Reliable alternative to PayPal?

Google Checkout, which is pretty much an identical twin to PayPal.

I've been happy with Authorize.Net, but Wells Fargo Merchant is my favorite, however I'm not positive that you have access to Wells Fargo in Panama.

I haven't had any issues with paypal, but I wouldn't rely on it for a big launch. Google Checkout that was mentioned above is quite good as is amazon simple payment system.

2checkout.com is good.


david

When I have a launch due, I always advise Paypal first. Its just another pre-launch requirement.

Neil

epassporte, a paypal clone.

Paypal screwed me after 6 years of being a model customer... For absolutely no reason. I've used Google checkout and 2CO and like them both. GC has lower transaction fees, not sure about continuity though.

-Scott

Google Checkout! The best alternative to PayPal.

Just checked out Google Checkout.

To be precise, if you are using it for a seller, you are using Google Checkout Merchant.

The sad thing I notice immediately? It is available only for US and UK. No love for Asia I guess.

Check out fastspring.com I have been hearing good things about them, plus you will still be able to accept paypal.

Best Regards,
James Campbell

Have you ever thought about Moneybookers?Nowadays,it becomes more and more popular.Maybe you can check it out.Good luck.

I believe that alert pay is the best alternative to paypal but paypal is the best one than any other.

Google checkout, is the way to go never had any problems, apart from when they recently stopped accepting debit cards (maestro) from the uk, now only credit cards

Im an advocate of Plimus.com

They process paypal, moneybookers, etc for you.

I've been using Plimus.com .It's super easy to use and you can configure almost anything. They have many many features, they are super flexible. There are many ways you get your money out. You can set up an account within minutes which sounds great but is probably why their system is paranoid at times. A robot might call your customer over the phone to confirm if they really ordered your product. There are other certain little annoying things (like, they don't seem to fight charge back requests), but I've tried many payment companies over the years and Plimus is one of the best ones.

2CO is good alternative. People with paypal account can pay you for your products using their paypal account.


D.Marze

I think 10's of thousands of orders calls for a merchant account. ie. Process credit cards on your own server, directing them to you bank account.

It's too bad that Google checkout is only available in the US and Uk. Does anyone know when it will be available in Europe? I would like to have an alternative for PayPal as well.

Ah, scrap that. Looks like powerpay is also only for the US. I am unable to contact them with my choice of country.

Hello Ishan!

They are on my short list! Thank you! Lots of people seem to like them.

Sydney

Confirmation regarding PowerPay:

I received this message this morning:

"Unfortunately, we are licensed to operate within the US only. You would need to be a US citizen and US business address and US bank account."

U.S citizenship - if that part is true (the writer may have meant "resident") - rules out PowerPay but for some overseas heavy hitters it would not be difficult to set up a U.S business address (an LLC for $90 and a mail forwarding address is enough to then get a U.S bank account. This would then open up a wide range of possibilities not otherwise available to many of us.

For instance: the full range of merchant accounts and business banking.

The next question, of course, is what are the tax implications. I assume (but I'd like to hear from someone who really knows) that we would then be subject to U.S taxes even if, like me, we live in countries where we otherwise would not pay tax.

Sydney

Well, if you looking for alternative of paypal then you must try google checkout offered by Google.

I'm getting aware that I should not trust PayPal alone. Should have an alternate like Google Checkout.

Thank you
Jai

Have u tried Webmoney?

Thanks for the heads up JR.
With Delaware, the info is online on: Delaware Division of Corporations

Hello everyone!

Sorry to have taken so long to report back on my research. Much of the delay has been because of the time is has taken to hear back from suppliers of one sort or another.

As I have mentioned before, my launch is a CPA/continuity offer. Speaking with a merchant account provider, I learned that CPA networks typically require us (you and me) to tell them how many sales we want and then to pay them 50% up-front in an escrow account. In my case, that would have required payment of roughly $75,000 up front. Totally impossible! For a while I had visions of almost five years' work coming to a grinding and pointless halt.

I had a long chat today with my marketing people (they are well connected with the affiliate networks) and they tell me there are other options which I will investigate and report back about when I have something worthwhile to say. But I am not working alone and it may take a while.

I have also been in touch with a merchant provider but that relationship is young and I am not yet comfortable with the source so I will hold off commenting on that, too.

After all the discussions here and with others, the route I expect to go, depending on the affiliate network used, is:

* Delaware LLC because I am not a U.S resident but the company would be. For foreign residents like me, there is no federal or state tax on a Delaware LLC because all income is able to pass through to the owner(s). In my case, Panama does not charge tax on foreign income.
* Merchant account. This means I have full control of money received and the account cannot be frozen or messed with in any way. The arrangement is between me and the card companies. One difficulty: It is essential you have a business of some form. For me, that will be a Delaware LLC. It will cost me about $450 as a non-resident of the U.S. A U.S resident will pay more than $100 less. There are services that charge a lot less ($65 plus fees for one) but be careful to check out whether they include everything. Wishing to use credit cards directly rules out things like ClickBank (in case you were wondering!).
* Ultimately I want to go with several CPA networks - but that may be champagne on a beer budget! For now, I will be investigating Pepperjam, Linkshare and Commission Junction.

It would be nice if that's the end of the journey! I'll keep you posted. I just hope this is helpful to you in some way.

All the best,

Sydney

Does anyone know how to input alertpay or any processor that pays worldwide into a yahoo store? (which is set up to take only paypal) probably can be done with html or something like that....anyone know?

Thank you Sydney. I appreciate the input. I suppose a tax specialist would be the best person to consult about this.

2Checkout is looking pretty good too so I'm going to read up on their requirements and procedures for receipt of funds and decide how to go from there.

If I currently have very low activity but expect a jump after launch of my site to about $5000 a month, would that be a red flag that would push Paypal to freeze my account?

Being proactive makes sense. Thanks Sydney!

Sydney, thanks for the invitation to visit you I guess one would need to search for mail forwarding service in Panama and new Skype number in Panama..and end up with an unusable Paypal...
Hm...I'll probably go with a US LLC, but please keep us informed.
p.s. ...and go to Panama simply for pleasure

Paypal, 2CO & clickbank are out. Nanacast looks great. Thoughts?

Hi Sydney

Check out the above thread and the comments by Josh Anderson about a system called Nanacast - maybe that can also help! Great info supplied here as well.

ive been waiting recharge my paypal account and waiting for the 4 digit, so slow. i asked my credit card bank, saids its still floating.huh..

If you're targeting a UK market I can't
recommend NoChex enough. It's easy to
set up, they don't take a huge cut, and
if there's any problems they will e-mail you
rather than 'freezing' your account.

Sydney,

You sir are a true gentleman. Thank you so much for sharing all of this information, and taking the time summarize and update everyone else on this post. I was going through similar payment merchant problems as I travel through Asia (Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Phillipines, Vietnam) pretty much 90% of the time due to my full time job. (I'm a consultant)

I would also like to thank other contributors like James, Milan and Cynthia for adding so much value to the thread. In fact this thread should be stickied to help all the non US and UK residents out there.

I have a few ideas that might help though,

How about using more than 1 payment merchant, Sydney. If you choose to split payment options into Paypal, 2CO AND have your own merchant account, etc. It will benefit your customers greatly by giving them more payment choices. In fact, it will also increase your credibility to them by having so many payment partners.

Yes it will be more troublesome on your end having to handle more than 1 payment merchant but for me it's possibly worth the trouble. At least if for some unfortunate reason, your funds still get stuck with 1 merchant you can still access your funds from the other 2 merchants. Never put all eggs in 1 basket right?

Someone mentioned epassporte earlier, I caution ANYONE against using them. They are very unprofessional and shady and looks like it was put up by a drug dealer using it to launder their money. (Ok, well maybe not, but that's the feeling I get from them) You can find more scam reports on epassporte easily on google.

If anyone has experience with good payment merchants that work well with Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam please do let me know. Any help will be truly appreciated. I'm currently still using Paypal only but I've been lucky as my balances have been more on the low side but I'm launching a product in less than 2 months and would like to explore all options available.

I will do the due diligence and share everything I've learnt along the way back on this thread too...

Thanks,

Yuki

Hello Yuki!

I also than you for the thanks!

My journey is almost over but it has not been cheap and likely works for very few others.

First of all: cost - and in part this may answer Cynthia's question. By the time I am finished in the next week or two (these things always seem to take at least twice as long as we are told!) I figure to have spent about $10,000.

1. The design/management company (I don't really know how to describe them) chosen on the basis of a recommendation from a fellow WF member and for their very close association with a number of the large affiliate networks. $6,500. Cynthia seems to be going it alone which is waaaay beyond my capability. Congratulations and good luck, Cynthia!
2. Because I live in Panama where merchant accounts don't appear to exist* and where foreign income is not taxable, I could not set up a merchant account here. *Another WF member wrote a private message to say he was able to do so through a Panamanian bank.
3. If I had set up a merchant account in the U.S, I would have been taxed in the U.S.
4. I was advised by my merchant account provider in the U.S to establish a company in the EU. Coincidentally, after all the other delays, this was done today in the UK and I am now waiting for documentation. I used UK company formation & incorporation services provided online by Formations House UK which is specialists in company formations UK, incorporate registered readymade companies, starting new companies, creating new limited companies, shelf list, off th for the registrar carefully picking out what I needed from their menu. I deleted some things because they would have meant duplication. This knocked the bill down about £100 but still came to over $1,000.
5. Once I have the company documentation, I then need to set up a bank account in the Channel Islands (it could also have been in Liechtenstein), a tax haven. Researching that was interesting though not difficult. One bank wanted a deposit of $50,000 minimum (also the maximum insurable amount for banks there)! Then I found LloydsTSB and spoke to someone on the phone there at 2 a.m. their time! Service totally unlike Panama! Cost: zero; deposit, zero; seems simple so far.
6. The pre-application for the merchant account is approved. They need to see the website to make sure all the new credit card rules are applied, especially for continuity programs. (Hey! There's one step actually completed!)
7. The merchant account folks in the U.S sent me seven pages of forms that needed lots of banking research and cannot be finalized until I have documentation back from the Channel Islands. The gateway setup fee is $1,500.
8. Once all this is done, pricing and advertising is tested before everything gets sent to the affiliate networks to decide how they want to play - if they do!

A launch I expected in February or, at the latest, March might now get done in May!

Slightly off topic (but it may give others ideas), I spent yesterday filling out a ton of stuff for Elance. I need to earn some cash in a hurry. I haven't enough cash to pay all the bills so I will do some freelance writing. I expect to be able to earn $3,000 a month for each of the next two months. That will ease a lot of problems; I am going the LA in June to meet my intended bride. Can't go in rags!

Meanwhile, to keep sane through all the waiting and delays, I have written another book that will be accompanied by a perpetual and very sticky continuity program. There have been a lot of sleepless nights as the nocturnal ideas churned. Over the next year, there will be books for at least 11 countries, together with continuity programs, and I figure I will need a virtual staff of somewhere near 60 people spread all over the world.

It is amazing what can come from an ebook idea five years ago and looks like growing into an international financial publishing house! It all depends on how much cash this next venture produces.

Let me finish this with a question. I badly need some advice about the new 300+ page book. I am pretty sure it can be sold for $47 or more, allowing affiliates $40 and most of the rest for expenses. In other words, I don't expect to make anything from it - and that's fine. Its purpose is to promote a weekly newsletter at $9.95 a month - less than $2.50 a week.

The U.S version, which back-tests the 30 Dow Jones Industrial Average stocks for 25 years and will give strong proof of safe returns currently guessed to average about 30%, will be ready to market in June or July of this year. My aim is for it to have the widest possible circulation among people interested in stocks.

Here's the question: should I sell it or give it away? The ultimate aim is to have 10,000 U.S subscribers within six months of the book's launch.

After a three-month delay to allow a team in the UK to do a website, promotion and all the other things needed for a launch there, there will be a new version every two weeks in nine other countries, each country with its own team. My work on each new version is about two solid weeks but the teams will be overlapping production in their own countries.

If I give the book away (meaning no one earns anything), how should I promote it. Obviously, I want it to go viral in a big way. Are there proven and trusted specialists who do this sort of thing and if so how do they get paid?

You know, someone should take this thread and others, do a bit of rewriting, and make an excellent IM ebook from A to Z.

Thanks for all your help!

Sydney

Why don't you use swerg.com. I think this can be a good alternative to PP.
And Google Checkout is good but they don't accept PayPal as much as I know. And they are only available in US and UK.