5 ms·

For some markets/niches PayPal is a must due to customer trust, and they are not shy in exploiting their position to the fullest.

themoonisachees 4y ago
Paypal also has massive costumer trust outside of HN. Many people would not dare enter their credit card info on a website but will happily click the buy with paypal button. It also has incredibly low friction, which makes you more money. In europe, the UX flow for someone ordering with a credit card goes: Enter cc info -> wait for 3d-secure notification -> click it -> enter passcode and possibly fingerprint as well -> click approve -> wait for the site to send you back from 3d-secure page -> order confirmed With paypal, this flow, that happens everytime someone buys from your site, even repeat costumers, is reduced to: Click buy with paypal -> possibly login to paypal again -> click "yes i want to pay this" -> order confirmed. Some sites even make use of paypal's delivery address API and don't even require you to enter it. It's really a no-contest that costumers using paypal will drop out of the flow at a significantly lower rate than costumers using a card. In some markets, your busines is dead in the water if you decide to not accept paypal.
- bentcorner 4y ago
  As a user who uses paypal a lot, this is exactly why - I don't trust random websites with my credit card number, but I already have decided to trust paypal and given an option to use paypal vs a site's own CC processing, I'll use paypal. I'd love to be wrong though, since after reading all this I kind of feel bad for the merchants, but otherwise I'll continue to prefer using paypal.
  - JohnFen 4y ago
    Me too. The issue is that while PayPal is pretty bad, I don't know of any other processors that are any better (from the customer perspective). And PayPal is universal, nobody else is. I don't want to have to manage multiple payment processors.
    - davrosthedalek 4y ago
      I think amazon payments is similar, from the customer perspective.
  - beermonster 4y ago
    Lots of so called challenger banks offer virtual cards which can be used with merchants you do not trust, thus mitigating the risk of them having your ACTUAL card number which they can abuse/leak.
    - imp0cat 4y ago
      Yes, but if you already have PayPal, it's much easier to just use it as opposed to: 1. get an account with a new back 2. transfer funds 3. have new temporary card issued 4. use that card to pay
- skeletal88 4y ago
  If I don't get the 3d secure authentication from my bank when buying something with a credit card then I don't trust this site. The places I buy from don't even offer paypal as an option, I guess they must be too expensive for the local web shops.

themoonisachees 4y ago

Paypal also has massive costumer trust outside of HN. Many people would not dare enter their credit card info on a website but will happily click the buy with paypal button. It also has incredibly low friction, which makes you more money. In europe, the UX flow for someone ordering with a credit card goes: Enter cc info -> wait for 3d-secure notification -> click it -> enter passcode and possibly fingerprint as well -> click approve -> wait for the site to send you back from 3d-secure page -> order confirmed With paypal, this flow, that happens everytime someone buys from your site, even repeat costumers, is reduced to: Click buy with paypal -> possibly login to paypal again -> click "yes i want to pay this" -> order confirmed. Some sites even make use of paypal's delivery address API and don't even require you to enter it. It's really a no-contest that costumers using paypal will drop out of the flow at a significantly lower rate than costumers using a card. In some markets, your busines is dead in the water if you decide to not accept paypal.

bentcorner 4y ago
As a user who uses paypal a lot, this is exactly why - I don't trust random websites with my credit card number, but I already have decided to trust paypal and given an option to use paypal vs a site's own CC processing, I'll use paypal. I'd love to be wrong though, since after reading all this I kind of feel bad for the merchants, but otherwise I'll continue to prefer using paypal.
- JohnFen 4y ago
  Me too. The issue is that while PayPal is pretty bad, I don't know of any other processors that are any better (from the customer perspective). And PayPal is universal, nobody else is. I don't want to have to manage multiple payment processors.
  - davrosthedalek 4y ago
    I think amazon payments is similar, from the customer perspective.
- beermonster 4y ago
  Lots of so called challenger banks offer virtual cards which can be used with merchants you do not trust, thus mitigating the risk of them having your ACTUAL card number which they can abuse/leak.
  - imp0cat 4y ago
    Yes, but if you already have PayPal, it's much easier to just use it as opposed to: 1. get an account with a new back 2. transfer funds 3. have new temporary card issued 4. use that card to pay
skeletal88 4y ago
If I don't get the 3d secure authentication from my bank when buying something with a credit card then I don't trust this site. The places I buy from don't even offer paypal as an option, I guess they must be too expensive for the local web shops.