6 ms·

PayPal Unveils Micropayments For Digital Goods, Facebook Signs Up

29 points by bjonathan 16y ago

jbail 16y ago
Amazon FPS fees are practically identical to Paypal. Paypal Micropayments, $0.05 + 5% for transactions under $12 Amazon FPS, $0.05 + 5% for transactions under $10 Paypal Micropayments = Over $12, $0.30 + 2.9% Amazon FPS, over $10, $0.30 + 2.9% I don't see any details from Paypal about debit transactions, but Amazon charges $0.05 + 2.0% for bank debits.
- StavrosK 16y ago
  Do they accept this for people not in the US yet? Also, does Amazon switch rates automatically based on the transaction, or do they force you to pick an account as well?
  - jbail 16y ago
    Amazon does --- but it costs 1% more for transactions outside of the US. Also, Amazon's rates automatically change based on the amount you are charging. All of this info is here: http://aws.amazon.com/fps/pricing/ http://aws.amazon.com/fps/pricing/
    - StavrosK 16y ago
      Fantastic, thank you.
bkrausz 16y ago
It's worth noting that this is an either-or pricing: you either get the micropayments rate or the larger rate. Why they don't give you the cheaper option is beyond me...you're paying an arm and a leg to collect on anything larger than $12. Also, their labs website doesn't work in Chrome: https://micropayments.paypal-labs.com/ https://micropayments.paypal-labs.com/
- StavrosK 16y ago
  Seriously, what a bunch of money-grubbing assholes. I don't know what they do about the one account limit, but this might very well be for forcing you to choose one or the other. Hopefully Amazon will do the sensible thing.
- jbail 16y ago
  PayPal says it's cheaper for the seller above $12 to use the $.30 + 2.9% fee. You are skeptical, so let's do the math: $12 x 2.9% = $0.348 + $.30 (flat fee) = $0.648 $12 x 5% = $0.6 + $0.05 (flat fee) = $0.65 The "larger rate" is actually cheaper above $12. Amazon (whose fees are identical to Paypal except their magic number where you move between fee scales is $10) actually creates a "dead zone" above $10 and under $12 where you're charged at the higher rate which is more in processing fees than the lower rate would be.
  - bkrausz 16y ago
    You misinterpreted what I said: Paypal is saying you can either have the 2.9% & $0.30 rate, or the 5% & $0.05 rate, applied to every transaction in your account. When I say that they should give you the cheaper rate, I mean whichever one costs less for that particular transaction. Right now they force you to choose one.
    - jbail 16y ago
      I gotcha. Thanks for the clarification. I don't use Paypal, so I was just reading their site where I missed the key sentence, "Each PayPal account is associated with only one merchant processing rate." That sucks. I think that makes Amazon a bit more attractive for micropayment processing.
KevinMS 16y ago
Phony announcement. I've been using this for almost a year now. I guess they are unveiling that they are now promoting micropayments. A year ago you could google micropayments, links right to their micropayments site, and then request that your paypal account be switched over to micropayments, with no hassles.
frederikfleck 16y ago
This seems to be just new payment terms for micro payments. Anybody know if they also plan to release anything to make UI better and more seamless integrated with the site's/app's experience?

29 points by bjonathan 16y ago

jbail 16y ago

Amazon FPS fees are practically identical to Paypal. Paypal Micropayments, $0.05 + 5% for transactions under $12 Amazon FPS, $0.05 + 5% for transactions under $10 Paypal Micropayments = Over $12, $0.30 + 2.9% Amazon FPS, over $10, $0.30 + 2.9% I don't see any details from Paypal about debit transactions, but Amazon charges $0.05 + 2.0% for bank debits.

StavrosK 16y ago
Do they accept this for people not in the US yet? Also, does Amazon switch rates automatically based on the transaction, or do they force you to pick an account as well?
- jbail 16y ago
  Amazon does --- but it costs 1% more for transactions outside of the US. Also, Amazon's rates automatically change based on the amount you are charging. All of this info is here: http://aws.amazon.com/fps/pricing/ http://aws.amazon.com/fps/pricing/
  - StavrosK 16y ago
    Fantastic, thank you.

bkrausz 16y ago

It's worth noting that this is an either-or pricing: you either get the micropayments rate or the larger rate. Why they don't give you the cheaper option is beyond me...you're paying an arm and a leg to collect on anything larger than $12. Also, their labs website doesn't work in Chrome: https://micropayments.paypal-labs.com/ https://micropayments.paypal-labs.com/

StavrosK 16y ago
Seriously, what a bunch of money-grubbing assholes. I don't know what they do about the one account limit, but this might very well be for forcing you to choose one or the other. Hopefully Amazon will do the sensible thing.
jbail 16y ago
PayPal says it's cheaper for the seller above $12 to use the $.30 + 2.9% fee. You are skeptical, so let's do the math: $12 x 2.9% = $0.348 + $.30 (flat fee) = $0.648 $12 x 5% = $0.6 + $0.05 (flat fee) = $0.65 The "larger rate" is actually cheaper above $12. Amazon (whose fees are identical to Paypal except their magic number where you move between fee scales is $10) actually creates a "dead zone" above $10 and under $12 where you're charged at the higher rate which is more in processing fees than the lower rate would be.
- bkrausz 16y ago
  You misinterpreted what I said: Paypal is saying you can either have the 2.9% & $0.30 rate, or the 5% & $0.05 rate, applied to every transaction in your account. When I say that they should give you the cheaper rate, I mean whichever one costs less for that particular transaction. Right now they force you to choose one.
  - jbail 16y ago
    I gotcha. Thanks for the clarification. I don't use Paypal, so I was just reading their site where I missed the key sentence, "Each PayPal account is associated with only one merchant processing rate." That sucks. I think that makes Amazon a bit more attractive for micropayment processing.

KevinMS 16y ago

Phony announcement. I've been using this for almost a year now. I guess they are unveiling that they are now promoting micropayments. A year ago you could google micropayments, links right to their micropayments site, and then request that your paypal account be switched over to micropayments, with no hassles.

frederikfleck 16y ago

This seems to be just new payment terms for micro payments. Anybody know if they also plan to release anything to make UI better and more seamless integrated with the site's/app's experience?