Sorry, didn't know which folder to put this is, and thought it was important enough to anyone that has a website using PayPal as part of its service.

I use StatCounter to keep up with my site's stats for free. I trust StatCounter much more than PayPal, since I've had problems with the latter more then the former. (That and PayPal affects my $$$, while StatCounter only affects my ability to check my sites' stats.) StatCounter's been having big PayPal issues for a couple of weeks now, so, figured if PayPal is screwing up with them, do you even know if they are screwing up with you?! (I didn't, until I was e-mailed by a friend wondering why my promised money never came.)

More info on StatCounter's blog -- http://blog.statcounter.com:80/?p=88

If you think I should add this to other folders, would you mind letting me know which one(s)? Hopefully, this affects no one but StatCounter, but had to get the word out, just in case.

The issue with PayPal has been resolved according to the blog.  You have to remember that things can go wrong anywhere, anytime and to anybody.  PayPal has been around a long time and there are many pro's and con's.
For a small business it is a very good merchant type of account.  Inexpensive and usually dependable. (Have been using them for more time then I care to remember. ) I don't use E-Bay.  Jumped off that wagon back in 2001 and will never go back to them.    I really don't see a need to leave PayPal.

ninak wrote:

The issue with PayPal has been resolved according to the blog.  You have to remember that things can go wrong anywhere, anytime and to anybody.  PayPal has been around a long time and there are many pro's and con's.
For a small business it is a very good merchant type of account.  Inexpensive and usually dependable. (Have been using them for more time then I care to remember. ) I don't use E-Bay.  Jumped off that wagon back in 2001 and will never go back to them.    I really don't see a need to leave PayPal.

What is wrong with Ebay? I'm about to start a business, and would like to know because I plan on using them.

That is a subject of great discussion on many forums.  If you are just there to purchase an item or two, or sell an item or two it's fine.  If you are going to have a store on their site please do research.  They have jerked off their powersellers regally in the past few months.  Talk about double billing, hidden conditions. 
Still in a class action suite against them from 2001.  (yes class action suite.  where they took money out of peoples accounts for items in store that were entered under a promotion fee) 
Before you entere into there world I implore you research both the negative and the positive.

There are plenty of other auction sites available.  Did you notice there are no more ebay adds on TV.

Janina

As I said, was just letting folks know, just in case. My bigger problem with them was during the Christmas holidays (thankfully not a Christmas present.) They just told me they couldn't tell me what happened to my money, because they were too busy -- write back after the holidays! Huh??? Can you image if that was THE present a kid wanted for Christmas? What do you do, print out the e-mail and wrap it up to put under the tree? They've also taken money out of my account, which is fairly freaky since I'm not a seller, and only had a couple of bucks in it (Figured I'd use it for my next purchase through them.)

Funny you don't have problems with PayPal, but have it with a store on Ebay. They're the same company. Ahhh, no big deal, especially since it's been working for ya!

Glad StatCounter's problems are being resolved. I'm pretty sure they get lots of small amounts of money! One thing I was never good at, when I owned a business -- needing others to keep their end up to get a project done. I'd make a terrible boss. LOL

I know it sounds funny, but I am not the only one.  If you do a search you will find that Ebay has done a lot of things in just the past few months, that have really ticked people off, especially the power sellters.

Like I said before I have never had a problem with PayPal ( a few minor cliches that were taken care of right away)

The thing you said about the Christmas present is something that is similar that happened to us this year with a place called Lakeside Collectibles.  Ordered an item before Thanksgiving and was assured by three different people that it would be recieved way before Christmas.  Kept checking everyday for shipping notification,  the small cleaning cart for my 5 year old granddaughter was not even shipped till the day after New Year. 

I really can't discuss the many problem with EBay.  The only thing that I really keep telling people is do a lot of research. and when your finished doing that do some more.....  They seem to change day by day....

Ninak,
I save stuff sometimes that I plan to get back to, but it takes a while. Found this site when searching for another -- http://www.paypalsucks.com/

You got me thinking about Ebay, so searched the words "Ebay Sucks"! You might have something in your claim! Over 29,300 hits, but one doesn't truly count! Apparently PayPalSucks, also has a section "EbaySucks." LOL Some of the locations of the sites that pop up are hilarious (I've only been stung by Ebay once), especially the blogger in Ebay, whose blog IS "EBay Sucks."

Sora,
If you want to know why any place or thing sucks, just search, and decide for yourself, if they have legitimate gripes.

well, it's tricky ... you simply can't trust that company, as well the way they handle PayPal as Ebay, the frequently ripp-off their own clients, mostly with stupid little stuff, things you don't notice at first and might not be bothered about as it's mostly small stuff, but multiply that by a couple of million people and we're talking huge amounts of money these guys are stealing from their clients ...

but the other side of the story ... the system does work, I couldn't do it without them ... (Payal that is, Ebay is only for really small stuff, NEVER start a real business at Ebay, you'll be very, very sorry !! You have some junk from the cellar to sell ... ok, all good, you want to run a real business? Stay away from Ebay !!(why? because they charge you for each and every little detail, if you put it all together, they take a huge % of your sales and so, many times make more profit then you do!))

I have been using Paypal for years and have no problems what so ever . E bay now thats another story !! When we started out we had a small shop on e bay - disaster - long story cut short overcharged to the tune of £240 for listings that we never had, after 4 months of e mails letters even the premium rate helpline we did not get 1 acknowledgement that there was even a problem let alone a solution. In the end had to right of the debt .

If there was a way to close e bay down I would be first in the queue

I now use mals e cart which easily links to paypal with no problems

I've been using PayPal for a couple of years now and I never used to have problems with them. But recently it seems that have put much tighter restrictions on what types of people they will receive payments from. I've actually lost a few customers and they told me it was because they cannot send payments via PayPal anymore. I'm not sure exactly what they've done, but I'm not a happy camper. I'm looking for an alternative payment system and am very leary of most online credit card processors. I think my best bet will be my local bank, if they can set me up with a Merchant Account.  Anyone found a better online payment processor than PayPal?

LaurieSC wrote:

I've been using PayPal for a couple of years now and I never used to have problems with them. But recently it seems that have put much tighter restrictions on what types of people they will receive payments from. I've actually lost a few customers and they told me it was because they cannot send payments via PayPal anymore. I'm not sure exactly what they've done, but I'm not a happy camper. I'm looking for an alternative payment system and am very leary of most online credit card processors. I think my best bet will be my local bank, if they can set me up with a Merchant Account.  Anyone found a better online payment processor than PayPal?

This answer (and my part of the thread) is from a buyer's POV, not a seller. Easiest payment system for me is the good old fashioned credit/debit card. Second choice is checks. Obviously, security is a concern, but as long as I can see the exchange is being done through a secure page, and don't have to see all the unsecure junk added to secure pages, I've had no problems yet. (Also always helps that we're definitely NOT worth stealing from. )

Only two reasons I will use PayPal -- no choice, but want to buy quickly, or I'm sending money to another non-seller, who needs the money ASAP. Either way, there are usually several e-mails sent back and forth to make sure the recipient even gets the money, preferably quickly. Sometimes, it does work out that snail mailing a check would have been faster, (and, in the case mentioned above, the recipient was on another continent, had to direct-deposit, since the currency is different, and the money was being sent during the busiest mailing time of year) but, as always, hindsight is 20/20!

This is just my personal opinion but I feel that most checkout processes do not offer enough payment diversity to the consumers. ECommerce should not be conducted with a “my way or the highway” attitude, offer as many payment options as you can and let the consumer make the decision.

In regards to selecting payment alternative payment processors such as a bank, etc. don’t forget to look deeper than the fee per transaction because if your making hundreds of thousands of dollars online you need to have a good reporting backend that is compatible with programs like Quickbooks etc. Some processors offer low transaction fees but make it up by charging you a lot for a report package. When your reconciling sales, inventory, financial accounts… it can take days and a lot of reports.

Just a quick one on alternative payment vehicles ... the Google alternative appears to be picking up speed after a slow start. A friend of mine who offers it as a service on his site now reckons that 60 % of his payments come that way as against 25% cash (or cheque or direct bank transfer) and 15% PayPal. Maybe PayPal is starting to lose customers.

Unfortunately I am only able to offer PayPal or Cheque at the moment, but as soon as I get time I will try adding Google.