Paypal launches Micro-Payments for online content

https://www.thepaypalblog.com/2011/02/paypal-the-best-way-to-buy-and-sell-digital-goods/

by JCB_K • 15 years ago

17 18 15 years ago

JCB_K3• 15 years ago

I think their pricing is too high. 5 percent plus 5 cents for purchases under $12. An item priced 50ct (used as example in their screenshot), that'd be 15%. Quite a lot.

noonespecial• 15 years ago

When I first started in ecommerce, it took us a year to get anyone to allow us to take credit cards, the rate was 28% when it was all said and done, and minimum transaction fees just clobbered us on any purchase less than $10 or so.

15% is fan-frikkin-tastic if its really as easy as they are making it out to be. Then again, it is paypal, so once I've collected about $1000 or so, I'd expect it to be frozen for no good reason until 2014...

JCB_K3• 15 years ago

I do some e-commerce (secondary to our core business) and the fee usually works out at about 5%...

Kilimanjaro• 15 years ago

They should drop the 5cts and take 5% only for purchases less than a dollar. Use that as good PR to spread use of micropayments for purchases under a dollar, which is in reality what a micropayment is.

zweiterlinde2• 15 years ago

The term "micropayments" is misleading when the article's canonical examples are $12 and $19.99.

My idea of a micropayment is about $0.25, so a minimum $0.05 fee is way too steep.

bigiain• 15 years ago

I dunno, anything over 18c gives you more of the sale than Apple would take with it's 30% cut through ITMS, and lots of people seem perfectly happy with that arrangement...

I agree that a useable way of saying something like "give me half a penny to read the rest of this article" would be nice though..

zweiterlinde2• 15 years ago

Completely fair point with respect to the Apple comparison.

In the long run, I envision an enormous amount of economic activity flowing through micropayments, where everyone is giving/receiving payments based on their production/consumption patterns. In that world, their rates are too high. But for the world as it currently stands, it may be ok.

travisp• 15 years ago

I think these are actually pretty good fees. This makes it actually possible to sell something for 25 cents and make money. Yes, a good portion will be used in fees -- you will be giving up 6.25 cents of your 25 cents. But that's significantly better than traditional credit card pricing, and you still keep enough of the 25 cents that it shouldn't be the make or break factor (the volume will be).

It's still not practical for true micropayments, such as charging a penny or two, but this does make some business models and products possible.

javabuddy• 15 years ago

This is really a good news buddy though doesn't seem practical such as charging in cents :)

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ladon862• 15 years ago

I said I'd update HN on my PayPal experience so here it is.

I've been using this feature (embedded payments) with the microtransaction fee schedule since last Friday, and have collected around £1,500 with no problems or account limitations.

I was expecting some limit on my new account, but as I supplied all the information required (passport, bank statements, the works), everything went very smoothly and I have to say that the embedded payments system is quite slick and converts well.

JCB_K3• 15 years ago

If I may ask, what's your business? 1500 pounds is quite a lot in such a short time, for a new service.

ladon862• 15 years ago

No problem! The business is still in relative stealth right now, but it's basically a way of raising money for charity events, so the high revenue figure belies the fact that I'll be passing on a majority of the cash to charity.

We're still in private beta, but we'll publicly announce the service in a month or two.

On the whole it was a great launch and I'm pleased with how things are going right now - let's hope it lasts :)

mgkimsal• 15 years ago

I've been using the micropayment account for almost two years - not sure why this is news except maybe they're now not hiding it? My minimum sale is about $4, and the micropayment works out better for most sales up to around $12, at which point I use a different processor. Using the micropayments approach has saved me a decent amount over the last couple years. Good to see them promoting it more heavily. What I'd wish is that they would allow you to use micropayment pricing and traditional pricing on the same account, and simply give you the micropayment pricing on payments under $12. Not sure why they can't/won't do that.

acangiano• 15 years ago

I left a critical comment, but I don't know if it will be approved or not, so I'll repost it here as well.

This is nice, Carey. Your main problem however was not your cut on small purchases. You real problem is that most tech savvy users don’t trust you. PayPal has arbitrarily frozen accounts countless times, so much so that some people immediately withdraw funds as soon as they reach their PayPal accounts.

Yes, PayPal is not a bank, but it fundamentally acts as one, and my real bank would never freeze an account withholding my funds because I suddenly deposit more frequently than in the past.

Unfreezing an account is very complicated and often a lost cause. Dealing with your customer care department is a reminder that the Turing Test should probably be used for hiring purposes as well.

That’s a big PR problem you have when you are claiming to be “The Best Way to Buy and Sell Digital Goods”.

I appreciate your new features, and the fact that you are trying to enable not-quite-micro payments online.

I would suggest however a change to your policies when it comes to freezing and unfreezing accounts. Aim for transparency and clear rules, and make an announcement about these new customer friendly policies. Include a heartfelt apology to the community for the past “miscommunication”. Have your customer care team actually pay attention to what the customer is saying, rather than just copying and pasting boilerplate answers that don’t fit the customer’s scenario.

Until you do those things, PayPal will just be a necessary evil for those doing business online.

hopeless• 15 years ago

How much money does Paypal funnel through Ireland and yet again this offering is not available here. Neither is the Website Payments Pro solution ;-(

leon_• 15 years ago

Processing your micropayments: 5 percent plus 5 cents

Getting your account frozen and your business destroyed over night: Priceless

true_religion• 15 years ago

I went digging to find out the real details[1].

I really like this: > For each transaction we'll charge you either standard pricing, or micropayments pricing – whichever is the lower rate.

It takes away the headache of choosing between the two systems while starting up.

However $12, is the lowest price point you'd want to use the micropayment model with. And as your volume increases, the 'low price point' drops to $8 with $100,000+ in monthly volume.

Just food for thought.

[1] https://merchant.paypal.com/cgi-bin/marketingweb?cmd=_render...

thetable• 15 years ago

The 5% + $.05 pricing isn't actually new on PayPal. The program has existed for years, it's just been very well-hidden.

I remember it took us hours and many phone calls with different people there to get it set up for us. Glad to see it got bumped to more visibility.

Paypal launches Micro-Payments for online content

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