Was it Venmo? I have it, but haven't used it. I think is free for personal use, but businesses will pay a fee in the future (per the site). Here is the link.

Sounds right... the ad had a bunch of people at a table at a restaurant, the bill comes out, somebody calculates that it's $37 per person, and everybody but one guy transfers the $37 using their phones immediately. I liked it because I am always the technologically-backwards lone person.

That horror story about the violin is not from what I'd consider a reputable source (it's some online something-or-other site engaged in a running feud with PayPal) and the details do not check out to make it look like anything but a cheap violin with a fake label that someone picked up on an eBay auction and tried to flip for several times what they paid (i.e a $400 fiddle that someone sold for $2,500 based on an obviously fake label). When you get caught selling counterfeit goods by eBay or PayPal you lose both the money and the goods, typically. In this case it has "gone viral" as a Big Bad PayPal story which is always good for lots of attention.

Frankly, it amazes me that anybody does business with PayPal, particularly as a vendor. Happily, in the UK PayPal is prevented by legislation from most of the [censored] it dumps on its US customers, but that just results in higher fees.

I'm aware of the argument that there is a certain price invovlved in doing business, and the price of PayPal may be offset by the increase in sales and possibly convenience. But, still...

Kevin,

PayPal's fee is less than 3% of the amount being paid. The credit card companies themselves charge a similar percentage to businesses with merchant accounts. Other non-PayPal options tend to cost slightly less, on the order of 2% of the amount charged.

If a business's margins are so thin that 2-3% is a deal killer then they can't afford to offer a credit card payment option. It is a service and like any other service it costs somebody, somewhere to provide it. But it is still just an option and nobody is holding a gun to a piano teacher head and forcing them to spend that 2-3% fee and accept credit-card payments.

If I can't afford $3.15/gallon for gas then I'll just have to do without it and forgo that trip to Florida this winter. That does not mean the gas stations are evil because they charge a price I can't afford. I don't know why people seem to think charging a 3% fee for a service that most people find highly desirable is such an unprecedented and villainous action...

The store pay a commission on their credit card transactions too!

It's actually 4% in the UK. But I don't think it's really the fees that sellers object to -- it's the ability of PayPal to withhold and reverse payments, on grounds that cannot easily be challenged.

Aye, that does sting. But if not PayPal, then the credit card companies themselves have the exact same ability. And in my experience they are not shy about using it.

In fact, as a buyer I would start with my credit card company early on in a dispute process. They are the closest thing available to someone "on my side" so to speak. PayPal tends to sometimes side with buyers, sometimes sellers according to their own non-transparent processes. Credit card companies are more likely to side with the buyer in a typical dispute. They tend to charge back and then ask questions later.

In any case, by offering to accept credit cards you are basically giving up both a small portion of your fee and exposing yourself to a small bit of potential for being taken advantage of. It's up to the individual business person to decide if the fee+exposure is more than balanced by the desirability of credit card payment to their clients.

P.S. My main point being, once you decide to accept credit cards you can not accomplish much by cutting PayPal out of the process. With or without PayPal the costs and benefit remain substantially the same.

Well, yes, you're right -- it's a choice between the devil and the deep blue sea. Neither is very appealing. The slight disadvantage of dealing with PayPal rather than directly with a banking service is that it remains slightly unclear about how credit card law applies to PayPal transactions. Moreover, it's no longer clear whether PayPal's operation in the UK is regulated by the Financial Services Authority, as it has withdrawn its base to Luxembourg. FSA regulation may not have amounted to very much, but it's probably better than nothing.

I don't get upset if the quality of service correlates to the quality of service. If not, yes I will not be happy. So if you know that your students appreciate your service, they will be willing to pay more.

We do not know whether $50 is high or low, again, it depends on your service. For a concert pianist level, $50 is very reasonable, but for neighborhood teacher level, it is high.

Only you know the best pricing strategy for your service, because you know your service quality and your economic level in your area.

Of course, and I certainly would pay that fee. It's the hassle of setting up an account for just a few monthly transactions. It might even be advantageous for the music store to offer this service to music teachers, perhaps with a 1% additional surcharge, to build some teacher loyalty to the store.