Grand (Re-)Opening, and Good-Bye PayPal!

The FuzzMeasure Store has re-opened with a new store front. It doesn't really look much different than before, until you click on the link to buy FuzzMeasure Pro. I decided to drop my use of PayPal for collecting FuzzMeasure payments for a few reasons, the top three shown below: <ol> <li>PayPal can lock users out of purchasing FuzzMeasure</li> <li>PayPal confuses my customers</li> <li>Consumers have a not-so-good perception of PayPal</li> </ol> These reasons, along with their lack of PayPal Pro for Canadian merchants, have led me to switch to use a different processor, RegNow, chosen mostly for a reasonable rate and compatibility with my licensing scheme. I hit a few bumps with getting things set up, but things seem OK now. Ask me in a few months about whether or not I still like them. So far, they respond to all my support questions, implementing my handling of their CGI requests has been smooth, and running test transactions is as easy as pie (and way better than PayPal, IMO). Anyway, I think that I should provide a little background behind the reasons listed above, since many folks have asked me, and I hate repeating myself. Also, when given the opportunity to spend a little time thinking about them, I might be a little more coherent while describing them. PayPal can lock users out of purchasing FuzzMeasure Please note that this mostly affects me because of FuzzMeasure Pro's price ($250), and my high rate of international purchases (only 60% or less of my purchases come from within the US). Products priced below this, or that sell primarily to the US, may not encounter this issue. Users that sign up to PayPal for the purposes of purchasing FuzzMeasure Pro automatically get a spending limit attached to their account. I haven't found a comprehensive list of these sending limits, but I know it's less than a single FuzzMeasure Pro license. In order to get around this restriction, users would have to go through a verification process which could take anywhere from a few hours to a few weeks to complete. This problem has already affected one customer that chose to tell me about it. Others may not have been vocal about it. PayPal confuses my customers When you clicked on my Buy Now button, you would be taken to a PayPal site that does not indicate that you can purchase without a PayPal account (one of the main features that led me to use PayPal in the first place). The user is supposed to click the "Click Here" button in the following text: "If you do not have a PayPal account, Click Here". On first glance, customers might see this as another attempt for PayPal to try and get them to sign up for an account. Sometimes I'd even have trouble finding where this button was, because honestly, it doesn't stick out. What I would have instead preferred, was pictures of accepted credit cards, and wording that was more along the lines of, "Click here to purchase without a PayPal account." Now, if a customer couldn't find the spot where they could purchase without a PayPal account, they would instead click the most prominent part of the page which suggests they get a new account. This would put them in the category of user described by item 1, above — effectively locked out of purchasing. Consumers have a not-so-good perception of PayPal This reason is more touchy-feely than the others. It's hard to measure, but I do have enough emails in my support box to indicate this is a problem. Some users just don't like PayPal. Whether they have their own experiences, or feel this way based on the experiences of others, the negative connotations with my payment processor are still there when customers are presented with the option of purchasing. This negative thought process can be enough to turn someone away from paying for my product, and I don't like that these thoughts exists as someone looks over my product site. Furthermore, there's the pro angle. Users may not feel comfortable paying for a professional-level product via PayPal. Also, PayPal displays that they're sending your payment to an email address. This might also make customers feel uncomfortable about purchasing, and I need to remove these feelings of discomfort if I want to increase the chance of a license purchase. So, there you have it. PayPal is out of the picture for the time being, and my purchasing process has become much smoother as a result. I think that the page looks great while purchasing, and RegNow provides a system that has a respectable purchase user-experience for the customer (it will even warn you, and ask for confirmation before processing an accidental double-order!). Now, get yourself over to the FuzzMeasure Pro purchase page, and buy your copy now!