Taking credit cards via PayPal?

Probably a simplistic and dumb question, but I have to ask.

A potential client (public university) asked if I take credit cards. I do not have a merchant account set up, but I do take PayPal and PayPal takes credit cards. Can it really be that simple?

I cannot think of any reason why not. I have a sales tax permit, but being a public institution they are exempt from paying sales tax anyway.

Thanks.

There's PayPal Pro I think it's called, which lets you accept credit cards in a merchant-type environment....ie over the phone and such.

Traditional PayPal I believe still requires the sender to have a PayPal account as well...ie it forces signup if the user doesn't have one. I may be wrong on that though. That could turn some clients off of the service.

Your client can register a credit card in their Paypal Account and pay you with this credit card. However be aware if there is some dissatisfaction on the part of the buyer, they can return the item and protest the charge on their card even if you have a no return policy.

JAy Egan wrote in post #9944256
However be aware if there is some dissatisfaction on the part of the buyer, they can return the item and protest the charge on their card even if you have a no return policy.

That's irrelevant to PayPal. They can take issues up with their credit card issuer no matter what processor you use. It's a cost of doing business and a risk you take when dealing with plastic.

I thought anyone could make a "one time" payment via their credit card without setting up their own account, and that all they needed was my info, but I could be mistaken.

I'm thinking of this as a short-term solution, not long-term.

Maybe. It's been awhile since I've used PayPal as a buyer outside of eBay and I don't try to use it in a merchant capacity. Plus I already have an account. My knowledge of it may be outdated.

EDIT: Nope. I just tried to "Send Money" as an anonymous user and it took me to a signup page.

Just get a merchant account with virtual terminal (website to process the transaction). Your bank can set you up, if they don't know how, get a new bank.

Does the one on the left in the below PayPal link work well? Anyone have any experience with it?

https://merchant.paypa​l.com …re_wp_products#​secondpage

Yes, what you're asking works just fine. The only quirk is that on the payment page, Paypal does make a bit of an effort to convince your customers to set up a Paypal account, when they don't need to. There is sort of a "don't have a paypal account?" line at the lower half of the page, that tells them they don't need a paypal account, and can directly pay with a credit card. I run thousands of $ of sales through that way, no issues.

Dave

photoguy6405 wrote in post #9944333
Does the one on the left in the below PayPal link work well? Anyone have any experience with it?

https://merchant.paypa​l.com …re_wp_products#​secondpage

They charge $30 a month?

Heck my merchant charges me $20 (and I thought that was high. haha) and I get a better percentage than PP. I think you'd be better off going with your own merchant account. Then you'd be set up proper and wouldn't confuse your customers.

Thanks for clarifying, tracknut. But when I went to the payment page I didn't see a link to pay without signing up.

They charge $30 is you want the "pro" account. I've never used that, preferring to save the money and let Paypal handle the charge processing on their site rather than having to deal with CC's on my own site. So I've only used the "standard" flavor, myself.

What payment page did you try? If you want to see it in action, I can PM you a link to my site that you could experiment with.

Dave

It looks like I'm going to go with the non-pro option with PayPal. At least for the time being. I can always move to another service provider in the future.

Does anyone know if this allows billing via invoice?

FWIW: I have decided to go with PayPal's Website Payments Standard option. It seems the best for where I am at right now. One thing I like is that I'm not tied into a contract and can easily move credit card sales to somewhere else even as soon as next month if I want to, but this gets me up and running right now.

There is an invoice option, btw.

photoguy6405 wrote in post #9955158
It looks like I'm going to go with the non-pro option with PayPal. At least for the time being. I can always move to another service provider in the future.

Does anyone know if this allows billing via invoice?

it does...
i love paypal and it's the only way i accept payment.

Google propay