retail website

pog it

Hey guys!

Just wondering if anyone with experience in starting their own retail business online can help me? I'd really appreciate any tips or references to good guides relating to sales/returns of products and best payment options (I am planning sales to only be based in Ireland at the beginning).
It's my first time to set up an online business.

Something interesting I read was that Paypal can be a bad option as with the slightest customer complaint they have a policy of easy no questions asked refund. I've no problem with refunds/returns if there was a problem with what they bought of course, but this person was saying that they had to scrap paypal and change payment method as it happened so often.
I'd never have known about that. I find paypal to be quite good really as a customer and sometime seller.

Is there anything else like that to be considered?

fishy21

pog it wrote: »

Hey guys!

Just wondering if anyone with experience in starting their own retail business online can help me? I'd really appreciate any tips or references to good guides relating to sales/returns of products and best payment options (I am planning sales to only be based in Ireland at the beginning).
It's my first time to set up an online business.

Something interesting I read was that Paypal can be a bad option as with the slightest customer complaint they have a policy of easy no questions asked refund. I've no problem with refunds/returns if there was a problem with what they bought of course, but this person was saying that they had to scrap paypal and change payment method as it happened so often.
I'd never have known about that. I find paypal to be quite good really as a customer and sometime seller.

Is there anything else like that to be considered?

If its just the Irish market you are selling to I definfitly would not use paypal as they dont except Irish laser. This would have a negative effect on sales as alot of people dont have credit cards.
The payment method i would reccommend is Realex. It excepts laser and its Irish owned. Afaik they have good offers on at the moment.

RoadKillTs

Paypal do tend to side with the buyer allright. I wouldn't rule it out though as a payment option as a lot of buyers trust and prefer Paypal.
I have a merchant account with them and sell on eBay aswell and never had any problems with them.
They are also very cheap, probably the cheapest actually.
the main disadvantage is that they don't accept Laser which is unfortunate.
Good luck with the venture.

This would have a negative effect on sales as alot of people dont have credit cards.

I'd love to know roughly how many Irish people dont have a credit card.
Anyone know where I might get these stats?

fishy21

RoadKillTs wrote: »

I'd love to know roughly how many Irish people dont have a credit card.
Anyone know where I might get these stats?

Im not sure to be honest. But even if people have a credit card, they would always prefer to use a debit card (laser) anyway.

randomname

I would say you would end up using a few payment options Paypal and a credit card payment too like Realex. As previous poster said a lot of people trust and use paypal. You could use it on your site for a bit and see how many problem transactions you get and then judge whether you should keep it or not.

RoadKillTs

But even if people have a credit card, they would always prefer to use a debit card (laser) anyway.

Possibly but if you were buying something online and you had the option of buying with your laser card through Realex for example or using your credit card through Paypal, Which would you pick?
Personally I'd choose Paypal. As a buyer you have a lot more protection using Paypal.

Hopefully Paypal will start accepting Irish debit cards soon.

fishy21

RoadKillTs wrote: »

Possibly but if you were buying something online and you had the option of buying with your laser card through Realex for example or using your credit card through Paypal, Which would you pick?
Personally I'd choose Paypal. As a buyer you have a lot more protection using Paypal.

Hopefully Paypal will start accepting Irish debit cards soon.

Yes for the security reason, paypal is much better as a buyer. But I always look to use my laser over my credit card as it is directly taken out of your account, and I think most people prefer this.

As you said the sooner paypal accepts laser the better.

MOH

fishy21 wrote: »

Yes for the security reason, paypal is much better as a buyer. But I always look to use my laser over my credit card as it is directly taken out of your account, and I think most people prefer this.

As you said the sooner paypal accepts laser the better.

I'd always prefer to use credit card over laser, especially the first time I deal with a company. There's no chargebacks on laser, if the company goes bust you have no protection, and I don't have as much faith as some in paypal's customer protection.

From a merchant point of view, I've always had the impression they're dearer than paypal for startups. Realex are €29 flat fee per month, including 350 transactions, and 19 cents per transaction after.
Paypal are about 21 cents per transaction + 2.9%.

Obviously if you've a high volume of transactions from the start, or it's a high cost product, Realex is cheaper, but I think most startups would find Paypal cheaper initially. Though if you think you'll lose a lot of sales through lack of laser support, that's also a factor.

kenbrady

Realex is just a piece of software. It enables online payments, it is not like paypal. You will need a merchant account to use realex. These come with an additional set of charges.
You cannot use realex unless you have a merchant account.

The easiest, cheapest, and fast way to setup online payments is paypal.

http://www.webpayments.ie/web-payments/how-do-i-setup-online-payments

Atlas_IRL

OP i would try use both. To use a merchant account you have to be approved by them first(bank) sometimes if they are iffy they will only setup after you have 6 months trading. If this happens you will have to start with paypal but as soonas you can get the merchant account go for it as well and have the two options.

MOH

My earlier paypal figures were wrong - it's actually 35 cents per transaction, with the percentage varying depending on your sales volume for the previous month: up to Eur2500, it's 3.4%, then 2.9% up to Eur10000.
Once you're at that level Realex might be a better option assuming you can get the Merchant Service Agreement from your bank.

TheCostumeShop.ie: Ronan

Hi Pog it,

Congrats on taking the initiative to start up an online business. I've a lot of experience with this area and would be happy to help you in anyway i can.

One thing that worries me about your Paypal questions is if a customer isn't happy you've got a bigger problem than the chargeback - so i'd suggest on focusing on providing a service where customers are so happy they don't need to take that action. Ofcourse there are scammers out there and you will get scammed a few times, but its part of doing business unfortuntely.

First thing you should consider is your platform, what functions do you need in a site, how big is it going to be. Are you going to design it yourself or hire a professional designer? Will you use a free open source software or purchase a software? Allow a set amount for getting the site up and then a monthly amount for up keep.

Second thing then is route to market, developers rarely are experts at SEO (search engine optimization) and SEM (search engine marketing). This is an area i'd strongly suggest you read up on and become an expert in. Google adwords (PPC - pay per click) will get you some instant traffic so you can test your products appeal. Eventually you will be able to allocate a percentage of each sale to the PPC conversion.

Payments, somepeople like paypal and buy having this it makes it easier for them. Paypal is also handy cause its an instant set up. Really you will need to apply for a merchant account Elavon / Ulster bank have good services, i'd suggest avoiding AIB merchants. You also need a processor Worldnet TPS, Realex and Sage pay are the three market leaders, the first being my prefered but PM me and i'll give you contacts to all.

Very important to get a .ie domain if your targeting Ireland.

The rest of the stuff really depends on your product / service. Anything specific you need to know just ask.

tedshredsonfire

using paypal at the moment as realex were too expensive for a start up. as the business grows I may make the move but paying out E30 plus a month when you don't know what your sales will be doesn't make sense to me at least with paypal I only pay when I have a sale. I admit the lack of laser will have a negative impact on sales but it depend on what you expect your volumes to be.

Atlas_IRL

TheCostumeShop.ie (Ronan) wrote: »

Hi Pog it,

Congrats on taking the initiative to start up an online business. I've a lot of experience with this area and would be happy to help you in anyway i can.

One thing that worries me about your Paypal questions is if a customer isn't happy you've got a bigger problem than the chargeback - so i'd suggest on focusing on providing a service where customers are so happy they don't need to take that action. Ofcourse there are scammers out there and you will get scammed a few times, but its part of doing business unfortuntely.

First thing you should consider is your platform, what functions do you need in a site, how big is it going to be. Are you going to design it yourself or hire a professional designer? Will you use a free open source software or purchase a software? Allow a set amount for getting the site up and then a monthly amount for up keep.

Second thing then is route to market, developers rarely are experts at SEO (search engine optimization) and SEM (search engine marketing). This is an area i'd strongly suggest you read up on and become an expert in. Google adwords (PPC - pay per click) will get you some instant traffic so you can test your products appeal. Eventually you will be able to allocate a percentage of each sale to the PPC conversion.

Payments, somepeople like paypal and buy having this it makes it easier for them. Paypal is also handy cause its an instant set up. Really you will need to apply for a merchant account Elavon / Ulster bank have good services, i'd suggest avoiding AIB merchants. You also need a processor Worldnet TPS, Realex and Sage pay are the three market leaders, the first being my prefered but PM me and i'll give you contacts to all.

Very important to get a .ie domain if your targeting Ireland.

The rest of the stuff really depends on your product / service. Anything specific you need to know just ask.

Ronan if you are known from your .com and used the .ie as a redirect to the .com but are targetting Ireland mostly is this a bad idea?

tricky D

Atlas_IRL wrote: »

OP i would try use both. To use a merchant account you have to be approved by them first(bank) sometimes if they are iffy they will only setup after you have 6 months trading. If this happens you will have to start with paypal but as soonas you can get the merchant account go for it as well and have the two options.

This. The more options, the fewer reasons for buyers to bail out and PayPal has a higher bail out rate as it requires extra steps/accounts.

TheCostumeShop.ie: Ronan

Atlas_IRL wrote: »

Ronan if you are known from your .com and used the .ie as a redirect to the .com but are targetting Ireland mostly is this a bad idea?

@Atlas

No, if it's an established website with the .com stay with that, if you were a new site i'd be suggesting using the .ie. Google is getting better at finding out where you are targeting, obviously you want to be hosted in Ireland.

@tricky D

I haven't found that to be true, if people have a paypal they chose paypal, if they don't have it they will continue with the normal payment system. Path of least resistance and all that.

@tedshredsonfire

Agreed, Realpay deal is 350 transactions plus the monthly fee for 29.99 quid, then your merchants will charge another 30 Euro per month and a small charge per transaction too.

It's best to have your business concept tested before your launch though. E-commerce isn't really a launch a site and hope for the best type business (in my opinion at least).

tricky D

TheCostumeShop.ie (Ronan) wrote: »

@tricky D

I haven't found that to be true, if people have a paypal they chose paypal, if they don't have it they will continue with the normal payment system. Path of least resistance and all that.

If they have PayPal. If they don't and it's the only option, users tend to abandon the sale more often compared to CC/debit, as it has too much resistance as you put it. I've seen it many times in logs. If multiple options are available then we are in agreement.

Also interesting stuff here:

Paypal Conversion Testing Results

pog it

Just getting round to reading all the replies and just want to say thanks so much for all the advice. There is already tonnes there to follow up research on. I'm looking into search engine optimization now and will get round to assimilating all the info ye have offered!..

I do like the option of offering as many payment options as possible.

I recently bought something from a new business and when they told me they hadn't got paypal I was a bit shocked to be honest, and the only options they had were cheque and bank transfer.. it doesn't look professional. I still went with the purchase as they are a local and creative business and in fairness they are newly set up.. but it is important to have options isn't it? It would be hard to leave out PayPal when all is said and done.

What kind of rights do you have as a consumer if you use bank transfer? Same as cheque? Would this be seen by everyone as an annoying option yea? By the way I am in the customer is king school of thought but I do want to minimise possible returns at the same time, though honestly at the same time I think customers will be pleased and it won't come to that too often!

How does Realex work from a user point of view? i don't recall being conscious of using it. Is that how you pay on Amazon maybe?

TheCostumeShop.ie: Ronan

The payment processor is invisible to the customer, unless your using a hosted payment page (which in your case i'd recommend). Basically the customer move to a payment page which is hosted on a Realex / Worldnett domain ie. the Url at the top changes from your address to theirs. The advantage of this is that its a secure PCI compliant page, without having to get your site fully inline with PCI requirements which is worthwhile when your big, but not when starting up.

Depending on the value of the products and your customers B2C Vs B2B, you might want to give cheques and bank transfers a miss. The effort involved in waiting 3 days to see the money clear before sending the goods, can be more effort than its worth. It's ok for orders in excess of say 100 quid, but running to the bank to lodge 20 quid then checking for its clearance might cost you the 20 in your admin time. I wouldn't be pushing the idea if you get me, let the customer ask if necessary.

Returns wise you have to comply with the Distant selling act and offer a reasonable returns policy, really important to get your legal stuff sorted in this repect. Return rates depend on what your selling so can't really help you there without knowing more.