Protx VSP Direct v2.0.0

[Brent]

More and more sites in the UK now surcharge for accepting credit cards. I've just booked 4 tickets with a no frills airline and they wanted £18. What was worse they wanted £8 to pay by debit card which I thought was a bit much.

We accept credit cards but I would like to encourage debit cards. I have therefore asked Conor to customise his mod for my site so it includes support for surcharges/discounts.

Each Card Type can have a Table of Rates specified which result in particular order values having either a Surcharge or a Discount applied when a customer choses that Card Type to pay for their order.

The Tables of Rates are comma-separated lists of Limits/Rates, each of which is an Order Value Limits Range and a Rate, separated by a colon.

There are two ways to specify the limits:
1. A single number specifies a maximum limit. The minimum is then assumed to be zero.
2. Two numbers separated by a dash, e.g. 30-50, specifies a minimum and a maximum limit.

For example, the following could be entered for the Visa Card Surcharges/Discounts configuration value:

1000:2.00,3000:1.50,*:0

This would result (if the Surcharges/Discounts functionality is enabled of course) in any orders with a default currency value of less than 1000 having a surcharge of 2.00 applied. Orders from 2000 up to 3000 would have a surcharge of 1.50 applied. All remaining order values would have no surcharge applied.

The asterix symbol (‘*’) is a special wildcard that can be used to match any order value so it can be used as a catch-all, if necessary.

Rates can be defined as either:
1. A specific value (E.g. “2.50”).
2. A percentage value (E.g. “3%”).

Discounts are entered by preceding the rate with a minus symbol (‘-’).

An example of discounts to be applied to a card for orders could be defined as:

1000-2000:-0.50,*:-2%

This would result in orders from 1000 up to 2000 having a 0.50 discount applied and all orders of 2000 and above having a two percent discount applied.

Specific messages can be defined for each Card Type which uses the Surcharges/Discounts functionality by creating a define in the Language Definitions file. These specific messages will then be displayed to the user in the order summary rather than the default text of “Card Surcharge” or “Card Discount”.

Example defines have been added to the Languages Definition file. Simply uncomment and edit them or create any that do not yet exist.

This will allow me to either reward or surcharge depending on the card used. I think there is no one size fits all when it comes to surcharges so this module will be fully flexible including doing nothing.

Here's the crunch. I'm looking for fellow Zenners who would like to chip in and share the costs with me. If I can get enough people interested I'm sure we could twist Conor's arm and get him to throw in a free upgrade to 3D Secure when that comes out.

Could anyone interested send me a PM.

Regards

Brent

[doubletiger]

Hi, Brent

Don't you think this will actually put off customers if you apply surcharge to credit card payer? I do not really think it is a good idea. Most the customers will prefer to use credit card rather than debit card, because the leval of security credit card provides. if you run a business which there are a lot competitors, then some cusomters will be put off and leave the shop, go for other shop who do not charge a surcharge.

I will be the last shop to adopt this surchage unless I run a business nobody can compete with me.

this is my though!

Doubletiger

[conor]

Hi Doubletiger,

Don't you think this will actually put off customers if you apply surcharge to credit card payer? I do not really think it is a good idea.

I think it may have the potential to put some customers off. Others it won't though. I think this is very much a personal call for a store owner and I can only speak in terms of my own shopping habits... If I come across a site that has card charges I can get a bit frustrated, but if the product's price is good in the first place I won't go elsewhere. However, if I see that a debit card is 40p but credit cards cost an additional 2% then I'll go to the bother of paying by debit card. If no charges are listed I'll always use a credit card, which will cost you as a store owner more!

That means that listing surcharges may have the potential to save your shop shop a considerable amount of money by paying your bank less for card charges... on the other hand, you could potentially lose customers. Personally, I feel that you wouldn't lose customers if your products' prices are right but that's just my own feeling on the subject and it very much up to how your market your company.

So it's up to each store owner to decide on their own policy but I thought I'd just add my two cents on the subject... the more feedback/opinions the better on this kind issue I feel!

All the best...

Conor

[Brent]

I will be the last shop to adopt this surchage unless I run a business nobody can compete with me.

That's why is said "there is no one size fits all approach".

It also depends on the size of your orders. Easier to swallow 2.5% of £50 than £1000. You have the option of applying surcharges over a certain amount.

However, if I see that a debit card is 40p but credit cards cost an additional 2% then I'll go to the bother of paying by debit card. If no charges are listed I'll always use a credit card, which will cost you as a store owner more!

That's exactly what I do and the reason for wanting this.

Doubletiger, you are viewing this from a negative standpoint. I agree surcharges can never be good news from a customers point of view but there is the reverse approach. Discounts for paying by debit card. If you pay 2.5% to process credit cards offer a 1% discount for choosing to pay by debit card.

It also depends on the whole package you offer. We are not a stack them high and sell it cheap outfit and offer vast amounts of pre sales and after sales technical backup so customers have good incentives to stick with us.

Another factor is confidence. Do customers feel happy handing over payment without the security credit cards offer? Do you list contact addresses and phone numbers. If numbers do you answer the phone etc.? We have many customers who call us up first just to get a feel for things before ordering.

With this bit of code you can test the water as you have the switch - Apply Surcharges Yes/No.

Regards

Brent

[CES]

Hi

I've only just gone live with the Protx contribution after switching from WorldPay and everything is going well so far. Therefore I am now in a position to donate. However, I think I am in a little sticky position after Conor's announcement re charging.

Do I send in a donation so that I 'escape' future charges? What will Conor charge for the contribution? Will a small donation seem cheeky?

I'm all for getting the 3DS up and running but regarding Brent's idea of a surcharge/discount option, I don't think I'll need that.

I understand where both Brent and doubletiger are coming from but my philosophy is to try and keep thing simple for both me and my customers! Initially we did not charge extra for UK shipping when we first set up our online shop to keep things simple and have an all in one price for our customers. We have relented a little since and charge for orders under £15.

There's my thoughts anyhow. If you want to PM me regarding donation or charge Conor, go ahead.

Craig

[conor]

Hi Craig,

Do I send in a donation so that I 'escape' future charges?

We haven't decided on pricing yet but yes, if you make a "reasonable" donation now you will be entitled to free upgrades... wouldn't penalise someone for unfortunate timing! :)

(When I say "reasonable" I simply mean that if the donation was way, way below what we decide to charge then we may feel we have to ask for a bit of the difference... would be unfair to others otherwise!).

Glad to hear that the module is serving you well... it's nice to get feedback from people!

Although we may be moving to a charging model, it's not for the purposes of making any real money off the contribution, unfortunately it's mainly to stem the losses we've incurred so far - it takes a lot of time to develop and maintain this package, especially when the API is changing so radically right now - we're no longer prepared to spend days on end essentially working for free as we don't even have a shop ourselves!

(That last sentence isn't directed at anyone here of course, it's simply me saying where we're coming from in this regard! :) ).

All the best...

Conor

[Brent]

Will a small donation seem cheeky?

It shouldn't really be an issue of seeing what is the lowest you can get away with.

Conor's contributions are well planned, the documentation is excellent and the code tends to be bug free. Where small bugs do slip through they are fixed in double quick time.

Just consider how much it costs you to go to a restaurant, the cinema or night on the town. That experience is soon forgotten but you'll be using this code for as long as you are with Protx.

You will be saving money by moving from Worldpay so make a donation that is reasonable to you. This has to be an individual decision as it is a donation after all.

Regards

Brent

[dasonix]

I agree with the above post you will save a min of £15 per month moving from Worldpay that doesnt even include the transaction charges. I personally think this Mod is worth a Min of £60, but that is my opinion once the 3D secure code is in place it will be worth a damn sight more.

Think about it could you run your site without this mod ? Yes but it would take so much extra time to manually process the cards, or you pay dbl fees like though worldpay or you will be stuck with paypal / nochex.

Your donation should be based on what its worth to your business, not how short your arms are.

Personally I have just done a second donation for it today (I also use the new postcode shipping mod by Conor) So I wanted to make a donation for that too as its already saved me over £40.

[CES]

I'm not trying to get away with paying as little as possible!!

Just did not want to be seen to be donating and getting away without paying future charges.

Craig

[conor]

Hi,

Thanks everyone for the comments and support... it's great to see more interest in the module!

I'm not trying to get away with paying as little as possible!!

I don't think anyone here's saying anything of the sort.. dasonix and Brent are just making general (and appreciated) comments as far as I can see. I certainly hope that you don't think anyone's talking about you... I've been very pleased to get your feedback and the fact that you are donating as well is just fantastic... couldn't ask for more from a user!

Just did not want to be seen to be donating and getting away without paying future charges.

As I said in my previous post, it's not seen in that way by me at all! This whole charging thing only came up recently with the move to 3D Secure etc and it's with great regret that I have had to muddy the waters by pre-announcing charging... the timing has obviously conflicted with your usage of the mod and I have to apologise profusely for creating this confusing situation! Your support is greatly appreciated and I won't have you think otherwise for a second!

All the best...

Conor