Paypal to Raise Website Payments Pro Transaction Rates

On Septmeber 1, 2007, Paypal will raise their fees for their Credit Card transaction processing service Paypal Website Payments Pro. This will not effect regular Paypal rates.

Auctionbytes reported the change:

"...monthly service fees for Website Payments Pro and Virtual Terminal will increase from $20 to $30 per month. Transaction prices will remain at $0.30 per captured transaction, but a $0.30 fee will now also be assessed on all successful authorizations that have not been captured within 29 days. In addition, Virtual Terminal transactions will cost between 2.4% and 3.1% depending on processing volume. Currently, those fees are set at 2.2% - 2.9%."

Is it time to evaluate switching? It depends on what your margins and dollar value of products are. In my opinion, Website payments pro is the best way to go for integrations with your system for Credit card processing on both your website and eBay. The hidden fees that most other CC processors charge rack up very fast, and their rates usually don't end up being what they say they are.

However, if you're only doing a small amount of transactions at a higher dollar value, the extra cost for the convenience is not justified.

It looks like our business units (and most of our clients) will continue to use Paypal WPP, but I suggest running the numbers to see how it will impact your profitability. Read More...

Amazon to Use Harry Potter to Bring in Traffic

I've been hearing rumors that Amazon will be selling the new HP7 at or below cost to attract traffic to the site. This is probably bad news if you planned on selling a lot of HP, but it's great news for the rest of us!

HP7 at or below cost is going to bring a tremendous amount of traffic to Amazon, some of which will be trickling down to us third party sellers. I'd highly recommend that you get yourself set up with Amazon if you are not already. If you're already selling a few products on the River, then now is a great time to optimize your account and add the rest of your inventory in.

I searched for a minute for the release date but couldn't seem to find it. If anyone knows, please post it as a comment. Thanks!

P.S. Laris Merchants: If you're not already set up with Amazon, give us a call so we can get you up and running. Read More...

What Every Seller Should Know about Third Party Shipping Insurance

Do you only insure packages that your buyers have chosen insurance on? I've found that most sellers do, and spend hours per month on customer service and wondering whether or not to eat the cost of a lost of damaged shipment.

There's a better way, and it's called third party insurance!

I'd bet many of you have heard of it but have not given it much thought. Imagine never losing any sleep over problem packages. Better yet, imagine 100% satisfaction when you instantly refund a buyer who receives his package in smithereens.

Here's the strategy:

Sign up with a company like U-PIC or DSI to insure all of your packages each month. Right off the bat you'll have considerable savings on shipping insurance (usually about 50-70% off) from what you're paying now.

Continue to offer optional insurance at the regular carrier rates. You could even lower them slightly if your management software allows for this (hint: Laris customers should set up their custom rates).

The result:

Your customers that opt into insurance will end up covering your entire monthly bill for insurance in most cases. No extra cost, and everything is insured! I know that after a while, U-PIC will set you up with a monthly rate as long as your claim history isn't too high.

With this strategy, we see many of our clients actually making a profit on insurance without gouging their clients and covering all of their shipments! Read More...