Comparisons of Low-Cost Funds Transfer Systems
Web Marketing Today, Issue 101, July 9, 2001
This article contains older information. Go here for newer information on shopping carts and transactions.
The tremendous popularity of eBay and other consumer auctions in the last few years created a need for low-cost means of transferring money that protect both the seller and the buyer. This has spawned a number of new solutions -- PayPal, BillPoint, Yahoo! PayDirect, C2it, eMoneyMail, and BidPay. Of these, only PayPal has really matured to the point where it is of much use to serious online merchants outside the auction arena.
We've also listed three e-commerce systems -- CCNow, ClickBank, and DigiBuy -- that handle the entire credit card transaction. They require little or no set-up fees, but charge transaction rates from 7.5% to 13.9%. Because of the high transaction fees, these are useful only for products with a high mark-up.
Finally, we've compared these prices to typical fees paid by merchants that have both a merchant account and a payment gateway. These typically require substantial set-up fees, and minimum monthly fees in addition to a discount rate (percentage of the transaction amount) and a flat transaction fee.
|
|
Restrictions |
Percent of Transaction |
Transaction |
Monthly Fees and Set-Up Fees |
International |
|
PayPal Premier or Business Account |
None |
2.2% for high-volume "merchant" accounts, 2.9% for newer "standard" accounts. (Takes effect 7/14/01) |
30¢ |
None |
Yes, buyers and sellers in 43 countries, 8 countries can deposit to local bank. |
|
BillPoint |
Standard account limited to $500 transactions, $2000 for merchant account. Currently limited to eBay sellers. |
For transactions over $15, 2.5% + 0.5% (1.75% + 0.5% for high volume sellers), 1.5% + 0.5% for electronic checks (0.75% + 0.5% for high volume sellers). |
35¢ |
None |
Sellers must be US or Canadian residents. Payments can be received from 50 countries. |
|
c2it |
Limited dollar amounts. |
1.0%, 50¢ minimum |
None |
None |
No, US residents only. |
|
eMoneyMail |
Improvements being made until end of August. |
None |
$1.00 |
None |
No, US residents only. |
|
BidPay |
2.25% on funds over $100 |
$5 |
None |
Yes. But mails checks only to countries with "good" postal systems, not to the Caribbean, Central & South America, & most African & Middle Eastern Markets. |
|
|
Yahoo! PayDirect |
No fees currently. |
None |
None |
No, US residents only may be sellers or buyers. |
|
|
CCNow |
Tangible goods |
9% (8% in Nov. and Dec.) |
None |
None |
Yes, all countries. Payments may be mailed by regular check or cashier's check, or wired. Direct deposit for US sellers. |
|
ClickBank |
Digital goods, ebooks, or services |
7.5% |
$1.00 |
$49.95 set-up fee |
Yes, payments mailed by check. |
|
DigiBuy |
Digital goods or ebooks, with download service |
13.9% or $3, whichever is greater. |
None |
$29.95 set-up fee |
Yes, payments mailed by check. |
|
Merchant Account |
None |
2.5% discount rate. |
10¢ to 30¢ |
$5 to $25 per month plus often a payment gateway fee of $30 to $60 per month. Application fees vary from $100 to $200+. |
A merchants must have a merchant account in his or her own country, or corporate presence in the US. Exception is Planet Payment and World Pay. |
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