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Making the eMarket your Pal

Internet shopping is worth more than £8billion in the UK and growing rapidly creating a huge boom in consumer spending. Research predicts that an extra £3.2billion will be spent by 2010 that would not have been spent on the high street. While this is great news for online retailers, there is a fear that small businesses may fall behind in the ultra competitive eMarket.

Help is at hand with PayPal, the online payments provider.

Transcript

Host: Hello and welcome. Carl is just settling in and is ready to take your questions
Carl: Hi. Good afternoon, lets start chatting!

Aboutmyarea: I run a proudly UK business, supporting other local businesses. Is PayPal a UK company or an UIS company? Where are your profits made?
Carl: PayPal is a US company and PayPal UK is a subsidiary. We have 15million account holders in the UK and proudly serve thousands of UK merchants online.

Aboutmyarea: I am happy tp use Paypal as a solution but my business partner says using you is not as professional touch as haviing an integrated secure payment solution on the site. What do you say to that? Does it make us look a bit Mickey Mouse?
Carl: We are very happy that you are considering PayPal as a payment option for your online business. We are serving several thousand UK merchants with PayPal as a payment solution and tens of thousands globally. These range from very large sites including Dell, iTunes, Ladbrookes. All the way down to very small sites we are confident PayPal has a payment solution for you and it will not at all be Mickey Mouse!!

stephanie: do you need to set up separate PP accounts for business user and personal use for things like transfering money to friends?
Carl: Strictly speaking Stephanie, you do not have set up a separate PayPal account for sending money. It is free to send money or make a purchase whether you are using a personal or Business or Premier account with PayPal.

hopeful entrepreneur!: I am thinking of starting an online store and think paypal would be ideal for my business but i've heard several scare stories about losing money operating online. These problems look like they involve larger somes of money and i expect my transactions to be for smaller amounts. Should i be okay? Does the size of transaction matter? thanks
Carl: Thank you for your question. We couldn’t be more excited to hear that you are considering PayPal for the business you are starting. We process transactions ranging from micro payments of £1 and below all they way up to transactions of several thousand pounds. So PayPal will work for you regardless of transaction size. As for your concern of losing money, PayPal is a secure payment option with amongst the lowest fraud or loss rates in the industry.

confused merchant: What is a chargeback?
Carl: A chargeback occurs when a buyer asks their credit card company to remove a charge from their credit card statement. The credit card company will ask the buyer to provide an explanation about why they are disputing the charge. If the chargeback is accepted, PayPal will be debited the amount of the transaction. Two common reasons for reversals or chargebacks are stolen cards or merchants or buyer making a mistake. Chargebacks are common throughout the payment industry. I can assure you we investigate all chargebacks on behalf of buyers and merchants.

David W: Why do I need to go online?
Carl: David. Thanks for your question. eCommerce and the internet in general is booming like never before. We are going through a second boom. Consumers are getting more confident and increasing shopping online and merchants and retailers can now longer ignore the internet as an important channel. We expect eCommerce in the UK to double within the next 5 years and to be about £40 billion opportunity for merchants by 2010. There are also 25-30 million UK online shoppers and again this can’t be ignored.

Oscar: I run a small business. If I use PayPal will I be able to accept Amex cards?
Carl: Excellent question Oscar! With PayPal as your payment option you will be to accept all major credit and debit cards including Visa, Amex and Mastercard, as well as Switch Solo and bank transfers.

Rob: Can merchants accept payments in different currencies with a Paypal account? I imagine so but are there any Europoean currencies it can't accept?
Carl: Thank you Rob. The internet and indeed eCommerce is global and with PayPal you can accept payments in 17 different currencies including all European currencies. You can even hold balances in your PayPal account in these currencies.

SR: My question is i offer online programming services to clients all over the world. I have registered a sole trader in UK. I want to know how will i submit my tax return to Inland Revenue on those transactions. All the payment i accept through paypal
Carl: Thank you for the question. Great to hear that PayPal is allowing you to operate as a sole trader all over the world. If the payments you receive by PayPal are for services rendered or goods sold, you should declare this accordingly to the Inland Revenue. Good luck with your business!

TBJ: Why do you think i shoudl go to paypal instead of my bank for a business account? are there advantages?
Carl: PayPal offers you many advantages over and beyond what a classic merchant and gateway offering via your bank will give you. For starters, we have not set up fee and no monthly fee and our rates are competitively priced at 1.4% +20p to 3.4% +20 p depending on volume. In addition you get all the traditional PayPal benefits of being up and running quickly to receive secure transactions via 15million buyer accounts in the UK and over 100million buyer account globally.

Philip Crowshaw: I run a subscription based online business tv channel - www.expertsonline.tv and we use Click and Buy at the moment - what would be the benefits if changing to Pay Pal?
Carl: Philip, thank you for your question. PayPal also offers a subscription or pre-approved payment feature if this is the main recruitment for your business. In addition, our 15m UK buyer accounts would be able to shop online at your site.

margaret: I’m not very good with computers. Isn’t it really difficult is it to set up a PayPal account?
Carl: Thank you question Margaret! It’s not at all difficult to set up a PayPal account, whats more its free to set up and register. Its also free to send money and make payments. Its an easy process that takes no more than a few minutes. It’s really no different from other registration processes on other websites. Hope to see you on www.paypal.co.uk

steve: Isn’t PayPal just something that is used on eBay?
Carl: PayPal is the preferred payment option on eBay but close to 40% of our business is serving merchants and buyers outside of the eBay platform. One in two online shoppers in the UK has a PayPal account and several thousand merchants accept PayPal as a payment option.

Martin: hi carl, at what stage in the transaction process do paypal apply their fees?
Carl: Thank you Martin for that question. PayPal applies its fees to a Business or Premier account at the point of purchase / transaction. As you know, its the merchant or the seller that bares the cost and its free to send money or make a purchase as the buyer. Our fee structure is very transparent and can easily be found on our website at www.paypal.co.uk and click on the fees link at the bottom of the page.

anonymous: why is it always people with paypal accounts that seem to fall victims to phising email scams?
Carl: In the security centre on our website we go to great lengths to provide information on how to transact online and to help PayPal users identify phising or spoof emails. Some of these include checking that the URL is indeed a PayPal URL or to check on fake links. To be extra secure if an email seems suspicious, log into your PayPal account and see the transaction. If you suspect anything, please forward the email onto spoof@paypal.co.uk

norma: Hi Carl, enjoying the chat can I ask how long does it take to set up an account and start trading? Would I be able to do it before xmas?
Carl: Absolutely Norma! You can be up and running today with a Business or Premier account through our self-serve registration process online. If you require additional assistance you can contact our team on this number 0800 358 7929. Happy selling!

greg: if there is one key advantage of paypal, what would you say it is?
Carl: Good question! If I could only say one key advantage to PayPal it would be that we are an enabler. In other words, we enable anyone with an email address to make or receive payments.

Cathy: Are there any success stories of online merchants you can tell me about? Things like secure transactions and firms with good sales?
Carl: We have thousands of success stories Kathy. Very large merchants including, Dell, Napster, Loot and eBuyer accept PayPal. Thousands of SMEs have also been enabled and grown their businesses through PayPal payments. I can assure you that all our transactions are secure giving you and your customers peace of mind when shopping online.

John67: is paypal safer than other online payment systems?
Carl: Thank you John. I would say categorically YES! The main reason being that in addition to processing transactions securely we never disclose a buyer or a merchant’s personal or financial details in the transaction process.

Peter: Can merchants accept payments in different currencies with a Paypal account?
Carl: Peter, absolutely, merchants can accept payments in 17 different currencies in 103 markets and even hold balances in those currencies.

karen: do i need to be verified and be a certified business before setting up a paypal account?
Carl: It’s really easy to set up a PayPal account and you don’t have to be a business to do so. Keep in mind that it is also free to set up and there are no monthly fees.

wannabe online shopper: But how exactly does PayPal work – is it like a credit card?
Carl: PayPal is not like a credit card. It is an account based payment solution that allows merchants to accept credit card, debit card and bank transfers. If you’re an online shopper, PayPal allows you fund a payment in anyway you choose whether its credit card, debit card or bank account without disclosing any of your financial information.

Confused?: how much will i be charged if i start receiving payments through PayPal? thanks
Carl: Our fees range from 1.4%+20p to 3.4%+20p depending on volume. There are no set up fees or monthly fees and more pricing information can be found on our website www.paypal.co.uk and click at the bottom of the page into the fees section.

Host: Unfortunately that is all the time we have today. Many thanks for all your questions.
Carl: Thanks everyone! It's been really interesting reading your questions and I hope my answers have been of help. For further information visit www.paypal.co.uk where you can take advantage of a number of merchant tools.

George: I currently have an offline business and am considering starting a web based extension to this - if I sign up to use PayPal would you also help me to get the site right so that I can make that part of the business successful (I've got limited website experience!)?
Carl: George, we have time for one more! We are happy to refer you to some of our eCommerce solution providers or shopping cart partners. Visit the merchant section of our website where you will find partner information. Alternatively, you can call our team on 0800 358 7929. In addition, I would recommend our free online business guide ‘The Seven Building Blocks of eCommerce’ which explains the options available to you and provides DIY advice. To apply for this guide please visit: www.paypal.co.uk/ecommerceguide

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