On Line Start Up (Worldpay Query)

The_Banker

Hi Folks,
I am in the process of starting up an on line business selling items to the general public. Presently I am an employee of a large company and I am doing this website on the side in the hope that it may grow and allow me to move to it permanently at a later date.

All is going well and I am now looking at the payment stage. I looked at getting a Merchant account with AIB (with the view to signing up with Realex Payments) but as I don’t have an existing business track record they won’t entertain me. I read from their website that I would need an business track record before they would allow me open a merchant account but as I have a large savings account with one of their subsidiaries (EBS) I thought I might get one. I didn’t so I decided to look at Worldpay.

With Worldpay it will take 4 weeks for the payments to hit my account. I can live with that. The business that I am trying to build will be a slow burner and I don’t expect to set the world alight straight away. I have looked around the Worldpay site and to be honest I am more confused than before I looked at it.
So I have a few questions about Worldpay that people who have used them may be able to answer. Any help is appreciated….

• Do I have to register as a business or company first before I open an account with Worldpay?
• Does it matter if I am set up as a sole trader or as a company when it comes to getting an account with Worldpay?
• Do I need to have a merchant account to register with Worldpay? Once registered with Worldpay for payment will the payments go to any current account I specify or do I have to have another ‘special’ account with Worldpay which I then transfer to my current account?

Any info or help from someone who may have a Worldpay account is appreciated.

The Apprentice

worldpay realex ? ? hmm

I do believe you could save yourself a pain in the arsehole and spend 5 minutes getting the html code for the paypal button ..

Your starting up you say - there fore the saving you would ultimely save on worldpay or realex isnt gonna be worth the hassle because the volume isnt there.

I think you could easily get a merchant account like i have with paypal with a few passport forms etc

Best of luck buddy

The_Banker

The Apprentice wrote: »

worldpay realex ? ? hmm

I do believe you could save yourself a pain in the arsehole and spend 5 minutes getting the html code for the paypal button ..

Your starting up you say - there fore the saving you would ultimely save on worldpay or realex isnt gonna be worth the hassle because the volume isnt there.

I think you could easily get a merchant account like i have with paypal with a few passport forms etc

Best of luck buddy

As things stand I have a paypal option. But not everyone has a paypal account.
Can you pay using paypal if you dont have a paypal account? I always associated paypal with ebay and the vast majority of users (in Ireland anyway where my market will be) that use paypal do so in relation to ebay purchases.

Ill certainly look into the merchant account option with paypal.

Im on a steep learning curve here so all and any advice given is appreciated.
Thanks

The Apprentice

Nope you can now pay via paypal even do you dont have a paypal account. It takes all the major cards etc

Ye i think u might be right in saying that it is very much associated or linked with ebay and can deter people but there was figures to suggest over 50% of irish people shopped online at christmas at 2011 according to silicon republic. So obviously with those kinds of figures you can give a idea to how many have actually purchased something online ever ..
I cant give concrete evidence but my opinion is that irish people will have a fiddle and get there in the end, paypal is very user friendly to people that dont have an account when paying with creditcards etc..

Im sure you,ll get there in the end banker Happy learning

The Apprentice

The Apprentice wrote: »

my opinion is that irish people will have a fiddle and get there in the end,

Im wondering your product niche.. possibly your sales demographic ?? Are u selling something to the elderly where the percentage of buyers may not be very technical ??

If not back to the drawing board :P

The_Banker

The Apprentice wrote: »

Im wondering your product niche.. possibly your sales demographic ?? Are u selling something to the elderly where the percentage of buyers may not be very technical ??

If not back to the drawing board :P

Hi Apprentice,
Thanks for the advice. My demographic wouldnt be elderly but just talking with friends of mine and work colleagues (in a kind of ad hoc market research) all of them consider paypal to be linked with ebay and needing an account to use it.

Slowly but surely getting there

The Apprentice

Well thats ok it is what it is.. the only thing u can do is wait a few years till attitudes change which is kinda defeatist to your problem -- or perhaps educate people about paypal on YOUR site before they try and purchase

"Account not needed for paypal" .. or something to that nature..

Thats probably all i can advise you at this point.

Axwell

Yeah with paypal buttons or invoices you can pay them now without needing to have an account as long as its a credit card. They still dont accept laser which would be the only main reason for going with realex to be honest. Most banks are phasing out laser cards anyways though in favour of visa debit. With Realex also you have to pay a monthly fee as oppose to the per transaction costs of paypal so starting off testing the water its a better option for you and then you can look towards a merchant account or a different system down the line.

Peterdalkey

We are a B2B industrial products supplier and have accepted credit cards online for years but only recently added the Paypal payment option. It now accounts for over 30% of our online payments!! It costs us more but buyers clearly feel more secure.
We now also use our company Paypal account when buying products/services online for our own buiness use.

Personally I buy a lot online but rarely from eBay and would always select the paypal option.

I really dont think it is an issue you should worry about, just get selling your stuff

cheers

Peter

Mickey Lover

Gonna weigh in here with my opinion - I'm starting up as well with an online business and am going to go with Paypal.

I would prefer if the transaction fees were a bit lower but as a seasoned shopper myself who would avoid eBay (just can't trust it - it's a personal thing) I've always associated Paypal with security and most people I've talked to said the same thing.

Just my two cents !

funstuff

Hi all,

Sorry if this is a delayed reply.
If you are starting out I would advise the following (from experience).

1) In year 1 there is no hope of getting a merchant account from AIB, BOI or ulster as you need a trading record.

2) Setup a paypal account (free) and a worldpay account. Worldpay will be €150 starting off and €20 a month there in with 3.95% CreditCard fee and 25c for debit cards. Its good to have both as you will satisfy all customers and even if you dont sell a peanut your overhead is only €20 a month.

3) As you become established, you now have a trading history and all the banks will hand you out a merchant account. (Please note worldpay is a merchant account all in one solution, they provide you with an internal merchant account and payment terminal).

4) Next you will have to apply for a merchant account with any of the major banks. I am applying with elavon for €200 BUT my Credit card fees are now down to 2% with a ceiling of €35 a month (whether i sell a peanut or not I pay €35). I will combine this with Realex (very good by the way) and hopefully make back the €200 in the next month or so in % savings.

Hope this helps somebody starting out as it can be painful.

Thanks
Gerry

funstuff

Also worth noting the benefit of moving to realex/own merchant account.
*Worldpay interface for processing the credit cards is external and looks cheap.
*Realex is more streamlined and integrated.

DubTony

stripe.com is in beta here in Ireland. Might be a while yet, but it could be an option.


https://support.stripe.com/questions/is-stripe-available-in-ireland-how-do-i-sign-up-for-the-beta

funstuff

Stipe looks exciting and no better buachaills than the Collison brothers from Limerick to deliver.
The world needs a nifty credit card solution for statups. The whole view of requiring a trading history for a merchant account to be setup is akin to bouncers saying "regulars only". How does one become regular when starting out.

The divide between merchant (e.g. elavon) and payment processor (e.g. Realex) needs to be an all in one solution and stipe looks like that solution.

More luck to them and hope it all goes well for them.

TheWaterboy

Personally I would use Paypal for now - Its early days and you want to get online accepting payments ASAP. Once you are taking in money you can always improve and refine the payment process.

Stripe is a good option but currently only Beta

There is no harm in having Stripe / Realex etc and also Paypal as an alternative.
There is a very valid reason in that lots of people do have paypal accounts (though you don't need one to pay), but this means instead of having to search for their credit card and type all the details in they just enter their username and password...Payment made.

Once you get them this far in the process of buying - do everything possible to ensure they do complete the purchase!

funstuff

Yes Paypal is great to get started but all established websites have a proper merchant account.

Finally got my realex/elavon account today and looks the dogs.
100% integrated and no redirects to external worldpay sites which makes a website look cheap.

I can understand peoples frustration starting off (ive been there) so hopefully stipe does the trick and opens the doors for any seller to have a proper payment terminal immediately.

As a statistic ~25% of my sales come from paypal and ~70% via credit cards (about 75% of these are now debit cards) - the final 5% is done through bank transfer which is good for people that do not use any types of cards.

random.stranger

Another Option:
https://www.paymill.com/en-ie/

* I've never used them & have no association with them

OU812

Starting up also. - hope were not all doing the same thing !!

Going with PayPal for the first six months to establish myself.

I also want to be able to control costs so am using pay as you go options wherever possible, I know they're more expensive but it's worth it in the long run.

I've also been able to get a PayPal debit card through a friend in the US. This will enable me to be able to use some online services that will only use a US based credit/debit card. It'll cost me $5.75 a month but it attaches to my business PayPal account and I can feed that from here rather than have a US bank account.

Looking at getting a PayPal here swiper also for hopefully taking payments at events. (2.7% transaction fee with no setup or ongoing fees).

For an ecommerce solution I'm deciding to go with volusion as its reasonably inexpensive (in fact the US one is $14.95 per month for the basic package Vs. €14.95 for the UK based one, so I'll be using my PayPal card to pay for it & using the difference to offset the PayPal card cost.

funstuff

With Volusion it would probably be best to use the UK option as your seo etc will be more optimised for the UK market (i would imagine) plus you will only save a couple of yo yos a month im using bigcommerce at the moment and cant fault them - i stared off on a $29 a month package and have gradually went onto a $79.99 a month package for added features etc.

OU812

Aiming at the US market initially with a view to going into Asia down the line.

I say that now, to be honest, if my next door neighbour was my first customer I'd be delighted

Looked at big commerce and also shopify (integrates well with vend), but kept coming back to volusion.

Hope to move up the ladder on it sooner than later

funstuff

The very best of luck to you with it.
My website is up and running just under 3 years.
Getting it started is the hardest part but it will all fall into place.
Only negative with bigcommerce is the lack of 3D secure with realex, i may have to use sagepay down the line.

Other advice, dont hold back on spending €€€'s to make your site legit with a good look and feel to it.

Again best of luck

Gerry