Poll...on using/having PayPal as a payment option...

[carlos123]

Hi everyone,

For this thread I have taken off my web developer hat and become...well...a scientist wanna be trying to conduct a poll LOL.

Some of us have been discussing the use of PayPal and whether or not people make a decision to buy or not buy based in part on whether PayPal is offered as a payment option.

My opinion on this is that it doesn't matter at all. People will buy what they are going to buy and will figure out a way to pay for it if they want it bad enough and if they don't buy just because there is no PayPal offered then it's because they have not been presold well enough on the value of what is being sold.

But I'll grant that I could be somewhat naive in my opinion that everyone else shops like me LOL.

So...if you care to vote in the poll it will help to clarify what the real case is with respect to whether it is really valuable to offer PayPal processing or not.

If you would NOT buy if PayPal was not offered as a payment option vote YES
If you would buy regardless of whether PayPal was offered or not vote NO

Thanks.

Carlos

[carlos123]

Hmm...this is tough poll to build the best question on. In it's present form it's a bit confusing as in a double negative. (Oh well...I can't alter the poll now so hopefully people will undertand the nature of the question.)

So far 100% of respondents think it's no big deal LOL!

Carlos

[angienewton]

I would still buy the product even if Paypal were not an option. I prefer to use a credit card outside of Paypal for some items so that is why I voted that way.

[carlos123]

My feelings precisely. This is just a preliminary poll to gauge the relative importance of PayPal. Later I will poll on the use of a credit card verses other payment options. I am running this same poll at a really big forum I belong to also (I don't know if I can post a link to another forum here...many forums are real touchy about that). It's going to be interesting to see the results.

Carlos

[angienewton]

I think it would be OK to go ahead and post the other forum. The only thing we don't like here is spam LOL But seriously, feel free to share and if it's a problem, I'll let you know.

[carlos123]

Thanks Angie. That's one thing I like about this forum. Lots. You all seem much less paranoid about posting links to things that most forums I belong to.

Here's the other poll http://www.city-data.com/forum/internet/747583-poll-how-does-lack-availability-paypal.html

Having created this poll here I was able to learn from the mistakes I made in the wording of the poll here and make the poll better at the other forum. It will take a while for the poll to pick up steam. It will be interesting to see if there is any real difference between the much larger membership at city-data and that here with respect to poll results.

Carlos

PS. That other forum is super, super paranoid about links to other forums. If I posted an innocent link there to this poll I would be skinned alive if not banned outright...well...I shouldn't exaggerate :o...maybe tarred and feathered would probably be more realistic LOL.

[al smith]

Hi Carlos,

I prefer Paypal when making recurring subscription purchases. I use them a lot and having all of my records in one place is nice. It is easy to cancel right within your account with just a couple of clicks.

If the product was being offered by a well known upstanding company I would purchase with a credit card if Paypal was not offered.

If the company was not well known, I would not purchase from them without Paypal.

Up until now I have not had any problems with Paypal and I have been using them as my main purchase account for over five years.

I know this answer is a little ambiguous but I felt a little more detailed answer might help clarify the higher confidence levels some people feel about using Paypal.

Al Smith

[carlos123]

Hi Al,

Interesting. Out of curiosity why would you NOT purchase if a relatively unknown company did not offer PayPal?

Even if they offered credit card payments using someone other than PayPal?

Carlos

[al smith]

Hi Carlos,

I am a very busy guy offline. I guess you could call it the "pain in the butt" factor. I'm comfortable with Paypal. I have more confidence in my secure transactions. They're are the big boy on the block.

If I need to claim a refund because the product is not as advertised or not what I was looking for, then I can go to one site, Paypal, and take care of it.

(I'm sure that everyone is aware of the marketing hype involved in many products these days. Not all products deliver as promised.)

I am familiar with the inner workings of Paypal and I can find exactly what to do when I need it. If a refund is in order, and not forthcoming in timely fashion, I don't have to jump through a bunch of hoops or different credit card companies to get it done. Like I said, I am comfortable and have confidence in Paypal.

Other than that, I investigate my purchases thoroughly and buy from trusted advisors' recommendations when I can.

Just in closing, I have a good relationship with Paypal and want to do business through them. In an ultra competitive world market, there are usually other places I can get the same or similar products or services and get them through Paypal gateways.

I hope I haven't blathered on . . . paypal has been good for me and I guess I'm loyal to them because of it.

Al

[carlos123]

Thanks for the added insight as to why using PayPal is important to you Al.

Very interesting.

Carlos

[carlos123]

A couple of things are becoming clear to me so far.

One...there are some people who for one reason or another, whether a good reason or not, will not buy something unless they can buy it through PayPal. I don't know if the percentage that are like that is very high so as to warrant the hassles and potential real problems of dealing with PayPal or not but the fact that there are people out there who insist on PayPal has become quite evident.

But just as important on the other side of the coin it has become equally evident that there are people absolutely dead set against using PayPal to buy things with (see some of the postings at the other forum poll I am conducting). Vehemently against PayPal no matter what.

So if I don't offer PayPal I will lose some but if I insist on only using PayPal I will lose some also. It seems that the best thing to do is offer PayPal while also making available other payment options for those adament in not wanting to use PayPal at all.

Interesting.

Carlos

[al smith]

Hi Carlos,

I was thinking this morning about why Paypal might also be important as a Payment choice to offer among others.

I and many others have income accounts with Paypal and spend "Paypal dollars" differently sometimes. Remember that many Ebay shoppers and merchants, pay and receive payments by Paypal.

It is not quite like "Mad Money" but is somewhat like a savings account that I will use for online purchases that I might otherwise not go ahead with, if I were spending from other sources. (Funny how that is . . .)

The different payment choices you offer would expand the number of people you can help in my opinion.

Just a thought . . .

Al

[lindastacy]

There are other factors that are more important to me than the payment method when deciding whether or not to purchase from someone new. It pretty much boils down to trust. I look for contact information (more than just an email address or contact form), the professional appearance of the site, whether payments are processed through a secure page, and whether or not I recognize and trust the payment processor.

[retta719]

If I can use a credit or debit card for my purchase, than PayPal isn't a big deal. I can use my PayPal debit card and get 1% cash back on my purchase, and I certainly won't complain about that. As long as the cart/merchant account is secure and I can see that it's secure, I will certainly buy whatever it is I came to buy.

[Clay Franklin]

I prefer amex or paypal. If only visa and mc then I may not buy if it is for my business.

[carlos123]

May I ask why you prefer Amex or PayPal Clay? And why you might not buy for your business if only visa or mastercard are offered?

Just curious in my continuing attempts to make heads or tails of buyer patterns...feel free to not answer if you don't feel comfortable doing so Clay.

Thanks.

Carlos