Is PayPal Right for Your E-commerce Startup? Pros & Cons

22 million merchants and 305 million consumers choose PayPal for its convenience. However, with increasing payment processing options, PayPal is no longer the sole choice available. If you select the wrong payment partner, you may encounter the hassle of extracting your business from complex accounts and code entanglements. So, is PayPal suitable for small businesses? Utilize our guide to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of PayPal for business.

Pros of Using PayPal

Flexibility

PayPal offers a comprehensive solution for your business, whether you engage in online sales, in-person sales, or both. Flexibility is one of the key advantages of PayPal. Integrating PayPal with your website is a breeze, with easy payment integrations available for popular platforms like WordPress and Wix. Configuration takes just a few minutes.

For brick-and-mortar stores, PayPal provides a range of point-of-sale (POS) solutions to meet your needs. You can accept payments through POS virtual terminals from various providers such as Vend, Lavu, Touchpoint.io, Brightpearl, Touchbistro, and ERPLY. Vend caters to retailers and supports multiple locations, online sales, and inventory management. Lavu, Touchpoint.io, and Touchbistro cater to the restaurant and hospitality industry.

Safety

PayPal protects businesses and customers from fraudulent activities using advanced security measures. Of course, you should study, is PayPal safe further. There are some good instructions on this topic from the guys at VeePN. One of the key protection technologies is PayPal payment protection, which is at the highest level. Here are the main PayPal security features: end-to-end encryption, monitors fraud, email confirmations, and implements additional techniques to safeguard financial information and prevent unauthorized transactions.

PayPal Small Business Loans

PayPal offers a unique business loan option that doesn’t feel like a typical loan. With their working capital loans, you can receive advances ranging from $1,000 to $125,000, depending on your history of regular PayPal sales. As your sales increase, your eligible loan amounts can also grow. Instead of monthly payments, repayment is deducted as a percentage of each PayPal sale you make.

You will also find several other personal loan providers with separate benefits. Choose the right one who meets your expectations.

Additionally, PayPal provides a small business loan with a more traditional setup. You can borrow amounts ranging from $5,000 to $500,000, with weekly automatic bank account deductions for repayment. The loan terms span from 13 to 52 weeks, and the interest rates are tailored to your sales amounts but aren’t publicly disclosed. Overall, the terms offered by PayPal are similar to other reputable small business loans.

Mobile-Friendly Payment Solutions

However, stores have experienced a 76.3% cart abandonment rate from a mobile device perspective in the last 12 months. Among the reasons listed, customer concerns around the security of personal and financial information remain prominent. Small businesses can boost their mobile conversion rates by leveraging PayPal’s mobile-friendly payment solutions. Whether businesses have their own store app or a mobile-first/mobile-optimized website, customers can securely log in to their PayPal account and make payments without leaving the seller’s website. This added security instills confidence in customers, enabling them to complete purchases.

Cons of Using PayPal

Lacks Compatible Point-of-Sale Integration

PayPal primarily functions as an online payment processor. Its point-of-sale (POS) service aims to assist business account holders in processing transactions via PayPal. Regrettably, PayPal Zettle lacks any applicable add-on POS functionalities and lacks a variety of compatible POS integrations. Consequently, it becomes challenging for merchants with rapidly expanding companies that necessitate additional back-office tools like shipping and vendor and employee management.

No Offline Payment Processing

Having the ability to accept payments uninterrupted, even with an internet connection interruption, is crucial for a mobile POS. Regrettably, while most of its competitors have less robust mobile card readers, PayPal Zettle does not support offline payments. When accepting on-the-go payments, you will need to rely on your data or Wi-Fi.

Fees Can Add Up

For every payment received, PayPal imposes transaction fees. These fees comprise a percentage of the transaction amount along with a fixed fee determined by the currency type. Businesses that experience high transaction volumes, operate with low-profit margins or cater to numerous international customers might find these fees accumulating and potentially influencing profitability.

Limited Customer Support

PayPal customers and merchants alike have encountered challenges when attempting to receive timely and satisfactory customer support. The platform’s automated customer service system may not sufficiently address complex or urgent issues promptly, making it difficult to reach a human support representative. This can result in frustration and wasted time for small business owners.

Restrictions

PayPal is notorious for freezing or restricting accounts when they suspect fraudulent activity, encounter high chargeback rates, or discover policy violations. Although these measures aim to secure the platform, sudden loss of access to PayPal accounts and funds can be incredibly frustrating and stressful for users.

Conclusion

Once you’ve weighed all of PayPal’s pros and cons, you can make a more informed decision about integrating a payment system into your business. PayPal also has serious competitors, but it itself remains competitive and is one of the most popular solutions. If the benefits of the service outweigh the disadvantages in your case, you can integrate PayPal into your business without a doubt.