4 ms·

This is a great question. I assume PayPal is not the answer in this space even though Apple uses them on the iTunes store.

ewoodh2o 18y ago
Apple also aggregates payments. I use my PayPal account (somehow that lets me avoid sales tax...who knows why...) for iTunes. Typically they'll bill me immediately for the first song (presumably to make sure my PayPal account still works), then they seem to aggregate anywhere from 1 day to 1 week worth of purchases up to about $30 before billing again. They did this aggregation when I just had my plain old credit card number linked as well, although I don't think they ran the first charge immediately (probably just reserved funds).
apollo 18y ago
I didn't know that iTunes uses PayPal for credit card charges. Do you have a source on this?
- somagrand 18y ago
  Take a look at your payment options in your user account preferences. You'll see a paypal option. I assumed they only offer PayPal in hopes of bringing PayPal's customers even at the sake of margin.
  - pstinnett 18y ago
    A big audience to consider with PayPal is teenagers who may not have their own credit card. Parents could set up a PayPal account to let kids purchase things online (Without having access to their CC#). Or if a kid doesn't have a CC, they may use PayPal as a means to order products/services that require a CC. I know when I was in early high school I used PayPal when I didn't have a credit card to order records and cds. That could be why Apple accepts it.
  - apollo 18y ago
    I see, but it's possible that they accept PayPal but don't use them to process the credit card charges. I always wondered how big operations like iTunes do their credit card processing.
    - pstinnett 18y ago
      Yea definitely. I wouldn't think Apple would use PayPal to process the credit card charges. I was just explaining why they might accept it as a form of payment.

ewoodh2o 18y ago

Apple also aggregates payments. I use my PayPal account (somehow that lets me avoid sales tax...who knows why...) for iTunes. Typically they'll bill me immediately for the first song (presumably to make sure my PayPal account still works), then they seem to aggregate anywhere from 1 day to 1 week worth of purchases up to about $30 before billing again. They did this aggregation when I just had my plain old credit card number linked as well, although I don't think they ran the first charge immediately (probably just reserved funds).

apollo 18y ago

I didn't know that iTunes uses PayPal for credit card charges. Do you have a source on this?

somagrand 18y ago
Take a look at your payment options in your user account preferences. You'll see a paypal option. I assumed they only offer PayPal in hopes of bringing PayPal's customers even at the sake of margin.
- pstinnett 18y ago
  A big audience to consider with PayPal is teenagers who may not have their own credit card. Parents could set up a PayPal account to let kids purchase things online (Without having access to their CC#). Or if a kid doesn't have a CC, they may use PayPal as a means to order products/services that require a CC. I know when I was in early high school I used PayPal when I didn't have a credit card to order records and cds. That could be why Apple accepts it.
- apollo 18y ago
  I see, but it's possible that they accept PayPal but don't use them to process the credit card charges. I always wondered how big operations like iTunes do their credit card processing.
  - pstinnett 18y ago
    Yea definitely. I wouldn't think Apple would use PayPal to process the credit card charges. I was just explaining why they might accept it as a form of payment.