A Quick Research Question if I may?

I'd prefer credit/debit card. Don't think I've ever come across a supplier who asks to be paid by BACS. PayPal is my favourite way of paying, because it means I don't have to hunt down my purse to find my cards!

Having said that, if I really loved the supplier, I wouldn't necessarily be put off by having to pay by BACS, I'd just find it a bit odd.

WSS. So much easier!

I think I'd personally lean towards the credit/debit card one simply because there is more protection in case of problem than just BACS, if I understand these things right?

I suppose it depends really on the rest of the information - if it was a UK supplier that gave a contact phone number (landline preferably) and an address I'd be more likely to trust them with BACS than I would a supplier based overseas.

I'm not sure I've ever paid by BACS - what does this mean? All my online transactions have been debit card or Paypal - I very much prefer the Paypal system.

I assume when you say BACS you mean paying directly into the suppliers bank account. I think most togs do it this way?

By BACS I mean direct bank transfer.

This is really interesting to understand. The problem I have is that I do not have an Ecommerce site as all my work is bespoke.

To elaborate on my question a bit more then is - for those that bought their stationery rather than made it themselves, how did you pay for it?

Thanks for all your replies so far.

Nat

Ah, I see. Well then, I HAVE paid a supplier by BACS, my photogrpaher! It was a pain. I actually had to move.

I wouldn't mind paying by BACS in that case. For other items, that aren't bespoke and that you can just buy straight away (like an online shop) I prefer Paypal.

Hi,

I would prefer to pay via paypal, but doing a BACS payment would not put me off at all, I have done a few direct payments and it was simple enough with my online bank account.

It wouldn't influence my decision as I would think I had a favourite supplier out of two and if it was you it wouldnt make any difference to me!

HTH

As someone who deals with the paying of suppliers as part of my work, I thought I should input.

We have been, for years, paying by BACS because our suppliers havent offered us the option of paying any other way. This has been a pain to be honest and can take a while to sort the payment. We now tend to use suppliers who accept credit/debit cards and most staff members now have purchasing cards. It makes the whole transaction smoother for us.

Following the horrendous service I have had from my tog, I will now only make purchases of a higher value through my credit card. If I had paid any other way, I would have lost over a thousand pound.

With Paypal, there's a % fee for the 'privilege', whereas with BACS it's free.

Internet banking allowas BACS transfers easily.

I do have pay by paypal on my invoice but I do ask buyers to pay the fees as AJ stated. Do you think this is a good compromise?

Thanks for all your help. It really is appreciated.

Nat

From another suppliers view - I stopped doing Paypal years ago because it cost me too much in charges and found that visa charges are less and quicker for me to process. I find that generally speaking people like the security of paying by card and people tend to spend a little bit more if they can pay with their credit card Regarding bank transfer, I don't really like the idea for me as we were victims of on-line bank theft 5 years ago and I never give our bank details to anyone now and no longer do internet banking. Once bitten as they say!

We've paid a couple of suppliers via bank transfer but don't really like doing it that way, would rather pay by credit card as we have protection on our cards. If I know good reviews from people I'll happily pay by bank transfer though - have done so for people recommended that are on hitched.

Our suppliers were all a mix of bacs, cheques and paypal.

None of those who took paypal asked me to pay the charges though...

It's the business who pays the charges Mrs C for using paypal as a method for customers to pay them not the customer as such - or should I say, that's how it used to work about 8 years or so ago. May have completely changed now!

Hmmmmm. I can't really get away with not charging the Paypal fees as the profit margin is sooo tiny on stationery (with me anyway) a 3.5% charge would hit my pocket hard.

This is why I thought I'd ask. Security obviously does play a big part in any online trade these days.

Nat

I have never been asked to pick up the charges with a Paypal payment. I think it would put me off, but I'm someone who objects to marketing based on the premise of cheap prices on the front page, followed with "But oh didn't we tell you? You have to pay a lot of little bits of top". I don't like restaurants that charge the "compulsory gratituity" thing and airlines, well, they infuriate me.

If you have to charge for all the little bits on top (e.g. Paypal fees), I'd rather that be absorbed into the cost of your stationery so it looks like I'm not being fleeced for extra.

WSS....

Have you looked into getting a merchant terminal Nat? You pay a rental for the terminal which more than pays for itself every month in increased sales.

I completely agree. I would not take kindly to having fees added on after my decision to make a purchase based on the 'front' prices.

I wouldn't pay for stationery by BACS, I'd rather use PayPal or send a cheque or pay by card.

Its a difficult call. Going off topic slightly but valid none the less....

I take all other forms of payment free of charge (except credit/debit currently) and that is free for them to make the payment. If I was to add 3.5% to everyones order then I wouldn't think that was fair on those that chose to make the payment by other means. They would be paying 3.5% more for a service they didn't want to use. The option is there for Paypal but comes at a price and I do communicate that upfront.

This is really good for me to understand how you work things.

Nat

So you mark your prices up by 2%...?

Hmmmmmm...

I think this needs some considerable thought. I don't want to rip anybody off with regard to Paypal but I want to give them the best choices available.

Nat

But you can't charge for cheques or cash anyway? 3.5% if my maths is right is £3.50 per £100 sale? A debit/credit card transaction would cost 30p or 50p depending on which bank the customer banks with. Granted there is the terminal rental to pay but this would more than pay for itself in 5 paypal transactions alone so worth looking into. I am tempted to agree with the others that bank charges/paypal charges should be classed as part of the overheads of a business rather than a separate charge.

I would echo that. It's psychologically better as a sales method if everyone pays the same, and is not a huge increase. Your designs are lovely so I'm sure it won't price you out of the market.

Or, if you need to distinguish, you could think about it the other way round - put all your prices up to allow for a proportion of PayPal payments, then offer a small discount for anyone paying by bank transfer (but make that clear up front in your payment terms).

I have a merchant account so I can take online payments by card or PayPal, but it also has a virtual terminal so I can take phone payments. It costs £24 a month plus card fees for each transaction (averaging about 45p per payment instead of a lot more with PayPal). I just accept that when people choose to use PayPal it costs me more, but I allow for that in my pricing (along with all the other things that new businesses often forget such as overheads and admin time etc!).

Hope that helps.

Thank you so much for all of your advice and opinions. It really helps me learn more about how I can progress my business.

Will look into what I can do!

Thank you

Nat

As a supplier - I prefer Bank Transfer as PayPal fees are fairly high (3.4%).

However, I'm greatful for the business, and so offer Cheque, PalPal or BankTransfer.

PayPal is good for some clients, they may have funds from ebay sales - and it doesn't mean digging out the cards. I have the PayPal app on my phone, so have paid for things when on the move.

To the OP, don't limit your options. I've taken to offering bank transfer first and indicating this is our preference, but have no serious problems with PayPal or Cheque.

To take credit cards over the phone will require a merchant account and to take them on your website is fairly complicated due to security (I have provided e-commerce systems so know about this).

Clients paying via PayPal are fairly well protected when paying for a service.

I'm not 100% sure, but paying via Credit Cart onto your PayPal account may even provide 2 levels of protection.

WSS!

But I also find paying by online banking (bank transfer OK).

I am sure you have plenty of replies to give you food for thought, but my two pennies worth ...

For large purchases I would always prefer paying by credit card as there is more protection if things go wrong, especially if I am paying someone for an 'on the day' service. Lets say they don't turn up - yes I have wedding insurance but paying by credit card gives me extra protection.

For other areas I am happy just to be offered a selection of ways to pay. For my stationary I paid by BACS (my stationary is from prettywild). I felt fine doing this as it was only 50% deposit and then pay the balance when the product is received. If it was 100% upfront I may be more wary about it.

Last but not least, I have no paypal account and have never had need of one. I would not choose to pay this way. Just another account, username, password etc I have to remember along with ALL the other things you have online nowawdays.