Does a seller have to use Paypal?

[kewlthings]

Does a seller absolutely have to use Paypal as payment from a buyer? Since Paypal was spun off from eBay, did that effect things? And is there a good alternative, safe, method of receiving payment nowadays? Truthfully I like Paypal but all these fees add up. I thought if a buyer wanted to, they could pay by cheque but they would have to initiate that payment and a seller couldn't advertise they would take form of payment. Cheques are a hassle, I know that, but are there good alternative methods now that people have used and have had good experiences with?

[mr.elmwood]

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/accepted-payments-policy.html

[pierrelebel]

"Does a seller absolutely have to use Paypal as payment from a buyer?"  NO

"Since Paypal was spun off from eBay, did that effect things?"  NO

"And is there a good alternative, safe, method of receiving payment nowadays? "  Not really for most eBay sellers.

"I thought if a buyer wanted to, they could pay by cheque but they would have to initiate that payment and a seller couldn't advertise they would take form of payment. "  That is correct.

[mr.elmwood]

My Credit Union stopped accepting foreign cheques and money orders about 7 years ago.

In the last 6,000 sales, I have had approximately ZERO requests for any other sort of payment I would accept.

Most customers really are not paying with Paypal, they are using their credit card to pay. Paypal is our own CC processor.

[femmefan1946]

We had a B&M store for over 35 years (now retired). In addition, we sold on eBay as well as other online sites.

In my experience, not only are PP fees very similar to most credit card company fees*, but even after dealing with us for many years, a fair number of our customers still preferred to use PP to transfer payments.

The customers just liked the anonymity.

The seller never sees the buyer's financial information. And PP has an excellent reputation for keeping that information secure.

And again, as sellers, PP did not cost us any more than Moneris, our cc processor.

For a buyer, having PP's Buyer Protection is also comforting.

I don't know of anyone who takes, or has taken, any of the other acceptable services.

PaisaPal from India seems to be the largest.

*Except American Express. There is good reason many businesses refuse American Express.