posted on December 24, 2002 11:38:39 AM new
I am having a bit of a problem lately
with bidders using PayPal (refusing to
send the proper amount), and I even had
one joker file a buyer complaint against
me with PayPal. I've signed up with c2it
(from CitiBank) and I am thinking about
c2it for U.S. buyers and PayPal for outside
the U.S. only (since c2it charges $10.00
for non-U.S.) Plus c2it charges no fees
to the buyer or seller.
What I am interested in is hearing from
people who have used both. Positives
and negatives. I know that I've seen
sellers who only take c2it, so... Anyone?
---
"Cannot say. Saying, I would know. Do not
know, so cannot say". -- Zathras (Babylon 5)
posted on December 24, 2002 11:48:20 AM new
If someone sends you a short Paypal payment, just hit the refund link and have them send the correct amount.
Exactly how would you prevent US bidders from using Paypal? Even if you could I'm guessing you'd lose quite a few bids as a lot of bidders like using Paypal.
posted on December 24, 2002 12:19:18 PM new
You might also consider CCnow i use them on my web site and haven't had a lick of trouble since April of last year.
posted on December 24, 2002 12:46:19 PM new
Paypal only for international buyers...That's a new twist and how excatly do you intend to prevent chargebacks ???
Paypal does not cover sellers on international transactions.
Use Bidpay
posted on December 24, 2002 01:16:04 PM new
I have used c2it almost from Day One. I like that there are no fees, and I made about $100 when they had referral fees (alas, no more).
The pluses are:
1. No fees to me.
2. Slim chance of fraud or chargebacks.
3. Fast transfers to my bank account (once I was set up.)
The problems are:
1. The site is VERY slow, and many people could not complete the sign-up process. Even I took a couple of weeks to get completely signed up, and then only because I called their customer service and had them walk with me through the process. I didn't give up, but a lot of buyers did.
2. No information is relayed to you when you get a payment, unless the buyer takes it upon himself to write the auction number, etc. in the Notes section. It can be hard to match up payments with buyers.
3. Like eBay and PayPal, you don't always get a payment notice via email. I have to check my account daily.
4. Or, worse, you'll get a payment notice, but they won't tell you it is for an echeck that hasn't cleared yet. Plus, it won't show up in your account until after it clears, so you spend a minute thinking you've lost your mind 'cause you got the email, but nothing shows up when you log in.
5. You have to accept the payments and transfer them to your account before you ship out the goods, or take the risk that the buyer will cancel, in which case you'll be out the goods and the payment.
The BIGGEST problem, though, is that nobody uses c2it! Once they stopped the buyer referral fee and seller referral fee promotions, my payments via c2it dropped down to once-in-a-blue-moon.
Citibank had the right idea, but they really dropped the ball on execution. With all their resources, you'd think they could get programmers and marketers with more sense.
posted on December 24, 2002 01:22:01 PM newHow would I prevent U.S. bidders from paying with PayPal? By stating same in auction and then using the refund system on those who can't read.
It seems that you'd be doing more work for fewer bids.
I've never used c2it but wouldn't you still get payers who send you the wrong amount? Or does c2it have some way of preventing that?
I don't quite understand why you'd want prevent your US bidders from using Paypal. I can't imagine that the money you'd save on fees would come close to making up for the bids you'd lose by not accepting PayPal.
posted on December 25, 2002 02:41:28 AM new
for those people that paid you the wrong amount via paypal, they probably wont pay u the right amount with c2it too.
all those things listed above are great reasons why c2it isn't that good..
no fees? ACTUALLY, you should becareful about that... c2it charges the buyer fees SOMETIMES when they use their credit card.. it depends on their credit card I believe.. I'm not sure on the detail, but I have heard of a few people with a heavy charge (since they transfer a large amount) of money... c2it even states that on their website, but they were very vague about it...
the only thing I'll use for it is to transfer funs from one banking/checking/money market account to another.
and yeah, PayPal is easy to use, hands down.
no other online payment options out there are as easy...
ccnow.com is good in the sense that it doesn't require the buyer to sign up to anything.. but I heard the fees are even more expensive than paypal.
posted on December 26, 2002 11:04:25 AM new
visit www.ccs-digital.com/payments.html for a review of payment services. In short:
Paypal works well 99% of the time. The problem is that the 1% can get you an undeserved charge back or even the freezing of your entire account. As for the so-called "protection," it is hit-or-miss if it will work. Seems to depend on the mood of the customer "service" person of the day.
C2it works maybe 50% of the time if you don't mind hitting refresh over and over until you can actually sign into your account. About 1 in 3 people CAN'T sign on. About 1 in 3 people WON'T sign up because of the pages of legalese that seem to indicate that they will share your info with other companies (if you click the boxes that say "don't," they won't, but the site makes it sound like you have to mail them a letter). Customer service is an 800 number that is manned 24 hours a day by someone who pretty much says "sorry, there's nothing we can do."
As for the fees: if your customer uses a Chase or Citibank credit card, it is free. With other cards it depends on how that card will interpret it. Citibank must be using some ambiguous code that can be interpreted as either a purchase or a cash advance and leaving it up to the card to make the decision. From what I have heard, about 1 or 2% get charged as a cash advance.
As for protection: the buyer has charge back protection but C2it also told me that they will not go into the seller's bank account and reverse a transaction unless there is an indication of outright fraud. I have not yet heard of a single charge back complaint and numerous people email me about other problems.
In summary: offer C2it and try to save some fees, but don't offer it exclusively because it often doesn't work.
CCNOW is just too darned expensive. The best way to accept credit cards is to get your own merchant account. Right now there are at least two companies offering merchant accounts with NO gateway fee, NO statement fee and either NO monthly minimum (but a 3.75% percentage) or a $7 monthly minimum (with a 3.5% percentage). I went with the second one and so far, so good. $7 a month is cheap for a merchant account and it includes the first $200 of charges. It also includes free bad check collection.
For more info, see
www.ccs-digital.com/nominimum.asp
posted on December 26, 2002 11:28:03 AM new
TAKE A LOOK AT PROPAY,35 DOLLARS SIGN UP FEE AND 1000 MOMTHLY CHARGES WITH 35 CENTS AND 3.5% DISCOUNT FEE.
NO MONTHLY CHARGE,NO STATEMENT,BUT WHEN YOU TRANSFER FUND INTO BANK ACCOUNT,THERE IS A FEE.
drawback-no intl charges.
you either key in the customer cc data (includes CVV) or send him a propay invoice.
their support is not bad,live chat or email.
CCNOW fee is too high,11% for intl transactions.too bad billpoint is being phased out as intl cards are welcome
