Credit Processing

If you build it, will they come? This is a crucial question facing merchants who are seeking to sell products on line. One of the major challenges facing businesses is attracting visitors and potential buyers. Working with a well established market place such as eBay solves part of this problem, while creating other potential issues that are important to address when making a final consideration on your sales venue.

Overall, it is a good idea to new merchants starting up to get exposure for their brand on eBay as a means to transition to a more full time platform. One of the important points to consider when selling on eBay are the forms of payment you can accept. Since eBay owns Paypal that is the preferred method of payment and has a set of fixed processing fees which are based on a graduated volume scale. Buyers can also purchase through credit or debit cards via the Paypal system through either the eBay Checkout or ProPay options.

Paypal is the easiest way to accept payments, as checking transactions clear instantly. We recommend only using Paypal for direct money transactions, as the seller protections on credit transactions are not entirely sound. The Paypal Seller Protection Policy covers merchants against certain claims and charge backs on invalid payment, but is limited in its application. In order to qualify for the Policy, a seller must be based in the US and verify a Business account. Importantly only tangible, physical goods that can be traced through a proof of delivery along with receipt of signature (for high value items) are eligible for coverage. The seller must also ship an item within a week or payment to qualify for the protection plan. As a result, the recovery process can often be difficult, so we recommend only selling to buyers with well established feedback profiles that suggest they are reliable payers.

While most seasoned eBay bidders have a Paypal account, you can also integrated credit card merchant accounts as an option for buyers. The most common integration of 3rd party processors is through eBay Checkout which allows bidders to use credit cards through a certified merchant account of your choice. Alternatively, you can utilize eBay’s own in-house merchant processor, Pro Pay. Businesses can sign up for a Propay account and integrate it in the Paypal account for ease of use. The trade off is that processing fees tend to be a bit higher than standard merchants, but the convenience factor plays a role as well.

You can also accept other forms of payment processing manually such as checks and money orders, but these require you to wait for payment to arrive via the mail before you ship the item. High value items can also utilize an Escrow service, although the fees are higher so this should only be used for large items such as vehicles and rare works. Overall, you can utilize eBay as a way to transition to a more independent, long term brand presence on your own site, although you should still pay close attention to transaction fees on your eBay sales.