Pretty high PayPal fee. any recommended alternatives for EU customers?

[RachelS20]

I am bit shocked to see how high PayPal charges, for me it is always above 4% per order... Running a small business without much margin, this really makes me consider to hold PayPal payment option, however, quite a lot of my customers are using it for check-out at the moment.

All my customers are based in EU and I actually prefer them to check out with Shopify Payment (iDEAL) which the transaction charge is more reasonable. Do you also have the same concerns and maybe there are ways to make this fee lower/ or change the layout of the website to encourage more Shopify Payment?

I am running my website with Debut theme, where a PayPal Express check-out button is always present already at the product page. Not sure if it encourages PayPal check-out but might be the case as well.

[Moira · Accepted solution]

Hey there, @RachelS20

This is Moira from the Social Care team at Shopify. Thanks for posting, and a very warm welcome to the Community!

I totally see where you are coming from here Rachel, solely using Shopify Payments will reduce the charges incurred to you as a small business owner. As PayPal is a third-party payment provider we have no control or say over the fees that are charged through their gateway. PayPal is a globally recognized payment method which is probably why the majority of your European customers are choosing to process their orders through them. Not to worry! You certainly have a few workaround options which I will go through below:

Firstly, you can remove the PayPal express button on your product pages by disabling the dynamic checkout options within your theme. This could potentially entice your customers to use Shopify payments at checkout.

To do this you'll want to open up the theme editor by going to Online store > Themes > Customize. In here, click on the drop-down menu in the top bar to select Product pages / Default product:

Once you click Product pages, you can scroll down and see the option to uncheck the dynamic checkout option:

Please note: This will only leave the add to cart button on the product pages. We have a guide on dynamic checkout buttons here if you want to have a read to decide if this is something you would definitely like to switch off.

Whilst being on the topic of optimizing your product pages, you may like to have a look at our article on Writing Product Descriptions That Sell. One of the points in the article is to focus on your ideal buyer when you write your product descriptions. What kind of person are they, and what language can you use to ensure they feel like you're talking to them directly? Increasing the font size for readability and using easy to scan bullet points is also a good point.

Lastly, if you wanted to remove PayPal altogether, you have the option to disable this provider in your payment settings which will leave you with Shopify Payments being your only payment method. There are a variety of third-party providers you could also look into and compare fees. When choosing a payment provider, consider the countries where your business is located and where your customers live. Shopify's list of payment gateways by country can help you find out which payment gateways are available in your country and what currency they support.

I do hope this helps! Let me know how you get on with the suggestions above and feel free to let me know if I can clarify anything further.

All the best,

[RachelS20]

Thank you @Moira,  very detailed explanation and I hope more customers will switch from PayPal to Shopify Payment 🙂

[Moira]

Hi @RachelS20

Thanks for your reply, I'm glad to hear it benefited you!

For future merchants who may come across this thread, don't forget that you can eliminate your transaction fees with us by adding Shopify Payments as a gateway (if supported in your country) option for your customers. If you disable Shopify Payments in favor of other gateways, Shopify will charge you a fee on top of any fees you might be paying that external provider. That adds up, so make sure you’re getting added value from that provider to make it worth it! 

Don't forget you can ask us anything anytime here or through our live support.

All the best,

[Zeecky]

You could also check comparison of pay by bank vs shopify pay pal and check if this is an option for your store to reduce payment cost.