Paypal, Google Checkout, ASP aren't really professional enough. You can offer them as options, but you need to have a legit merchant service to gain user confidence.

I would like to hear more on this. Amazon and PayPal have similar published fee structures for low volume accounts. Over half the things I buy online use one of the big 3 or 4 "gateways". My feeling is that by buying through them I am getting more protection. I certainly like the fact that my credit card info isn't sitting around on many small mom and pop biz mysql DBs.

Are there any metrics showing my intuition is not correct?

I wouldn't say that it feels like I have more protection. I trust my bank. I bank with USAA and I have never had any problems. I ended up filing an insurance claim on an item my dad bought me, and I'm pleased with how it turned out. So basically, I'm a customer for life.

I have not heard good things about Paypal. There are a lot of stories about people getting ripped off using paypal. And as a seller, it is risky. One scam is to buy something off of Paypal, report it as destroyed, and then ship back worthless material.

Paypal returns money to fraud victim, sends him to collections:http://consumerist.com/5041902/paypal-refunds-50-defraud-sic...

Customer gets billed twice, Paypal does nothing:http://consumerist.com/5048218/blockbuster-double-dips-in-pa...

Destroyed Item scam:http://consumerist.com/5159479/ebay-scammer-says-pc-destroye...

More complaints:http://www.consumeraffairs.com/online/paypal.html

So basically, I trust my bank's customer service, and I don't trust Paypal's customer service. So I view Paypal as a potential headache if I have a problem with a purchase. I have generally had good experiences with Amazon, so there is no negative association with that brand, but I don't feel like I really need more protection than my bank gives me.

That's what the article is saying if your storing it on "small mom and pop biz mysql DBs" they won't let you get a account.

You may buy through Paypal; but, most buyers don't.

That's what I'd like most substance on: most buyers don't like PayPal. This is counterintuitive to me as PayPal, et al. is adding an extra layer of assurance to the buyer on top of their credit card.

I am very interested in any metrics that show using a well known branding like PayPal, Amazon, Google, etc.. gets less transactions than having your own Vias/MC gateway.

What does "professional" mean in this context - matching the design of the shopping cart pages to the rest of the site? Some of those are better than others at doing that - my understanding is that Paypal is the easiest to skin and customize.

It's simple: there's an expectation that some amount of due process has been done before granting you a merchant account. It's harder to setup than a Paypal account. Therefore it's more difficult for crooks/irresponsible people to get a merchant account than a Paypal account, therefore you look more professional with a merchant account.

Barriers to entry can work for or against you.

Does that really go through a consumer's head at the point of purchase? Seems more likely that they'd think things like "ugh, not another site where I have to enter my credit card info - I wonder how trustworthy they are?" or if they're using a third party system like paypal, maybe they'd think "oh cool, I don't have to give out any personal info, I can just use my paypal account".

Just something to think about when setting up a payment system - you might want to grow into needing a merchant account system before you deal with the financial and logistical overhead.

" there's an expectation that some amount of due process has been done before granting you a merchant account."

Hmm. That's never occurred to to me when ordering stuff online. I do make a judgment about the reputation of the seller, but the payment method really doesn't figure into that unless it's something off the wall.

See this old discussion: http://discuss.joelonsoftware.com/default.asp?biz.5.317735.1...