I'm pretty sure that some of you use Pay Pal for your businesses. I'm considering using Pay Pal for my UK sales as the backward banks over here can't manage to supply me with a card terminal capable of dealing with £s and €s.

So, what are the pitfalls or the (almost) hidden nasty surprises? From the outset it looks pretty simple but what are the downsides, apart from the horribly high %age charge?

Thanking you all kindly in advance,

Mike

Hi Mike,
I did consider going for the PayPal virtual terminal but I have heard of several businesses having large retention amounts applied to their accounts to 'cover chargebacks'.

I do have a basic business PayPal account which works fine but I did not want to end up with PayPal keepng large wads of mine for 90 days.

Doug

paypal give me a worse UKP to EURO rate than my bank transfers
Besides that they take a lot of overhead costs from every transaction

I just use paypal for small payments or deposits that have to go quickly.

Paypal will take there % share which is a pain.. Also it may be worth thinking about it first because if you pay by paypal (as in the customer) they can request a refund if the goods sold to them are not up to standard!! I'm NOT saying your's wont be but just remember there are people out there (most of us are fine) who will file for a refund and you wont have a leg to stand on.. I thought about using paypal for my business but I'm happy with my customers doing a bank transfer.. It's safer I think..

Thank you all for your input.

Doug,

Does the virtual terminal carry more risk than the basic business account? I know I should download and read the reams of paper but often a quick appraisal from someone who has the experience is much more useful.

Thanks again,

Mike

Depends on the amount you put through it. We use for our buiness and the charges are not that bad around the same as a credit card or the likes, but you will seean increase in sales as its easier to use and most people have it. We also used HSBC online payment and barcley card

And the give comments are right, you can/will get screwed by customers, but realistically is not a massive amount no more thank card fraud chargebacks IMO