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I have no experience with Stripe, but Amazon Payments was a huge pain in the ass for me when trying to set up my Kickstarter. Kickstarter verified me just by as

by fiblye 12y ago

I have no experience with Stripe, but Amazon Payments was a huge pain in the ass for me when trying to set up my Kickstarter. Kickstarter verified me just by asking for a bit of personal info. When I tried making an Amazon Payments account, it locked me out after one failed attempt of verification with absolutely no reason for why it failed. I was pretty sure I should've gotten 3 attempts, but nope. I then had to fax a bill proving I exist to Amazon in order to unlock it and try again. Got another attempt, and it locked me out once more. I then got a warning saying the next failed attempt would permanently disable my account. Called up Amazon and they unlocked it for me. The rep was about to hang up, but I made sure she stayed on the line to walk me through the issue step-by-step. Turns out Amazon's system didn't like the way I input my street address, even though it verified just fine on Kickstarter. Verification normally takes a few hours/days to tell you that you failed, but the rep stayed on the line and made sure it went through fine that time. Sorry for rambling on, but Amazon Payments gave me more trouble than any other payment service. Even Paypal was better. Googling for answers to my problems gave me countless results from other people who had the same mysterious problems, and it seemed many couldn't even get a response from customer service. If Stripe is even marginally better, then I'm glad they're moving on to them.

habosa 12y ago
I had the exact same experience. I have to have my friends buy things on Kickstarter for me since I don't feel like faxing Amazon proof of my existence (which they don't seem to require when I want to Amazon Prime some more USB cables).
- bengali3 12y ago
  I think this concern is for receiving payments from kickstarter, not making payments to a project? no?
  - habosa 12y ago
    I have it for buying.
free2rhyme214 12y ago
Funny how big companies continually do this. Only a few big companies avoid doing this which is why startups will thrive until they too become big slow companies.
- jakejake 12y ago
  You can kinda tell when a process is designed around fraud prevention, rather than being designed around user experience. Big companies make big targets and so they naturally become more risk averse.
- jakejake 12y ago
  You can kinda tell when a process is designed around fraud prevention, rather than being designed around user experience. Big companies make big targets and so they naturally become more risk averse.
- jakejake 12y ago
  You can kinda tell when a process is designed around fraud prevention, rather than being designed around user experience. Big companies make big targets and so they naturally become more risk averse.
- jakejake 12y ago
  You can kinda tell when a process is designed around fraud prevention, rather than being designed around user experience. Big companies make big targets and so they naturally become more risk averse.
  - rhizome 12y ago
    Yet they also have the resources and manpower with skills to smooth it all out if they wanted to. That is, if it's even possible; the financial system's burdens may be insurmountable to provide a good UX.
    - bengali3 12y ago
      >the financial system's burdens may be ripe for someone to provide a good UX. ftfy :) where there's pain, there will eventually be innovation.
rebootthesystem 12y ago
This does not surprise me at all. Amazon, behind the curtains, is an ugly smelly mess. Just ask anyone who sells on Amazon professionally. The stories I've heard are beyond belief.
- leeoniya 12y ago
  yes, it's bad; not just bad, it's borderline insane, given the resources they have to make something awesome. there are no fewer than 4 different APIs and endpoints to do the same thing, each with strange feature omissions / quirks and differing names for the same variables (sometimes just case). there is a separate sign-up for each service, with all-new verification; it's like they absorbed 10 different competing payment services, kept their original APIs and rapidly churned each of them into some additional shitty branded product. what's worse is that FPS was the best option as it could do what you wanted, how you wanted without being forced into a specific UI/pipeline. now FPS is being discontinued [1] and everyone is being shoved into the widget-only "Login and Pay with Amazon" if anyone knows of a way to retain the "leave-to-log-in -> select funds source -> come-back-with-token" process, please let me know. we're trying to keep our UI the same for all payment processors/methods, this widget requirement is not going to work for us. [1] https://payments.amazon.com/help/201626250 https://payments.amazon.com/help/201626250
- ChrisNorstrom 12y ago
  I hate selling on Amazon. Hate it. Ebay fees are 11%, Amazon fees are 40-50%. I've seen a seller almost cry watching amazon take over $140 in fees out of a $300 transaction. And ruetinely take 50% of gross receipts. Yes this is normal. I read the email customer service sent back about it. Sellers have started canceling large transactions and directing their buyers to the same product listing on etsy, ebay, or their own store. Don't get me started on the inability to control shipping rates like every other marketplace. Amazon is the dinosaur of online shopping. And the biggest insult is Amazon saying they make so little profit. Where is all this money going?
  - moe 12y ago
    Where is all this money going? Presumably into keeping their retail prices slightly below the competition, and free shipping.
istsehrgut 12y ago
I have not used Amazon outside of AWS (which felt like engineers built and designed it) but have used Stripe extensively. Can confirm Stripe is incredibly easy to integrate with and well supported via docs.
glxybstr 12y ago
i had a similar experience. i was locked out for 6 months, during which time i couldn't even make payments to others with amazon payments. i missed out on several interesting kickstarter projects. i'm glad they're switching to stripe. have had no problems with them, buying or selling.
sethd 12y ago
Same exact experience as well. We ended up creating a new Amazon account linked to a different bank account and EIN (subsidiary of the main company) just to get around the lockout after submitting information to verify and waiting quite awhile. Months later we received a notice saying the first account was unlocked after review but by then the Kickstarter was over and the money already deposited in our other account.
johnmaguire2013 12y ago
I used Amazon Payments for about 6 months for little freelance projects when I was 18. I loved it. Quick deposits to my bank, super-low fees, and I convinced a lot of people to join it. Then they started saying they couldn't verify me. There was no "Talk to support," only "try verifying again." I tried about 3 times, and then it finally locked me out. I finally found a way to call up support and they said "Okay, we'll get back to you in a few days about what's wrong." A few days later I got an email saying my account had been banned, would not be unbanned, and any further requests for information would be ignored. Still wish I knew what I did wrong. In the meantime, I've never been able to support Kickstarters because I couldn't use Amazon Payments.
- xorcist 12y ago
  Sounds exactly like Paypal. The companies which handle your money seems to have the worst customer service. I don't understand how they get away with it in the marketplace.
  - sdoering 12y ago
    The silent majority uses it, is not interested in the workings of the system and the small amount of gone bad edge cases. Imho it's sloth - or exactly the same reason, why all these "great leaders" (aka politicians) get voted into office time after time. ;-) And I am as guilty as everybody else.
  - murbard2 12y ago
    Because they are not much worse than their competition, and the suckiness is largely a consequence of the regulations that they are subject to.
  - jpalomaki 12y ago
    Somebody said the main reason to PayPal's success was their ability to limit fraud. Maybe that is true. Strict policies lead to this kind of problems. And when dealing with thin margins and small customers personal service is bad for profit.
anon4 12y ago
For my part, I've never had any trouble paying through Amazon Payments. It has always worked flawlessly.

by fiblye 12y ago

habosa 12y ago

I had the exact same experience. I have to have my friends buy things on Kickstarter for me since I don't feel like faxing Amazon proof of my existence (which they don't seem to require when I want to Amazon Prime some more USB cables).

bengali3 12y ago
I think this concern is for receiving payments from kickstarter, not making payments to a project? no?
- habosa 12y ago
  I have it for buying.

free2rhyme214 12y ago

Funny how big companies continually do this. Only a few big companies avoid doing this which is why startups will thrive until they too become big slow companies.

jakejake 12y ago
You can kinda tell when a process is designed around fraud prevention, rather than being designed around user experience. Big companies make big targets and so they naturally become more risk averse.
jakejake 12y ago
You can kinda tell when a process is designed around fraud prevention, rather than being designed around user experience. Big companies make big targets and so they naturally become more risk averse.
jakejake 12y ago
You can kinda tell when a process is designed around fraud prevention, rather than being designed around user experience. Big companies make big targets and so they naturally become more risk averse.
jakejake 12y ago
You can kinda tell when a process is designed around fraud prevention, rather than being designed around user experience. Big companies make big targets and so they naturally become more risk averse.
- rhizome 12y ago
  Yet they also have the resources and manpower with skills to smooth it all out if they wanted to. That is, if it's even possible; the financial system's burdens may be insurmountable to provide a good UX.
  - bengali3 12y ago
    >the financial system's burdens may be ripe for someone to provide a good UX. ftfy :) where there's pain, there will eventually be innovation.

rebootthesystem 12y ago

This does not surprise me at all. Amazon, behind the curtains, is an ugly smelly mess. Just ask anyone who sells on Amazon professionally. The stories I've heard are beyond belief.

leeoniya 12y ago
yes, it's bad; not just bad, it's borderline insane, given the resources they have to make something awesome. there are no fewer than 4 different APIs and endpoints to do the same thing, each with strange feature omissions / quirks and differing names for the same variables (sometimes just case). there is a separate sign-up for each service, with all-new verification; it's like they absorbed 10 different competing payment services, kept their original APIs and rapidly churned each of them into some additional shitty branded product. what's worse is that FPS was the best option as it could do what you wanted, how you wanted without being forced into a specific UI/pipeline. now FPS is being discontinued [1] and everyone is being shoved into the widget-only "Login and Pay with Amazon" if anyone knows of a way to retain the "leave-to-log-in -> select funds source -> come-back-with-token" process, please let me know. we're trying to keep our UI the same for all payment processors/methods, this widget requirement is not going to work for us. [1] https://payments.amazon.com/help/201626250 https://payments.amazon.com/help/201626250
ChrisNorstrom 12y ago
I hate selling on Amazon. Hate it. Ebay fees are 11%, Amazon fees are 40-50%. I've seen a seller almost cry watching amazon take over $140 in fees out of a $300 transaction. And ruetinely take 50% of gross receipts. Yes this is normal. I read the email customer service sent back about it. Sellers have started canceling large transactions and directing their buyers to the same product listing on etsy, ebay, or their own store. Don't get me started on the inability to control shipping rates like every other marketplace. Amazon is the dinosaur of online shopping. And the biggest insult is Amazon saying they make so little profit. Where is all this money going?
- moe 12y ago
  Where is all this money going? Presumably into keeping their retail prices slightly below the competition, and free shipping.

istsehrgut 12y ago

I have not used Amazon outside of AWS (which felt like engineers built and designed it) but have used Stripe extensively. Can confirm Stripe is incredibly easy to integrate with and well supported via docs.

glxybstr 12y ago

i had a similar experience. i was locked out for 6 months, during which time i couldn't even make payments to others with amazon payments. i missed out on several interesting kickstarter projects. i'm glad they're switching to stripe. have had no problems with them, buying or selling.

sethd 12y ago

Same exact experience as well. We ended up creating a new Amazon account linked to a different bank account and EIN (subsidiary of the main company) just to get around the lockout after submitting information to verify and waiting quite awhile. Months later we received a notice saying the first account was unlocked after review but by then the Kickstarter was over and the money already deposited in our other account.

johnmaguire2013 12y ago

I used Amazon Payments for about 6 months for little freelance projects when I was 18. I loved it. Quick deposits to my bank, super-low fees, and I convinced a lot of people to join it. Then they started saying they couldn't verify me. There was no "Talk to support," only "try verifying again." I tried about 3 times, and then it finally locked me out. I finally found a way to call up support and they said "Okay, we'll get back to you in a few days about what's wrong." A few days later I got an email saying my account had been banned, would not be unbanned, and any further requests for information would be ignored. Still wish I knew what I did wrong. In the meantime, I've never been able to support Kickstarters because I couldn't use Amazon Payments.

xorcist 12y ago
Sounds exactly like Paypal. The companies which handle your money seems to have the worst customer service. I don't understand how they get away with it in the marketplace.
- sdoering 12y ago
  The silent majority uses it, is not interested in the workings of the system and the small amount of gone bad edge cases. Imho it's sloth - or exactly the same reason, why all these "great leaders" (aka politicians) get voted into office time after time. ;-) And I am as guilty as everybody else.
- murbard2 12y ago
  Because they are not much worse than their competition, and the suckiness is largely a consequence of the regulations that they are subject to.
- jpalomaki 12y ago
  Somebody said the main reason to PayPal's success was their ability to limit fraud. Maybe that is true. Strict policies lead to this kind of problems. And when dealing with thin margins and small customers personal service is bad for profit.

anon4 12y ago

For my part, I've never had any trouble paying through Amazon Payments. It has always worked flawlessly.