4 ms·

Can we stop with the stripe adverts please? It's getting irritating. I'll have to start posting links to Paypal and Sagepay each day to balance it out.

by mfen3 13y ago

adamtulinius 13y ago
You created an account just to post that? Really. I can understand that american citizens might be annoyed, but for people like me, who lives in Europe, it's nice to keep track of their progress.
- obeattie 13y ago
  I'm an EU citizen and it seems a bit annoying to me, too. Clearly I'm in the minority (the upvotes are against me), but if I wanted to keep track of their progress I could just as well follow their blog or Twitter.
- mfen3 13y ago
  I don't like companies abusing sites like Hacker News and posting links to their products. It's a form of spam. There's nothing remotely interesting in Stripe for a hacker, just another scummy payment processor.
  - sleepyhead 13y ago
    Clearly you have not dealt with other payment gateways. Regardless, news about payment gateways is interesting for developers because we have to implement them. And some of us are entrepreneurs and we have to choose a payment gateway to get money from our customers. If you don't like Stripe articles then don't upvote them.
    - mfen3 13y ago
      I have implemented a few payment gateways, none were particularly taxing for even a novice developer.
      - sleepyhead 13y ago
        It takes a few weeks to get a merchant account for a local provider. For an international provider like Braintree it takes a lot more documentation. AFAIK this is quicker with Stripe. Most local payment gateways here in Norway have a shitty API (many with SOAP. One with versioning like this: chargev1(), chargev2() ). But hard to implement? No, but annoying and takes more time than Stripe. Stripe is clearly a better technical solution for developers. And pricing. There might be cheaper options (particularly with higher volumes). But most options I have looked at have many different price plans and have a monthly cost. Stripe is pay as you go.
  - pc 13y ago
    > I don't like companies abusing sites like Hacker News and posting links to their products. For what it's worth: I work at Stripe, and we didn't submit this story. If you've any suggestions as to what we should do to make the submissions less annoying, I'm all ears. I think it's just the case that a lot of people in the various countries tend to care. For example, to take another benchmark, Stripe was a Twitter trending topic in both Ireland and Dublin when we launched this morning: https://twitter.com/TrendsDublin/status/374809599691325440 https://twitter.com/TrendsDublin/status/374809599691325440, https://twitter.com/TrendsIreland/status/374806974908477440 https://twitter.com/TrendsIreland/status/374806974908477440.
    - mfen3 13y ago
      Don't spread FUD about competitors. Statements like this are incorrect: "Accepting internet payments involved weeks of setup, reams of paperwork, and bureaucratic approval processes" Your rates are the same as every other damn payment processor, that's why I fail to see the excitement. I'd also be interested to know if you pay tax in any of the countries your service operates.
      - pc 13y ago
        Sadly, it is not mere FUD for people based here in Ireland. (I agree that it was somewhat better in the US.) Here's what Liam Casey (CEO of PCH International[1]) said earlier: https://twitter.com/liamcasey/status/374690420556443650 https://twitter.com/liamcasey/status/374690420556443650. He's speaking from personal experience. (I've talked to the engineers who were trying to set up that merchant account.) And, yes; we charge VAT on our services in Europe; this goes straight to the government. [1] http://enwp.org/PCH_International http://enwp.org/PCH_International
        illumen 13y ago
        Do you pay corporation tax in Europe? If "stripe in Ireland", and an office in London then you should right?
        13y ago
  - simonw 13y ago
    Unlike other sites you might frequent, Hacker News culture is generally OK with companies posting news about their products. If the news isn't interesting, it won't be upvoted and won't make the front page.
sleepyhead 13y ago
Go ahead and post those links. If the links are interesting and important for developers then they will get upvotes. As a developer in Norway I am very much delighted to see Stripe roll out in Europe and hope to see more Stripe links here on Hacker News!
- michaelmcmillan 13y ago
  I could not agree more. We're developing an app at NTNU and we're basically just waiting for Stripe to become available.
rafski 13y ago
Paypal is a turnoff for many customers. I've met people who will not use it no matter what and will quote the popular horror stories. Braintree seems ok-ish but has a €100 minimum monthly fee. Paymill seems to be just fine but has some formal requirements. Realex and Sagepay have a monthly fee, also require a merchant account, this is where the fun begins (although Sagepay offers own merchant accounts too). AIB Merchant Account charges: -- Once off registration fee of €190. Credit Cards: 3.00% per transaction Laser Cards: 25c per transaction Visa Debit Cards: 35c per transaction Please bear in mind that we have a minimum monthly charge of €30, so if your total charge for Merchant Service Charge and Laser each month does not equal to €30, you will be charged €30. -- To get an AIB Merchant Account you also need to provide 3 months of bank accounts, and, wait for it… A BUSINESS PLAN (!) Also… "Once the signed application is returned to us it will be processed within 5-10 working days." Stripe. All you need is 10-15 minutes it takes to fill the online form and set things up. Done. I always thought the downside was that it was considerably more expensive than others. Not in Ireland, it isn't — unless I'm missing something.
drited 13y ago
Did you know that the Stripe was a Ycombinator funded startup? If not, I get why you posted that and guess you wouldn't have posted it if you knew. If you did know however, I don't see why you'd have an issue with this. Links following the progress of successful YC companies absolutely are relevant to the HN community. If nothing else they give motivation to people in later YC batches to keep ploughing ahead despite the difficulties that face all startups. Witness the popularity of HN posts about Airbnb, Dropbox, Scribd etc. I don't see how this link is any different, especially given that it wasn't a Stripe founder who posted it.

Can we stop with the stripe adverts please? It's getting irritating. I'll have to start posting links to Paypal and Sagepay each day to balance it out.

by mfen3 13y ago

Can we stop with the stripe adverts please? It's getting irritating. I'll have to start posting links to Paypal and Sagepay each day to balance it out.

adamtulinius 13y ago

You created an account just to post that? Really. I can understand that american citizens might be annoyed, but for people like me, who lives in Europe, it's nice to keep track of their progress.

obeattie 13y ago
I'm an EU citizen and it seems a bit annoying to me, too. Clearly I'm in the minority (the upvotes are against me), but if I wanted to keep track of their progress I could just as well follow their blog or Twitter.
mfen3 13y ago
I don't like companies abusing sites like Hacker News and posting links to their products. It's a form of spam. There's nothing remotely interesting in Stripe for a hacker, just another scummy payment processor.
- sleepyhead 13y ago
  Clearly you have not dealt with other payment gateways. Regardless, news about payment gateways is interesting for developers because we have to implement them. And some of us are entrepreneurs and we have to choose a payment gateway to get money from our customers. If you don't like Stripe articles then don't upvote them.
  - mfen3 13y ago
    I have implemented a few payment gateways, none were particularly taxing for even a novice developer.
    - sleepyhead 13y ago
      It takes a few weeks to get a merchant account for a local provider. For an international provider like Braintree it takes a lot more documentation. AFAIK this is quicker with Stripe. Most local payment gateways here in Norway have a shitty API (many with SOAP. One with versioning like this: chargev1(), chargev2() ). But hard to implement? No, but annoying and takes more time than Stripe. Stripe is clearly a better technical solution for developers. And pricing. There might be cheaper options (particularly with higher volumes). But most options I have looked at have many different price plans and have a monthly cost. Stripe is pay as you go.
- pc 13y ago
  > I don't like companies abusing sites like Hacker News and posting links to their products. For what it's worth: I work at Stripe, and we didn't submit this story. If you've any suggestions as to what we should do to make the submissions less annoying, I'm all ears. I think it's just the case that a lot of people in the various countries tend to care. For example, to take another benchmark, Stripe was a Twitter trending topic in both Ireland and Dublin when we launched this morning: https://twitter.com/TrendsDublin/status/374809599691325440 https://twitter.com/TrendsDublin/status/374809599691325440, https://twitter.com/TrendsIreland/status/374806974908477440 https://twitter.com/TrendsIreland/status/374806974908477440.
  - mfen3 13y ago
    Don't spread FUD about competitors. Statements like this are incorrect: "Accepting internet payments involved weeks of setup, reams of paperwork, and bureaucratic approval processes" Your rates are the same as every other damn payment processor, that's why I fail to see the excitement. I'd also be interested to know if you pay tax in any of the countries your service operates.
    - pc 13y ago
      Sadly, it is not mere FUD for people based here in Ireland. (I agree that it was somewhat better in the US.) Here's what Liam Casey (CEO of PCH International[1]) said earlier: https://twitter.com/liamcasey/status/374690420556443650 https://twitter.com/liamcasey/status/374690420556443650. He's speaking from personal experience. (I've talked to the engineers who were trying to set up that merchant account.) And, yes; we charge VAT on our services in Europe; this goes straight to the government. [1] http://enwp.org/PCH_International http://enwp.org/PCH_International
      - illumen 13y ago
        Do you pay corporation tax in Europe? If "stripe in Ireland", and an office in London then you should right?
        13y ago
- simonw 13y ago
  Unlike other sites you might frequent, Hacker News culture is generally OK with companies posting news about their products. If the news isn't interesting, it won't be upvoted and won't make the front page.

sleepyhead 13y ago

Go ahead and post those links. If the links are interesting and important for developers then they will get upvotes. As a developer in Norway I am very much delighted to see Stripe roll out in Europe and hope to see more Stripe links here on Hacker News!

michaelmcmillan 13y ago
I could not agree more. We're developing an app at NTNU and we're basically just waiting for Stripe to become available.

rafski 13y ago

Paypal is a turnoff for many customers. I've met people who will not use it no matter what and will quote the popular horror stories. Braintree seems ok-ish but has a €100 minimum monthly fee. Paymill seems to be just fine but has some formal requirements. Realex and Sagepay have a monthly fee, also require a merchant account, this is where the fun begins (although Sagepay offers own merchant accounts too). AIB Merchant Account charges: -- Once off registration fee of €190. Credit Cards: 3.00% per transaction Laser Cards: 25c per transaction Visa Debit Cards: 35c per transaction Please bear in mind that we have a minimum monthly charge of €30, so if your total charge for Merchant Service Charge and Laser each month does not equal to €30, you will be charged €30. -- To get an AIB Merchant Account you also need to provide 3 months of bank accounts, and, wait for it… A BUSINESS PLAN (!) Also… "Once the signed application is returned to us it will be processed within 5-10 working days." Stripe. All you need is 10-15 minutes it takes to fill the online form and set things up. Done. I always thought the downside was that it was considerably more expensive than others. Not in Ireland, it isn't — unless I'm missing something.

drited 13y ago

Did you know that the Stripe was a Ycombinator funded startup? If not, I get why you posted that and guess you wouldn't have posted it if you knew. If you did know however, I don't see why you'd have an issue with this. Links following the progress of successful YC companies absolutely are relevant to the HN community. If nothing else they give motivation to people in later YC batches to keep ploughing ahead despite the difficulties that face all startups. Witness the popularity of HN posts about Airbnb, Dropbox, Scribd etc. I don't see how this link is any different, especially given that it wasn't a Stripe founder who posted it.