Comparisons of Low-Cost Funds Transfer Systems
Web Marketing Today, Issue 101, July 9, 2001
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. |
