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eCommerce Providers
The following companies allow you to
send and receive money by email or your website. I have not reviewed these
and make no recommendations, but there are some reviews
from others below. I HAVE used PayPal for several years with no
problems.
Any of the ones listed below will have
some complaints - some more than others.
WARNING: Under no circumstances provide
your bank account PIN number to ANYONE. If they ask for it, leave the site
and go elsewhere.
PayPal Alternatives: "Do You Have a Backup Plan?"
By Merle http://mcebook.mcpromotions.com (c) 2005
1) Bidpay: http://www.BidPay.com
This service is available only for those who buy and sell at
online auctions. Buyers use their credit or debit card to make their purchases from you and BidPay sends you a Western Union
Money Order or the payment is directly deposited into your checking account if you live in the U.S.
2) CCNow: http://CCNow.com
A shopping cart solution that also allows you to take all
major credit cards without a merchant account. They pay you your earnings twice a month and while your money is sitting
on account it earns 1.5% APR. [They require 10% of your sales off the
top - see below].
3) DigiBuy: http://www.DigiBuy.com
For those who sell software. Puts you in control of pricing,
order forms, and delivery options. Pricing varies with two service levels to choose from. Your earnings are paid to you
monthly minus their 13.9% per transaction fee ($3.00 minimum). Digibuy allows you to accept payments by Visa, MasterCard,
Amex, Discover or Diners Club.
4) Ikobo: http://www.IKobo.com
With merchant fees at $2.99 plus .29 per transaction, and no
extra fees for international transactions. You can sell to buyers in 170 countries. Payments are deposited to your bank
account or to your Ikobo Visa debit card.
5) 2CheckOut:
http://www.2CheckOut.com
It will run you $49.00 to open an account, then it's .45 per
sale and 5.5% of the sales amount. Includes free shopping cart and codes to add to your website. Will also work with your
existing shopping cart if you just need a way to take credit card payments. Can be used for tangible or digital download
products. With 2CheckOut, you can take payment from all credit cards and even check and debit card payments.
6) ClickBank:
http://www.ClickBank.com
A great service which I've used for years. Good for selling
digital products and comes with a built-in affiliate program. You'll have to pay a one time fee of $50.00, then it's only
$1.00 plus 7.5% of each transaction. Allows you to take payments from all credit card types.
7) ShareIt: http://www.ShareIt.com
For selling software and shareware online. Your customers can
pay by credit card or debit cards, even checks. Receive your money by check or electronic transfer to your bank account.
Fees are based per transaction with no monthly charges.
8) ProPay: http://www.ProPay.com
Accept payments by credit card via the web or even by phone.
Funds are deposited into your ProPay account. You can get a ProPay MasterCard to access your funds or transfer your earnings
to your bank account. They have four types of accounts to choose from: Basic, Premium, Premium Plus, Platinum, with annual pricing
from $34.95 all the way up to $299.95, depending on the features and type of account you need.
9) Ibill: http://tinyurl.com/3oc88
For businesses selling services and subscriptions. Gives you the
ability to accept payments by Visa, MasterCard, Discover, JCB, Online Checks, even by phone via a special 900 toll free number.
Fees vary, but if you reside in the U.S. and your sales are from $0 to $9,999, the charge is 15.19% in a billing period.
10) Money
Bookers: http://moneybookers.com/app/
Money Bookers offers a merchant feature that allows you to
create order buttons for your website and be paid by credit card. Fees range from 2% all the way up to 8%, depending on
how payments are made. No setup or monthly fees. You can accept payments from over 30 countries. Money can be
transferred instantly to your bank account. [See complaints below.]
11) PayPal:
http://www.paypal.com
It's easy to set up an account, and fees are low and depend on your monthly sales
(for most it will be 2.9% and .30 per transaction). You'll find most Net users trust and use PayPal for their everyday
purchases, so they won't have a problem using it on your website to purchase from you.
The comments above are from SiteProNews and do not reflect
the opinions of the website you are on now.
REVIEWS
MoneyBookers
My experience with Moneybookers (nightmare)
Comment by GabrieleB - March 14, 2005
I won an eBay auction which I was required to pay through Moneybookers. Never again. The funds never appeared in my account with them and no one ever responded to my (or my bank's) inquiries until 1 month later. The reason was a minor glitch that was quickly resolved. In the interim, the seller at eBay had disappeared off the face of the earth so by that time all I wanted was to transfer the money back to me. I put in the routing number of my bank and received a message of "too many banks found." I've sent 3 emails and one fax and I imagine it will take another month to get the money back from these people. I don't know if they're dishonest or not. But unless you're in a position where the money is irrelevant to you, DO NOT use Moneybookers!!! Once the money leaves this country, there's nothing your bank can do to recover the funds.
Moneybookers, what's up?
Comment by mannahannah (see profile) - March 1, 2005
I tried to use moneybookers, including sending them a pic for ID purposes and so far, my Skype account hasn't been credited (25 Euro's) and Moneybookers isn't returning my calls or emails!
"Beware of credit transfer to Moneybookers!"
Comment by seafox13 - February 26, 2005
Works well pc to pc, but I have had no success with my enquiries to both Skype and Moneybookers re the fate of the 10 Euro bank transfer I made on 22/12/2004. Thus I have been unable to trial
SkypeOut [online telephone calling program].
"Moneybookers is reasonable"
I have used moneybookers for my online business for the last 1 year. I think it is reasonable as it allows my distant customers to pay me and the funds can't be refunded without my permission - unlike with Paypal. Paypal also will not support some of my specifications.
Although i must say that their customer service is very bad sometimes, they don't provide good support.
- EstoreSeeker
Tried using moneybooker for receiving payments from customers, but the signup procedure for customers outside Europe is quite complicated. Also withdrawal fees (to convert to Indian Rupees) are high - approx. Rs 200
- caran1
I use moneybookers each month from the US and it works like a charm.
- Jon_King
Well, if people want to buy from you or subscribe to your services, the easiest solution will be if they have to give their information once. When using Paypal or Stormpay, they are redirected to another site where they have to enter their information again and go back to your site. With a 3PP this is already integrated.
People who really want to buy your product will follow these procedures, however, it will decrease the number of impulse orders. I am not saying Paypal and similar services are bad, it will just drive some customers away. It will be perfect if you have both Paypal and a 3PP. (Or of course, your own merchant account.) There are also buyers out there, who buy everything through Paypal just because they have an account.
- Miklo
StormPay and moneybookers are worlds apart. You can't even compare them.
moneybookers is regulated in the UK by the FSA (Financial Services Authority), has venture capital backing, has phone support...
Sometimes it's a little clunky to put money in, but this is deliberate to help combat fraud.
I've never used StormPay and don't intend to. Last time I visited their website there was no phone number, hardly any company details, and the address was way offshore. It seems to be back in the US though, but I just don't get a good feeling about them at all.
There's plenty of fly-by-night billing companies which have come and gone. Globill and WebSiteBilling to name two. I personally would put StormPay in the same league as them, and moneybookers in the same league as PayPal, just not as big.
Just my opinion though.
However, for taking orders online, it works best to accept credit cards either with a merchant account or a reliable third party billing company where the customer doesn't need to set up an account.
- publish
We have use moneybookers extensively for international payments and have never had a problem sending or receiving moneybookers payments. Their security is much better than PayPal and they don't reverse payments or permit chargebacks as PayPal does. They now offer downloading of funds to any Visa card which is a real low-cost boon to US sellers who have few safe international payment options other than BidPay money orders.
No experience with StormPay.
- agitprop
StormPay
Well, I have used StormPay from a buyer perspective (I had a monthly rebilling with a stupid MLM program) and it works identical as PayPal: Open an account and use your credit card to put money on the account. No problems there, however, now I don't use the service anymore and I get these annoying emails EVERY day (!) that I have missed my subscriptions and that I need to put money in the StormPay account, otherwise the service will be cancelled.
Tried to login to my StormPay account but I forgot my answer to my secret question. (Does anyone know how I can retrieve that information?)
The best solution would be if StormPay just cancelled the membership after a period of time and don't send these stupid emails anymore.
One more thing, for me personally, if I buy something on the Internet, I will never use PayPal, StormPay, moneybookers, iKobo or similar services to pay through again as it is too much of a hassle. It is much easier if merchants just use services like MultiCards, CCNow, 2CO or have their own merchant account.
http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum22/
StormPay and moneybookers are worlds apart. You can't even compare them.
moneybookers is regulated in the UK by the FSA (Financial Services Authority), has venture capital backing, has phone support...
Sometimes it's a little clunky to put money in, but this is deliberate to help combat fraud.
I've never used StormPay and don't intend to. Last time I visited their website there was no phone number, hardly any company details, and the address was way offshore. It seems to be back in the US though, but I just don't get a good feeling about them at all.
There's plenty of fly-by-night billing companies which have come and gone. Globill and WebSiteBilling to name two. I personally would put StormPay in the same league as them, and moneybookers in the same league as PayPal, just not as big.
Just my opinion though.
However, for taking orders online, it works best to accept credit cards either with a merchant account or a reliable third party billing company where the customer doesn't need to set up an account.
- publish
You really can't rely on the fraud screening procedure of Stormpay. They require you to fax your bank and id documents to get a verified status. This feature was implemented to cut out fraud. Well I received a chargeback from a "certified" account and reason reported was "stolen card".
They have stopped doing international wire transfers, check can take ages to come.
I have used them few times for small amounts both as a seller and buyer.
Rating: Average.
No experience with moneybookers!
- Manish Singh
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