Is PayPal a turnoff for affiliates?

[gurutube]

I was recently told that affiliates don't like to go with merchants that use paypal. Have you all found this to be true?

This seems strange to me since people can use credit cards and don't even need a paypal account to use the service. Is this a case of perception being out of step with reality?

thanks,

Mike

 

[Mike22]

Yes, this is true. The reason behind this is that some of the clients will ask PayPal for a refund without a good reason and usually the client wins when it comes to digital items (like eBooks and websites) and this way the seller will loose money and it worse situation he will be unable to pay the affiliates and that's why they don't like PayPal. The credit card payment system is very different and it is more secure for affiliates because they can't lose (so) much money.

 

[djbaxter]

If you have a decent product and a reasonable return policy, it shouldn't be a problem.

The key is to provide the buyer with a product or service which lives up to what you advertise.

 

[gurutube]

Interesting. thanks to both of you for your replies.

 

[mlevenhagen]

What Minstrel said..

For a few years I've run affiliate programs and all payments go through paypal; 1000s of transactions and $1000s paid out to affiliates. Do I have affiliates not join because it's paypal.. couldn't tell you; I can only tell you that many don't care.

I have a low refund rate which plays to what Minstrel said (if you have a good product, then refund rates will be low..).. certainly it could cause a little havoc if you did - but for me cash flow is good and even if there is a refund it's barely a blip on the screen.

..but here's the thing.. the way I safe guard funds and provide a cushion in case there is a refund is I have a 30 Day Hold in place. A very good idea with any affiliate program.

So the affiliate knows up front their funds are held for 30 days after the initial purchase. From my experience, rarely is there a refund after that 30 days..

You'll find online you can be told a lot of things; everyone has a perspective.. either informed or skewed by circumstance. You can run a very, very bad affiliate program just as easily with or without paypal as your processor.