Time vs Risk & my Reccuring Billing problem

[storm33229]

It would be risky for me to use PayPals Website Payments Pro to manage my recurring billing; they charge me $30 a month and I have no guarantee of sales. Although it may be more time-effective it's not very cost-effective. So that having been said I would be willing to purchase some software that would let me manage my billing and such so that I can just bill people every month with a click of a button.

If anyone knows of any type of software that would let me do this I'd appreciate you sharing. :D I'm off to go poke around google for information.

Thanks

[Dan]

I know of someone who has such software so can e-mail him to find out if you want...but you do still need a merchant account number in order to use it. At least here in the UK the average merchant account costs you £20 / month - so about $40. In other words, more than PayPal, and takes more time to manage. Speak to your bank to find the equivalent US costs.

With a webshop though, nothing need be set in stone - so go for the free but high commission option first, and once you reach a threshold switch to a provider with a monthly charge.

[storm33229]

Nah I think I got it figured, I'll use paypal. But I'll just charge my clients for that cost. Which actually ended up being the same as before. I was just dividing the costs before and increasing my income, this way I'll decrease my income for 1 initial client and then have it maxed out for the rest. :)

[jonparker83]

If you are happy for things not to be fully automated, there is also the option of invoicing them from your payment processor.

I know paypal and google checkout both allow this (with google checkout being better (IMO) and cheaper). All you have to do is enter an email address and an amount, and it will send the invoice for you.

Cheers

Jon

[storm33229]

If you are happy for things not to be fully automated, there is also the option of invoicing them from your payment processor.

I know paypal and google checkout both allow this (with google checkout being better (IMO) and cheaper). All you have to do is enter an email address and an amount, and it will send the invoice for you.

Cheers

Jon
I just want to make sure I'm reading you right. You're saying they give me their information and every month I send them a bill along with my product? manually?

[amucci]

Don't get too caught up in not wanting to spend $$$ because you might not get any sales. $30 is a minimal investment. If you believe that you will make it, you are going to have to look at this as an operating expense.

We setup recurring charges in Quickbooks, and yes, we end up paying $150 or so in charges, but we are billing out $5,000 / month. If you want to automate, it's not going to be free. I'm not saying you should pay $500/month for automatic billing, but don't go with the cheapest either. Get the best product for the most reasonable price.

[jonparker83]

You're saying they give me their information and every month I send them a bill along with my product? manually?

Exactly!!



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[storm33229]

Exactly!!



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Oh well that's not too bad then; plus it saves money or at least upfront money. Once I get enough subscribers I may want to switch over to the automated system though.

[camdengirl]

It this is physical product or a subscription? Could you not set it up as a Paypal subscription and simply add the payment fees onto the subscription cost? You get that with standard Paypal accounts.

Or how about getting them to buy a year upfront at a discounted cost using a manual invoice? If they pay within 30 days (or whatever) they get the discounted cost, if they pay after it then it's X+Y.

[storm33229]

It this is physical product or a subscription? Could you not set it up as a Paypal subscription and simply add the payment fees onto the subscription cost? You get that with standard Paypal accounts.

Or how about getting them to buy a year upfront at a discounted cost using a manual invoice? If they pay within 30 days (or whatever) they get the discounted cost, if they pay after it then it's X+Y.
This is a subscription to a physical product. If I setup a PayPal subscription plan that would cost me $30/mo. + 2.9% TF + $0.3.

If I setup a Google Checkout cart I pay less per transaction and nothing monthly. So for me it's all about being highly cost-effective until I get the client base to financially support a fully automated billing system.

[rfantasy]

stay away from paypal recurr billing

most gateways provide you awith a recurring module.

the trick is making sure you have the right merchant account

[JFrenzel]

OR you can use Asksunday and have them research it for you?


Jose

[storm33229]

@JF: Nah I think I got this one; however I may end up using them. I have them bookmarked.
@rfantasy: Yeah but then I need to deal with banks.