as a standard, never had a glitch. Trusted and simple to setup and users to submit payment.

AdamB

I use Paypal.

Works just fine, but I found them really hard to get hold of when things don't work and secondly, its very expensive.

If there was an alternative I'd jump at it.

Adam

marne

For me Paypal works great too. Beside: eBay-Germany gives away credit notes to paypal users randomly so they gave me already over 50€ total in the past year. Nice goodies . Anywhere else such experiences?

Alan Fraser

I used PayPal, too, for selling my original CDS of 3D figures. I never had any problem with it and it was pretty easy to set up.

I also added a further measure of protection for the download pages, by using some HTML encryption software (I forget which one). This prevented people coming across the pages by accident, whilst Googling, or passing the URL link provided to anyone else, as there was an option to have the page only accessible from another specific URL. That URL was the last page on the PayPal secure server, before you were passed back to your own site.
For emergency downloads, I did have a link that could be typed directly into the address bar, but that address was changed on a fairly regular basis. And as a final measure, all files were supplied in password protected zip files. All pretty basic, but it worked well enough.

Gaieus

Yes, PayPal i a bit pricy, I know. does anyone have an experiences with Google Checkout?

toxicvoxel

Thanks for the input.
Has anybody used the 'send money' option rather than credit card transactions?

spence

PayPal is pretty slick these days. I have sent money and have had people purchase with credit cards. Very easy to use just make sure your login and password are good.

Al Hart

I use Google Checkout.

It was particularly useful the first year - because it was absolutely free (no payment fees at all). Now it is 2% plus 0.20 per transaction with no monthly minimums. This is much better than I was paying when I was using my own credit card firm - (I was paying $75.00 per month plus more than 6% of each transaction)

I also have Pay Pal set up. They charge: 1.9% to 2.9% + $0.30 USD, a bit more)

I like Google Checkout because SketchUp users may have a positive reaction to Google (although some may have a negative reaction), and I feel that corporate customers might feel that Google Checkout is more "professional" then PayPal.

Google has been very good about trapping fraudulent transactions. My old firm seemed to just ignore invalid expiration dates, and I often received fraudulent orders which were reversed weeks later. Google does reverse an occasional order, but usually does it fairly quickly.

The only negative, is that some customers choose to use a dummy email address for their transaction and often our replies to them get lost somewhere as Google attempts to forward our reply.

Purchase Buttons for Web site

Google provides individual purchase buttons which are very easy to set up. You can use shopping cart software for multiple purchase transactions, but the Google Checkout buttons have worked well for us.

Credits for Google Ad-Words

Part of the purchase fees paid to Google are credited to your Google Advertising costs. (A completely separate thing where people searching for things on Google are directed to your site.)

Also, if you use Google Checkout, a special banner is placed below your ads. (Which is either an advantage for people who like Google, or a dis-advantage for people who don't like Google.)

Need Help?

If you want any advice on setting up Google Checkout, let me know. Or you can email me at the address below if you want more information.

You can see our purchase page, with the Google Checkout buttons, here:

http://www.renderplus.com/pdf/purchase.htm#IRender

juju

From an end-user perspective, I prefer Paypal, I have used some other methods as well, but Paypal puts my mind at ease. To be fair, I have not had the pleasure of using Google Checkout yet.

Al Hart

@unknownuser said:

I have a few questions about Google Checkout (from a private message)

@unknownuser said:

1] What is your experience with regard to chargebacks using Checkout?
What kind of % of reverted transactions should I expect?

We have only had 1 or 2 Google Checkout transactions reversed over the past 2 years. Actually I cannot remember any. (My memory is fuzzy, because before we switched to Google we were getting a few fraudulent transactions a month. Google does a much, much better job of verifying the identity of the purchaser before informing us that the order is ready to ship.)

We have 1 or 2 transactions a month which are not completed. But we are informed of that before we process the transaction. Google tells us that a transaction has been initiated, but they wait between 15 minutes and 4 hours before they verify that they have charged the credit card. (Usually closer to 15 minutes). About 4 times a month they are unable to complete the transaction and they inform the user that he/she needs to enter a different credit card. About half of those are then completed using a different credit card and about 1/2 are not completed.

However, there are very few transactions which are ever reversed - and, as I say, perhaps that number is none.

@unknownuser said:

2] The Google Checkout dispute policy relating to digital products seems to be ambiguous. Is there any protection on downloadable software?

I believe that the Google guarantee - that they will pay for the transaction even if it later turns out to be fraudulent - does not apply to downloadable software.

However, this almost never happens. And from our point of view if someone does get a "free" copy of our software, we haven't really lost anything - since the fraudulent purchaser was unlikely to have ever paid for the software anyway. The fraudulent purchases with our prior credit card processor were almost always people who were using stolen credit card numbers, but they never actually used the software. (We require an email license and authorization after purchase and the fraudulent purchasers never completed that process. Also, we have a list of invalid Licenses which we include in future releases of the software, so if someone gets a fraudulent license they can never use upgrades (free upgrades to fix bugs). This list is mostly used for people who return the software for some reason. (We offer a 30 day money back guarantee. And also, some people purchase the software, get a license, and then discover that it does not work on a MAC).

@unknownuser said:

3] Is it a risk to use an unsigned cart?

We don't use a shopping cart. We use "Buy Now" buttons.

See out Purchase Page

I do want to use shopping cart software, because we currently have to generate and send the License number manually. But I haven't taken the time to implement one yet.

Let me know if you have other questions.