Pay Pal or other credit card for team registration?

[carlyle]

As our committee is working on our 2012 event, the idea was presented of offering on line registration with Pay Pal or another credit card system to pay for team registration.

If a credit card option for paying for your registration for a contest was

available, would you use it?

Yes? No?

If not, why not.

We do not want to go to the trouble and expense of setting this up unless we have some idea that the system will be used and appreciated.

We want your opinions.

 

[dmprantz]

I would very much prefer credit card payment for competition payment, but it would really only make the most sense if you also had an on-line web form for the signup.

dmp

 

[BasicPatrick]

Agreed...online application and digital payment is how I would most prefer to register

 

[carlyle]

Did not make that clear in the initial post.

Having an online registration to fill in the fields and click "submit" is what we are considering for team registration.

Does not make sense to do that unless there is a payment option to go with it.

I used online registration for my judges last year and it worked great, was appreciated by the judges, and was easier for me too. Applicants received a copy of their data by return email to signify successful registration.

The success of that system with judges - with no fee payment mechanism needed, prompted us to consider this type of registration and payment for the teams.

Does that clarify?

 

[big brother smoke]

I would love a paypal option and On-line form, it would make the process more seamless.

 

[BBQchef33]

we did it for our contest, an almost ALL entries came in that way.

 

[JD McGee]

We use paypal up here for most all our PNWBA comp payments. Just wish we had online registration forms though...we still have to mail those in.

 

[Smoke'n Ice]

^^^^^^^^^

 

[Rich Parker]

Online registration and paypal for payment would be awesome.

 

[dmprantz]

Just to be clear on something though, I will not participate in a purely PayPal system. I am interested in having credit card payments. I know that PayPal (along with Google and Amazon) allow credit card payments, and that is great.

dmp

 

[Lake Dogs]

I like the paypal option and would only use it. I understand dmprantz's not a purely paypal (kinda), but I wouldn't use one that doesn't have/use Paypal because I dont want my credit card information out there in too many places.

 

[mobow]

yes. it is how I do it when it is available. keith

 

[southernstyle]

online registration and paypal is the way to go

 

[dmprantz]

Just to clarify a bit more, the reason why I would not use a PayPal only system is because PayPal has a reputation for seizing funds. You may think this will never happen to you, but if it only happened to people who expected it, I think there would be a lot fewer complaints. Before you accept transfers with PayPal, think about what you would do if they decided to seize your entry fees. As some one who has worked in the payments industry, I would rather work with a company who is legally obligated to give me my money and does not have a questionable reputation rather than some one who refuses to be a bank and can seize my money at any time. I like Amazon payments, but that's me.

dmp

 

[carlyle]

Thanks to everyone who has responded so far.
There is representation from coast to coast and border to border - impressive.

dm - I see what you are talking about. Gave us something to look into before we enter into any agreements. Appreciate that.

Keep the comments coming.

 

[HarleyGirl14226]

Online registration and PayPal (or some other credit card acceptance method) is the way we prefer to go. Makes life easier - plus we get the miles for our off-season travels!

 

[Rookie'48]

Just to clarify a bit more, the reason why I would not use a PayPal only system is because PayPal has a reputation for seizing funds. . . Before you accept transfers with PayPal, think about what you would do if they decided to seize your entry fees. . .I would rather work with a company who is legally obligated to give me my money and does not have a questionable reputation rather than some one who refuses to be a bank and can seize my money at any time. dmp

My opinion is that I like PayPal. Are they perfect? No. But then I'm not a seller, just a buyer. Here's a link to where PayPal refunded my $$$ that I otherwise would have lost on a "failure to ship":

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=112341&highlight=Seal4Less

In my case I like PayPal - but let's not even talk about their sister outfit "BillMeLater" :mad2:.

 

[dmprantz]

My opinion is that I like PayPal. Are they perfect? No. But then I'm not a seller, just a buyer. Here's a link to where PayPal refunded my $$$ that I otherwise would have lost on a "failure to ship."

I'm glad they returned your money. As a consumer, you always have protection when you pay with a credit card. You are also not held liable for fradulent sellers. PayPal has a reputation confiscating funds from "suspected" fradulent sellers, and then confiscating funds from buyers who unknowlingly do business with them. I don't take my chances with that.

dmp

 

[Rookie'48]

PayPal has a reputation confiscating funds from "suspected" fradulent sellers, and then confiscating funds from buyers who unknowlingly do business with them. dmp

I hadn't heard about this part. How do they get away with grabbing funds from buyers?

 

[dmprantz]

The simple reason is that they aren't a bank in the US and thus aren't regulated. If you deposit funds with them and they choose to keep them, what are you going to do? You can call and ask for your money back, but supposedly they have a whole department of people who are paid to talk to you on the phone and continue to refuse to give you back your money. It seems costly to me, but that's what I've heard. You can try to sue them, but I'm guessing they have good lawyers on retainer. There are several places to read about this, one of the most popular is PayPalSucks.com.

In the end, some one could say that this is all hearsay. You've never had a bad interaction with PayPal, so why change your practices. That's fine, and I won't fault you for that, but I will suffer through sending in a paper check if the only other option is to have a PayPal account. Fortunately, PayPal usually accepts credit card these days.

dmp

Edit: here is a little more information. Believe it or not. It's up to you. http://www.paypalsucks.com/frozen-accounts.shtml