In the 4th quarter of 2016, the Commerce Department reported that e-commerce had 14.3% year-over-year sales growth to make up $102.7 billion, with total retail sales representing 4.1% in the same period. E-commerce sales accounted for only 8.3% of total retail sales in the US alone.
Using PayPal for eBay
According to Datanyze, the leading technographics provider, PayPal plays a dominant role in the world of online shopping with a 76.8% share of websites that offer payment options of similar type. As a result, PayPal processed 6.1 billion total transactions in 2016, which was an increase of 24% over 2015. The actual dollar amount processed or total payment volume (TPV) made up $354 billion, growing 28% year over year.
As a rule, sellers on eBay process all of their sales through PayPal. PayPal has both pros and cons. It can be good for many things, but it can also be bad for other things. As a merchant account to have for selling on eBay, PayPal isn’t the best option at all. Take the time to research and find a reputable merchant account provider like emerchantbroker.com (EMB) that will let you know how to properly handle your business and its issues.
The disadvantages associated with PayPal have to do with expensive fees, minimal e-commerce customization (except at checkout), the fact that your account may be frozen, and country-based restrictions.
Alternatives to PayPal
The above-mentioned disadvantages often make merchants choose other options for online transactions. Here are alternatives to PayPal:
- Amazon Payments – Amazon Payments is only available to US residents. It’s great both for businesses and developers.
- Google Wallet – Google Wallet’s availability is restricted to the US. You can store your debit/credit cards, gift and loyalty cards in a digital wallet without difficulty.
- A Payment Processor Like EMB – The #1 high risk merchant account provider in the US is an ideal option for merchants. EMB offers secure and affordable PayPal alternative merchant account to merchants of any type and size.
- Payoneer – Payoneer provides its services in 200 countries. You can process transactions in over 100 currencies. It’s great for freelancers and other professionals who need to receive payments from other countries.
- Skrill (formerly Moneybookers) – You can use Skrill to send money to an email ID that belongs to another Skrill user. For money withdrawals, you can use a debit/credit card or a bank account.
- Stripe – Stripe offers a convenient method of accepting payment from customers. It can be used both for Visa and MasterCard, American Express and JCB.
- Apple Pay – For online and in-person payments, Apple Pay stores your credit/debit cards so to allow for making purchases simply by holding your thumb on the phone’s Touch ID sensor.
If you’re on the lookout for an eBay merchant account, turn to emerchantbroker.com to get a reliable solution for your online payment processing.