Online Shopping - Paypal vs Realex

Posting this here because it's website based, but if the mods feel it best suited to somewhere in the business forum, feel free to move.

The website that I will be helping to design will require an online shop. This is the first time I've ever worked on one. With my experience of Realex (we have a student test account set up with them) is that you can just enter in the credit card details in there, so if you're using the remote or redirect, you can essentially enter it in the site without the potential customer needing an account with Realex. However with Paypal, my understand is that the only way you can use it is if you have a Paypal account and have your credit card hooked into it?

From our questionnaires/survey, the website will be directed primarily at women, who are between 30-40, so the chances of them having a Paypal account are slim to none.

Have I got my understanding of Paypal correct? I know that Realex charge €29 p/m for a basic package - with 350 transactions a month and no set-up fee.

If I were to pick between Paypal and Realex, which would be the best option to go for and why? I would like to try and get all the facts in order before I approach the woman we're designing the website for as she might be understandably slow to give up money like that.

I should probably state that the online shop will be designed using OSCommerce.

aidanic

Deleted User wrote: »

Have I got my understanding of Paypal correct? I know that Realex charge €29 p/m for a basic package - with 350 transactions a month and no set-up fee.

You'll have to integrate with either PayPal or Realex - opening a window or form into their processing website to enter details, and process the payment. This will be part of the website build (and you probably know this).

The "business" question is how much?. You mention €29/month for realex. Is this all they charge? Is there a percentage of each transaction as well, in the 0-350 transaction range, and what happens over 350 transactions.

On the PayPal end of things, there may be no monthly fee, but their comission and processing charges per transaction can be up to 10%. Also, they have some other charges, and things you need to be aware of. You'll need to check the small print.

PayPal need some extra effort to move the cash back into an Irish Bank Account, while Realex will pay daily or weekly takings automatically.

You'll need the business owner to track the number and gross value of transactions they expect to have over 1-2 years (on a montly basis), and see how the two different charging models work.

Only then will you be sure of which one works for the business.

daymobrew

Deleted User wrote: »

However with Paypal, my understand is that the only way you can use it is if you have a Paypal account and have your credit card hooked into it?

You do not need a PayPal account to use PayPal.

Some businesses have terrible experiences with PayPal. StatCounter are an Irish company.

With RealEx you can transfer customer so the secure RealEx site to make the payment. AFAIK You provide RealEx with the page template so that it looks exactly the same as the rest of your site so customers may not notice that they are on a RealEx site. In this scenario you do not store customer credit card info on your site nor do you have to have a SSL cert.

StupidLikeAFox

daymobrew wrote: »

With RealEx you can transfer customer so the secure RealEx site to make the payment. AFAIK You provide RealEx with the page template so that it looks exactly the same as the rest of your site so customers may not notice that they are on a RealEx site. In this scenario you do not store customer credit card info on your site nor do you have to have a SSL cert.

This is all true. Its worth noting though that you will need either realex or sage if you are going to accept Laser, which is crucial in Ireland really. Check out www.webpayments.ie for a good guide to online payments in ireland.

You can also use moneybookers to accept laser, they make you jump through a few hoops first though, but it works exactly like paypal. Also note that you're gonna have to get an online merchant account from the bank to use realex or sage. that could be another few hoops to jump through!

Liam Byrne

ColHol wrote: »

This is all true. Its worth noting though that you will need either realex or sage if you are going to accept Laser, which is crucial in Ireland really.

Not any more. Most Irish banks are switching to Visa Debit cards. It won't be an issue soon.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2010/1029/1224282233742.html

Eoin

daymobrew wrote: »

You do not need a PayPal account to use PayPal.

For a while anyway - a few people have said that the guest checkout option is taken away after so many transactions on the one card.

daymobrew wrote: »

With RealEx you can transfer customer so the secure RealEx site to make the payment. AFAIK You provide RealEx with the page template so that it looks exactly the same as the rest of your site so customers may not notice that they are on a RealEx site. In this scenario you do not store customer credit card info on your site nor do you have to have a SSL cert.

Yeah, that's the easiest way to do it - though they do support a merchant doing it all on their site as well. I think they call it Realex Remote; the template one is Realex Redirect.

StupidLikeAFox

Liam Byrne wrote: »

Not any more. Most Irish banks are switching to Visa Debit cards. It won't be an issue soon.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2010/1029/1224282233742.html

Well bank of ireland arent rolling that out for around another year, also AIB are still using laser so its still pretty relevant for the time being

Freddio

I dont know if you are aware but to use realex, you need to have an internet merchant ID which is a pain to get if you are not established. It is effectively a licence to accept credit card transactions over the internet. Paypal dont need this but they have other ways of overseeing you.

cormee

eoin wrote: »

For a while anyway - a few people have said that the guest checkout option is taken away after so many transactions on the one card.

Really? Where did you read that? I'd never heard anything like that before.

Eoin

I think it was here, but not 100% sure now.

Has anyone had any experience with Google Checkout? We have decided to use Joomla to design the site and we were looking at possible plugins for it and came across this.

I found a review of it and it gave the pricing structure as follows:

Less than $3,000 per month: 2.9% of each transaction, plus $0.30.
$3,000 to $9,999.99 per month: 2.5% of each transaction, plus $0.30.
$10,000 to $99,999.99 per month: 2.2% of each transaction, plus $0.30.
More than $100,000 per month: 1.9% of each transaction, plus $0.30.

whufee

There is a company called Lucey technology, they offer 'lowest' credit rate, e.g. from 1.24%, much better than paypal and realex.

mneylon

Deleted User wrote: »

Has anyone had any experience with Google Checkout? We have decided to use Joomla to design the site and we were looking at possible plugins for it and came across this.

I found a review of it and it gave the pricing structure as follows:

Less than $3,000 per month: 2.9% of each transaction, plus $0.30.
$3,000 to $9,999.99 per month: 2.5% of each transaction, plus $0.30.
$10,000 to $99,999.99 per month: 2.2% of each transaction, plus $0.30.
More than $100,000 per month: 1.9% of each transaction, plus $0.30.

Last time I looked Google Checkout wasn't available to Irish vendors, though it is available to Irish consumers

LJL

Do you need an SSL cert to deal with Realex? If so, how much does this cost roughly?

mneylon

LJL wrote: »

Do you need an SSL cert to deal with Realex? If so, how much does this cost roughly?

If you're using their "redirect" solution where they host the payment pages etc., then you probably don't *need* an SSL.

Having said that putting an SSL on anything where there is customer details is a good idea as it can help instil a degree of confidence

SSL certs vary in price from below €100 to €999 - the ones with the "browser bar" generally cost more

Eoin

Blacknight wrote: »

If you're using their "redirect" solution where they host the payment pages etc., then you probably don't *need* an SSL.

Yep - when Elavon or whoever review the site, they will only require that the payment page itself is secure.

Having said that putting an SSL on anything where there is customer details is a good idea as it can help instil a degree of confidence
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Agreed