Choosing the Best Online Payment Provider for Your Online Order Forms
We often get questions from customers on how to get started in accepting online payments for their business or non-profit. Let’s review some of the options you can use with Formstack including a quick comparison chart.
PayPal Website Payments Standard
Pros – There really isn’t an easier way to get started than with PayPal Website Payments Standard. You simply need an email address with PayPal – that’s all! There are no monthly fees or setup charges either. You can go global immediately by accepting payments from 190 countries.
Cons – The downside is that during the payment process, your customer will be re-directed to PayPal to complete the transaction. This obviously loses some of the professional look and feel you might want your customers to experience.
PayPal Website Payments Pro
Pros – The main difference and reason you might want to consider Website Payments Pro is that your customer doesn’t have to leave your website to complete their purchase. Also, with no setup fees you can get a full professional look and feel to your payments in very quick fashion.
Cons – You will be paying $30USD/$20GBP/$35CAN per month but otherwise the transaction fees remain the same.
Authorize.net
Pros – Authorize.net provides a number of robust features including subscription billing which allows you to setup monthly billing to your customers. Also, listed transaction fees are lower than other options and can get under 2% depending on your processor. If your business already accepts credit cards in a physical location, you might be closer than you think to getting started.
Cons – You will be paying a $99 setup and a $17.95 monthly fee. In addition, you have to get an account with a credit card processor which requires more time and research to get the best one. Note: Authorize.net is only for US merchants.
Google Checkout
Pros – Google Checkout is a similar solution to PayPal Standard. It gets the job done with no setup/monthly fees.
Cons – Users will be transitioned to the Google Checkout page which means no in-line checkout on your site. Checkout fees can also be higher than alternatives.
Chargify
This solution is altogether different than the other integrations because it is not a payment gateway but rather a middle-man (not in a bad sense). Chargify provides a subscription billing service which is free for the first 50 users. In addition, they open our payment integrations up to a number of global merchant options. Through BeanStream they serve Canadian merchants and Payment Express can be used by merchants in the UK (including some EU customers), Australia and New Zealand.
All of our payment integrations (including FirstData which wasn’t covered here) open the doors to global merchants seeking to take thousands of monthly payments or someone just getting started taking online payments.
For more comparison you can consult this credit card gateway comparison chart:
| United States Merchants (USD) | PayPal Standard | PayPal Pro | Google Checkout | Authorize.net |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Setup | $0 | $0 | $0 | $99 |
| Monthly Fee | $0 | $30 | $0 | $17.95 |
| Per Transaction | $0.30 | $0.30 | $0.30 | $0.10 |
| Fees Based on Monthly Transactions | ||||
| $0-$3,000 | 2.90% | 2.90% | 2.90% | 2.19% |
| $3,000+ – $10,000 | 2.50% | 2.50% | 2.50% | 2.19% |
| $10,000+ | 2.20% | 2.20% | 2.20% | 2.19% |
| Canadian Merchants (CAN) | ||||
| Setup | $0 | $0 | ||
| Monthly Fee | $0 | $30 | Additional Option: BeanStream | |
| Per Transaction | $0.30 | $0.30 | ||
| Fees Based on Monthly Transactions | ||||
| $0 – $3,000 | 2.90% | 2.90% | ||
| $3,001 – $12,000 | 2.50% | 2.50% | ||
| $12,001 – $125,000 | 2.20% | 2.20% | ||
| UK Merchants (Including some EU) | ||||
| Setup | £0 | £0 | £0 | Additional Option: PaymentExpress |
| Monthly Fee | £0 | £20 | £0 | |
| Per Transaction | £.20 | £.20 | £.20 | |
| Fees Based on Monthly Transactions | ||||
| £0-£1,500 | 3.40% | 3.40% | 3.40% | |
| £1,501 – £6,000 | 2.90% | 2.90% | 2.90% | |
| £6,001-£15,000 | 2.40% | 2.40% | 2.40% | |
| Australia (AUD) | ||||
| Setup | $0 | Additional Option: PaymentExpress |
||
| Monthly Fee | $0 | |||
| Per Transaction | $0.30 | |||
| Fees Based on Monthly Transactions | ||||
| $0-$5,000 | 2.40% | |||
| $5,001-$15,000 | 2.00% | |||
| $15,001-$150,000 | 1.50% | |||
Related Posts
Collecting Payments Online – Made Easy →
A Customer Story on How Formstack Integrations Save Money, Increase Conversions →
Optional PayPal Webite Payments Standard Fields and their Meaning →
How to Build a Single Item with Quantity Order Form →
About the Author
Chris Chris is the CEO of Formstack and runs the day to day operations of the company. He has been a fan/user of Formstack for many years but has only recently joined the team. His most recent experiences include co-founding and running a international non-profit while based in London, England & Krakow, Poland. While living in Europe he and his wife, Dana, once packed up the kids and went on a 40 day journey to 10 countries which included South Africa. Chris also served as a Vice President of Investor Relations and Financing for a regional healthcare company. Dana is active in social networking and leads various faith based projects.
I need a shopping cart feature. I want to use paypal to collect payments. I am aware of and have used the “unique” item feature to give a me a quasi-inventory control so I don’t oversell the product. In this case my product is available seats in a training class. See http://www.formstack.com/forms/?760515-AxLbprEVzC for just one of the examples. Do you have colleges or schools using formstack and taking course enrollments?
Thanks,Brian Perryman, Dir. Professional Training, Rose State College.
Hi Brian,
We have several colleges and schools using Formstack. Here is one example: http://www.formstack.com/assets/docs/FormstackCaseStudy_VictorValley.pdf
Please email support@formstack.com for any other information you might need. Thanks!
Is there a way that the Paypal Payments Standard forms can add to a Paypal shopping cart rather than taking the user directly to purchase an individual product? Thanks!
Benjamin, I’m passing this over to a support request. Expect to hear back soon.