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I'll have to rethink my Paypal vs. Stripe decision. I'm actually setting up a store right now and I'm going with Paypal just because it's so much easier and ch

I'll have to rethink my Paypal vs. Stripe decision. I'm actually setting up a store right now and I'm going with Paypal just because it's so much easier and cheaper. With Paypal: - After a sale I can buy and print out USPS labels and postage in 2 clicks and send the tracking and shipping info to my buyer in 1 click. - I don't have to pay to integrate it into my site or buy a module ($27), the Paypal module is already included, and with Paypal I don't need SSL encryption (which can cost $50+ / year / domain). 1 way Stripe can remedy this is to make free Stripe Payment modules for major e-commerce stores. I want to move to Stripe eventually because they don't try to get my users to sign up for a paypal account by hiding the credit card payment form beneath the paypal login and registration form. And I don't like Paypal's "side with the buyer even if they're a scammer" policy, not to mention the whole "your account funds have been frozen for 180 days while we investigate". 5 years from now I really hope Stripe branches out to cover a lot more than just credit card processing. Once they master that area I'd really love to see them become a small business e-commerce solutions provider. I'm sticking with Paypal until I get screwed over and have my funds frozen because in the short term, I'm saving so much more time and every dollar counts. Hey Stripe, one day if you work on a store for small businesses I'd love to chat. The current options (WP E-commerce, shopify, magento, ebay, Amazon, etc...) are a pain in the ass (I've tried them all) and no one, ==> NO.ONE. <== , has made a proper packaging backend and USPS shipping calculator that doesn't screw either the buyer or the seller. Ebay comes close but even they fail terribly at package dimension calculation for multiple quantities ordered.

richardlblair 14y ago
Shopify integrates with stripe...
coderdude 14y ago
I think you'll be pleased with PayPal. Their APIs and IPN aren't a pleasure to work with but I've got nothing but good stories about working with PayPal's customer support. Something to keep in mind: If you suddenly start doing volume through PayPal they will flag your account for closer inspection and that may involve them freezing your ability to do anything with existing and incoming funds. It'll likely last a few weeks and then it's over. (Though since it doesn't sound like you're selling digital goods this may be a problem for you.) Other than having to deal with that issue -- which is usually the horror story that people love to tell or reference -- I've been perfectly happy with them. They're Johnny on the spot and I can call them any time to speak to someone. Because they keep such a close eye on things, I've come to expect their calls whenever anything out of the norm occurs. It's great. I love PayPal. By the way, have you tried Yahoo Merchant Solutions (formerly Yahoo Store)?
- hokua 14y ago
  I sense sarcasm
  - coderdude 14y ago
    I wasn't being sarcastic at all.
xal 14y ago
I'm CEO of Shopify. What's wrong with our USPS Calculator?
- ROFISH 14y ago
  Many many many things, least of which is that it's not programmable. We can't set items that can go in flat rate boxes. We can't have "Free Shipping*" shipping, which is free shipping in the US and the equivalent discount in other countries, and other programmable shipping rates.
  - xal 14y ago
    For that you don't even need their rate APIs. All your rates are flatrates which you can simply set? APIs for building your own shipping system are actually coming some time next year but as you said, it's all about free shipping.
    - BallinBige 14y ago
      Why does Shopify charge a % off each transaction... when they are not the payment proccessor or gateway or issuing bank or aggregator??
      - xal 14y ago
        we don't. It's capped at $169 a month which is nothing given what Shopify does. There is a transaction charge on the lower plans but this may change.
        BallinBige 14y ago
        Hi Xal, I'm on your site right now and it says you charge a transaction fee. http://imgur.com/eXbZp http://imgur.com/eXbZp - So essentially I'm getting dinged ~2.9% from Stripe and another 2% + software fees from Shopify... effective transaction fee ~5%. Cant wait till internet tax + state tax takes effect. :)
tobyjsullivan 14y ago
I'm actually very lost regarding your reasons for preferring PayPal to Stripe (Except USPS integration, which is clear and I know nothing about). "I'm going with Paypal just because it's so much easier and cheaper." Really? For me, integration w/ PayPal's IPN's took DAYS and still wasn't sturdy. Stripe? 3 hours the first time, 30 minutes the second. Admittedly, PayPal is marginally cheaper with heavy volume. I'm not at that point and, quite frankly, it would probably never be worthwhile for me to switch due to cost of said dev time. But this $27 module? I don't know what requires that but I've never needed it. I tried PayPal on one project and switched that site to Stripe within a week of them launching in Canada. Zero regrets.
- dangrossman 14y ago
  How does an IPN integration take days? It's just a webhook, which most every 3rd party processor has copied. You take a POST and send it back to validate it. It can't be more than a few dozen lines of code at most, and there is a decade of libraries available for every possible language, framework and cart that turn it into a single function call. I've never found anything easier to integrate, and I've done PP Pro, Authnet SIM, Authnet AIM, Authnet CIM, Quantum Gateway, Google, Amazon, Recurly, Spreedly, Spreedly Core... I'm not the OP, but PayPal is not only cheaper (that .7% adds up fast), but without it I'd lose more than 10% of my customer base, and that's very significant money. Credit cards with AVS are just not readily available, or socially common, everywhere in the world. Stripe is a way to accept credit cards. PayPal is a way to accept payments from 190 countries. That's not the same thing.
  - Cushman 14y ago
    PayPal's "sandbox" environment is uniquely torturous to work with. It didn't take us days, but it did seem like someone had gone out of the way to make it annoying.
    - coderdude 14y ago
      This is what I like least about PayPal. Coinbase, for example, makes it dead-simple to test their IPN-like callback. All you do is paste the URL into a text box and send away. If PayPal had that it would have made the integration much easier to accomplish.
joonix 14y ago
How is paypal easier than Stripe? I just signed up for Stripe and was shocked at how easy it was. I thought surely there had to be more steps, more ID verification, etc. I've only done 3 transactions but it was very smooth. I will never go back to paypal for anything other than peer to peer transfers.
sunsu 14y ago
Try http://postmaster.io http://postmaster.io. Its like Stripe for postage.

richardlblair 14y ago

Shopify integrates with stripe...

coderdude 14y ago

I think you'll be pleased with PayPal. Their APIs and IPN aren't a pleasure to work with but I've got nothing but good stories about working with PayPal's customer support. Something to keep in mind: If you suddenly start doing volume through PayPal they will flag your account for closer inspection and that may involve them freezing your ability to do anything with existing and incoming funds. It'll likely last a few weeks and then it's over. (Though since it doesn't sound like you're selling digital goods this may be a problem for you.) Other than having to deal with that issue -- which is usually the horror story that people love to tell or reference -- I've been perfectly happy with them. They're Johnny on the spot and I can call them any time to speak to someone. Because they keep such a close eye on things, I've come to expect their calls whenever anything out of the norm occurs. It's great. I love PayPal. By the way, have you tried Yahoo Merchant Solutions (formerly Yahoo Store)?

hokua 14y ago
I sense sarcasm
- coderdude 14y ago
  I wasn't being sarcastic at all.

xal 14y ago

I'm CEO of Shopify. What's wrong with our USPS Calculator?

ROFISH 14y ago
Many many many things, least of which is that it's not programmable. We can't set items that can go in flat rate boxes. We can't have "Free Shipping*" shipping, which is free shipping in the US and the equivalent discount in other countries, and other programmable shipping rates.
- xal 14y ago
  For that you don't even need their rate APIs. All your rates are flatrates which you can simply set? APIs for building your own shipping system are actually coming some time next year but as you said, it's all about free shipping.
  - BallinBige 14y ago
    Why does Shopify charge a % off each transaction... when they are not the payment proccessor or gateway or issuing bank or aggregator??
    - xal 14y ago
      we don't. It's capped at $169 a month which is nothing given what Shopify does. There is a transaction charge on the lower plans but this may change.
      - BallinBige 14y ago
        Hi Xal, I'm on your site right now and it says you charge a transaction fee. http://imgur.com/eXbZp http://imgur.com/eXbZp - So essentially I'm getting dinged ~2.9% from Stripe and another 2% + software fees from Shopify... effective transaction fee ~5%. Cant wait till internet tax + state tax takes effect. :)

tobyjsullivan 14y ago

I'm actually very lost regarding your reasons for preferring PayPal to Stripe (Except USPS integration, which is clear and I know nothing about). "I'm going with Paypal just because it's so much easier and cheaper." Really? For me, integration w/ PayPal's IPN's took DAYS and still wasn't sturdy. Stripe? 3 hours the first time, 30 minutes the second. Admittedly, PayPal is marginally cheaper with heavy volume. I'm not at that point and, quite frankly, it would probably never be worthwhile for me to switch due to cost of said dev time. But this $27 module? I don't know what requires that but I've never needed it. I tried PayPal on one project and switched that site to Stripe within a week of them launching in Canada. Zero regrets.

dangrossman 14y ago
How does an IPN integration take days? It's just a webhook, which most every 3rd party processor has copied. You take a POST and send it back to validate it. It can't be more than a few dozen lines of code at most, and there is a decade of libraries available for every possible language, framework and cart that turn it into a single function call. I've never found anything easier to integrate, and I've done PP Pro, Authnet SIM, Authnet AIM, Authnet CIM, Quantum Gateway, Google, Amazon, Recurly, Spreedly, Spreedly Core... I'm not the OP, but PayPal is not only cheaper (that .7% adds up fast), but without it I'd lose more than 10% of my customer base, and that's very significant money. Credit cards with AVS are just not readily available, or socially common, everywhere in the world. Stripe is a way to accept credit cards. PayPal is a way to accept payments from 190 countries. That's not the same thing.
- Cushman 14y ago
  PayPal's "sandbox" environment is uniquely torturous to work with. It didn't take us days, but it did seem like someone had gone out of the way to make it annoying.
  - coderdude 14y ago
    This is what I like least about PayPal. Coinbase, for example, makes it dead-simple to test their IPN-like callback. All you do is paste the URL into a text box and send away. If PayPal had that it would have made the integration much easier to accomplish.

joonix 14y ago

How is paypal easier than Stripe? I just signed up for Stripe and was shocked at how easy it was. I thought surely there had to be more steps, more ID verification, etc. I've only done 3 transactions but it was very smooth. I will never go back to paypal for anything other than peer to peer transfers.

sunsu 14y ago

Try http://postmaster.io http://postmaster.io. Its like Stripe for postage.