As an online merchant selling embroidered patches from my own site TheCheapPlace.com I wanted to make a few comments on Merchant solutions. I've been using three different payment solutions which include my own merchant account, Google Checkout and PayPal.
I can honestly say I wish everyone used Google Checkout to pay for their patches at The Cheap Place. Why? Well for one thing they have the lowest rates. They deposit your money into your account quickly and they do not keep your 30 cents on refunded transactions (well at least for now). I got upset with PayPal recently. They used to do a full refund on fees anytime you provided a full refund to someone. But now they've decided to keep your 30 cents no matter what. Furthermore after being stuck with a 5% fees on average with my regular merchant account I decided to shop around. Paypal's merchant program sounded like a great deal. Low and simple rates, no special discount rates on special types of cards it sounded great. Until I took an hour to apply get approved and realize the blood suckers at Paypal keep 30% of your deposits in a reserve account for 90 days! You've heard it right. You don't get to see 30% of your money until three months later. So I called and asked why? They had the dumbest answer which would only fool an idiot. Apparently this way the merchant is protected incase of a chargeback and they won't face ridiculous charge back fees. What? Paypal can dip into my bank account anytime I make a paypal purchase when I don't have the available funds in my account. And absolutely they could do the same incase of a chargeback.
Furthermore the 30% of all your funds are retained, even regular paypal to paypal payments. I had about $200 in my Paypal account the day I switched over to their merchant services PRO with their Virtual Terminal. They froze 30% of this money as well. Even after I cancelled my Merchant Services PRO account they still want to keep the 30% for the next 90 days.
Why don't you just be honest Paypal, be upfront, tell people we want to invest your money for the next 90 days and than you can have it and shove it in your bank account. In the mean time we keep your money, you can have 0% interest for letting us use your money. I wonder which CEO came up with this scam. I'm sorry Paypal but you are just a middle man. You can charge your transaction fee but my money is my money and I expect to have access to my money right away, you should not get to keep my money and invest it in the stock market for 90 days before handing over back my money.
I'm hoping Google (who have been fair and square as dice) will start to get some more attention from shoppers and send the Monarchy of PayPal packing. Listen up PayPal, it's not your money, you don't get to write up illegal contracts with your users and say Hey you signed a contract. What if I put in a business contract that I have the right to shoot you in the head if I please and had you sign it before reading it, than I come shoot you in the head and kill you. Can I use that contract to walk Scott Free from a Criminal Court? But it's the world of the CEO's, they get to make up rules that are totally against lawful principals. But who am I? I don't have the money to fight you in court for your illegal activities. Best I can do is raise awareness within my business network to boycott PayPal and refer people to use Google Checkout. BY FAR the best rates are within Google Checkout. So give it a try if you can. Surely in the Ebay monopoly you probably are not allowed that option.
