I'm busy finishing up some of the last things needed to prepare my site for launch. Along the way I've implemented quite a few features to provide paid services to listing owners. Now that their all set up and fully functional I need to tie in some sort of payment system. All alone I had planned on using PayPal. Allowing users to submit addition text "Options" along with their payment was going to be an easy way to keep track of which payment went with which site. As of two days ago I found out I would no longer be able to use paypal for billing. They made some major changes to their policies. I can't just wait for my account to be frozen and have no way to process payments. Maybe it's all for the best since I would rather send the user to a page where they could whip their card right out. Instead of making them fool with a PayPal login.

What I'd like to process and manage payments for are:

Featured Listings ( monthly listings and single payments )
Additional Keywords (limited number and use recurring billing if possible)
Express Submissions ( single payment )
Addition Categories Listings ( limited number and use recurring billing if possible)
Advertising ( single payments )

With that said, are their any Links users that my have any suggestions or comments on setting something like this up??? Also I need to find some billing system to process my payments. Any suggestions???

After doing some research by searching "featured listing payments" on Google I noticed many people are using different formmail scripts to get information from potential buyers. Then have the scripts send them to a payment page or later mail the buyer with payment details. Would this be the best way to go??? I've noticed most billing systems don't allow submission of "Options" so I would need to know what payments go with what sites. Also If I'm able to do recurring billing I would need to know when the buyer has canceled the service subscription. Does anyone know of any billing services that send out emails for canceled recurring payments to the merchants besides PayPal? That's the only way right now I can think of to manage recurring services so I could kick the service out of LinksSQL.

I'd love to hear an suggestions, ideas, or comments you may have. I hoping others have had to figure this out and have experience with different systems and methods.

Thanks!

>>>As of two days ago I found out I would no longer be able to use paypal for billing. They made some major changes to their policies. <<<

Really? What is that change.... I didn't get the policy change email :(

Cheers

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk

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I am looking for something similar, only integrated with a link expiration system that helps automate link renewals.

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Hey Andy,

I had a feeling someone would be asking that question...

Don't worry man, your not the only one that didn't get the e-mail.

http://www.paypal.com/.../index_frame-outside
http://www.paypal.com/...utside&ed=mature

Even thought the new rules are directed more towards "material" and not b2b transactions I don't want to take the risk of being left with no processor. Webmasters are jumping ship by the thousands as we speak. Just read an interesting story about an account being frozen a few moments ago. I'll send you a PM in a sec.


DogTags, I know what you mean. I've been trying to come up with a way to help automate the whole process of expiring links as well. Look like we need to be talking to Andy about that. I posted a question about this early on when he just released his plugin. I think he's made a lot of changes with the v2 that I need to check into.

Hi,

I'm using Worldpay as a payment processor. It is quite expensive (annual fee and percentage taken off each payment) - but I think that whatever option you choose will be if you want lots of options. The big advantage is that they do allow you to setup recurring payments (I think this maybe an additional service which you have to pay for now) and you have a lot of control - for example when the user signs up you can give them a month's free trial and automatically collect the monthly fee after that. You have control over the amount of the recurring fee and the user can cancel at any time - and you get an email to let you know. Because of the number of different features it is quite complicated. I have only used it for processing one option (i.e. adding the site) but I assume that having a list of options must be possible.

Laura.
Edit: I've just been thinking about this a bit more - I did have some difficulty setting up the account to begin with - maybe just the UK but they wanted proof that we were operating at a reasonable size already.
The UK High Street

Ebay strikes again!

There really should have been a class action suit, for all the people who had their businesses set up BEFORE the ebay buy out. It's really treading on the banking system, and the ability for people to conduct fair trade.

But, what it does, is open the door to *other* processors to chip away at paypal's market, and pretty soon, ebay and pay pal are just going to be another company on the internet. When you try to mix morality and business, business usually wins out. Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of guys.


PUGDOG� Enterprises, Inc.

The best way to contact me is to NOT use Email.
Please leave a PM here.

I guess it depends on personal experience as well as what you are selling. I've used PayPal for about a year or two now and have never had any problems with their service. The only thing that slightly bothered me at one point was the exchange rate from dollars to pounds but as they now allow customers to pay in sterling then that isn't an issue.

News travels much faster over the internet than with a normal business and so bad experiences related to PayPal can often be found on website etc....these type of issues happen with all businesses but generally they go unnoticed.

Laura, thanks for the helpful info as always

I've checked out WorldPay several times in the past but never gave them that much consideration. Mainly because of the expensive setup and monthly fees. Always figured there must be less expensive ones out there. I've looked at quite a few processors and they seem to be among some of the most costly. After reading your post I gave them another visit and dug a little deeper. I found some good info in the FAQ's that I had missed before. Seems users can pass text based details which are sent through with the order reports. This is something I was really looking for. Along with your info about the recurring and the email notifications think WorldPay may just do the trick. Really wasn't looking to spend that much on setting up but if it does the job...

I've got a few emails in with a other processors that can hopefully take care of all my needs as well. One I'm especially looking forward to hearing back from. Similar features, lower cost, and a Pay-Per-Click Affiliate system. If they don't come through I can always fall back on WorldPay. If everythings on the up and up when I do here back, I'll be sure to let you know.

The prices appear to be going up on 3rd April so it will be even more expensive!

I've just been having a look on Google and they don't get very good reviews - mainly due to the cost and having to wait over a month for payments into your bank. I have to say that the main reason that I went with them was because of being able to setup recurring payments - if you find a cheaper alternative please tell us!

It looks like you do have to pay extra for the recurring payments to be set up so I think that they are making it prohibitively expensive for small merchants. I'm sure that I didn't pay any setup fee at all when I joined - a couple of years ago. Not sure whether this was a special offer. If you search on Google for "Worldpay special offer" you should be able to find some sites which will give you a small discount on the setup fee (around £25). (Also, have a look at the sponsored links for 'Worldpay' on Google).

Laura.
The UK High Street

Hey Laura,

I still haven't got the final word back from these other processors but I'll certainly let everyone know when I do. I'm still on the search and hope to system I'll be completely happy with. I'll have to do some searches on Google as well. I forgot about Worldpay having an affiliate system. Hopefully let let affiliates shave off a good bit of the costs.

Jonze