Yeah the methodology I use to decide between Auth.net and PayPal is if the stuff I am doing is for part-time or longhaul. For parttime thing PayPal or some 3rd

Yeah the methodology I use to decide between Auth.net and PayPal is if the stuff I am doing is for part-time or longhaul. For parttime thing PayPal or some 3rd party is cool. But for longhaul, you might as well spend the extra week and learn the art that you will eventually have to. And dealing with merchant account is indeed an art and study of its own. Another thing - when you have an intermediary like PayPal you are more at risk at your money being frozen for some stupid reason, This can happen with merchant account too but never as often as I have come across torturous PayPal or 2checkout stories.