Enable PayPal but Only when Product ID 1234 is in cart?

DrByte:

Don't take this discussion in the direction of hating/loving certain providers. That doesn't do anybody any good. Again, I was ONLY pointing out an observation.

LOL. Isn't this a bit like telling a cat to sit still when it has a mouse to play with? :)

Just an observation :)

Cheers
Rod

rodg:

lol. Isn't this a bit like telling a cat to sit still when it has a mouse to play with? :)

just an observation :)

cheers
rod

meoww!!

Sorry Dr,

limelites:

PayPal has a bad reputation amongst buyers as well as sellers.

This has improved tremendously over the years.

limelites:

I don't think I'm the only consumer who assumes that a website taking PayPal is usually a website that's been put together by a less than professional company

Of course not. I'm sure you will find at least one other person somewhere on the planet that will agree with you.
I'm actually of the opposite view (aren't I always?). I find that if a site doesn't support PayPal these days, I start asking myself why not? Did PayPal ban them for shonky practices?

limelites:

Most large companies **don't **take PayPal. You ever asked yourself why?

This too is changing....... For example:

https://www.paypal.com/au/webapps/mpp/clickthru/telstra
Telstra is Australias largest Telco.

http://www.harveynorman.com.au (A huge furniture/electronics retailer)
http://www.target.com.au (We've all heard of Target, haven't we?)

These are just 3 off the top of my head.

limelites:

Like you, I don't really want to get into a big debate about the pros and cons of taking PayPal but I thought I'd let you know my professional reasons. Personal reasons aside :)

Alas, even your business reasons seem more like personal reasons than business ones.

This isn't a debate. I'm just stating the facts as I see them <g>

Cheers
Rod

limelites:

(3) I don't like the stigma associated with PayPal as soon as customers see it they assume you're some shoddy eBay seller with a website.

PayPal has a bad reputation amongst buyers as well as sellers. I don't think I'm the only consumer who assumes that a website taking PayPal is usually a website that's been put together by a less than professional company.
I must say, while I've seen a small handful of shopowners express this stigma, it's far from the most popular stigma across thousands of stores I've worked with and the many online stores which I frequent.

While perhaps you feel that stigma, don't project it onto your customers or believe that all shoppers in all parts of the world share the same view. Your views do seem more personal than business.

I do agree that if your market targets a demographic where fraudsters abound, then your 2nd point has some merit. I'm not sure I agree with your other two main points. But that's my opinion.

Anyway, as I said, this isn't supposed go into the direction of pro's and con's of PayPal. Sorry for continuing that part of the discussion here, since it's really not the current subject matter.

Yes, we've had bad experiences with eBay/PayPal and I'm sure my personal feelings come across when I write on the subject. I don't want to bore anyone but they basically shut down one of our old eBay businesses because they decided that companies shouldn't have their web address on their images. They move the goal posts as and when they like and everyone who uses them has to jump through hoops. If you can't jump high enough or fast enough then they just shut you down. Read the forums, there aren't just one or two people with bad experiences. They've been known to seize funds on a whim as well. I don't trust them, personally. So I prefer only to use them when a customer requests it. This is the personal part but it's partly professional too. It's a decision that seems to work for us and we're sticking to it.

Rob, I'm sure you can name many large retailers who do take PayPal but I could name a lot more who don't :) It's a risky payment method as you're leaving yourself open to their rules which are extremely weighted towards the buyer and against the seller. Their rules change without notice and so do their fees which are much higher than most payment merchants. Most people are happy to pay by card when shopping online. Let's face it, if you're purchasing anything online these days then you expect to pay by card on most websites so why cheapen your site with the PayPal logo? You can argue 'til you're blue in the face on this but it definitely does cheapen a website and this is just one good reason why you won't find high-end stores taking PayPal.

"And I don't think the rest of the world needs you to post any of the gory details of your bad experiences. Please don't do that."

Okay, so side-trail discussion ends by your confirmation is that you've got a hate-on for PayPal because of a compliance matter you didn't like when being an eBay seller.
While eBay owns PayPal, they're different beasts when it comes to merely using PayPal to collect payments.

I've only entertained this brief side discussion so that future readers or googlers who read this discussion have the bigger context about your personal "why", and so they don't take your sweeping broad statements as formal fact without context.

Now, let's go back to our regular discussion.