PayPal vs Stripe: Which One is Best for Dropshipping?

PayPal vs Stripe: which is one should you use to accept payments from customers for your dropshipping business? Read on because you are about to find out. 

PayPal and Stripe are two great payment processing solutions for eCommerce businesses, including dropshipping. They allow you to collect payments from customers all over the world and are both relatively easy to use. More details on this shortly. 

In addition to that, PayPal and Stripe allow you to set up recurring billing and invoicing. Also, they allow you to accept payments online via credit or debit cards. 

That being said, PayPal and Stripe differ in some ways. For example, while PayPal works best for retail and small businesses, Stripe is better suited for larger enterprises looking for a seamless payment solution. Not to say they can’t be used in the reversed order. 

In this post, we will be comparing PayPal and Stripe to see how they differ. We compare them based on their features, fees, price, ease of use, security, and customer support. 

Let’s dive in already

PayPal for Dropshipping 

Whether you dropship on your personal site or on eCommerce platforms like Shopify, PayPal is one payment solution you can trust. 

With PayPal, you can collect money from customers all over the world and also pay your suppliers without any hassles. If you wish, you can link PayPal to your bank account, making it easy to send money there. 

There are two types of Paypal accounts you can create for dropshipping purposes: a personal or a business account. 

A personal account is ideal if you don’t plan to sell much. Maybe you only want to occasionally buy stuff from Aliexpress and sell them to your friends and family. But PayPal’s business is a better option if you run a full-scale dropshipping business. 

PayPal comes with lots of features designed to make your life as an entrepreneur easy and stress-free. They include buyer protection to safeguard your business against fraudulent transactions, loan facilities, and lots more. 

Let’s now have a closer look at these features. 

Features

As we earlier mentioned, PayPal comes packed with lots of features uniquely designed for dropshippers. They are as follows:

• Dispute Resolution: If a transaction goes wrong, as it usually does, PayPal will step in as a mediator between you and your customer to amicably resolve your dispute. This helps to boost the trustworthiness of your store. 
• Fraud Protection: PayPal’s payment security and fraud protection feature is one of the most robust in the world. As such, you don’t have to worry so much about losing money to fraudulent payments. 
• One-Touch Checkout: Nothing frustrates shoppers more than filling out forms to checkout. PayPal One Touch Checkout feature eliminates this frustration by allowing shoppers to checkout with just a tap on their phone screen. 
• PayPal payout: Would you like to pay multiple vendors at a time with ease? PayPal mass payout makes that really easy. 
• Invoicing: PayPal makes it very easy to generate invoices and send them to your customers quickly
• PayPal working capital: need a loan to finance your dropshipping business? You can receive funds from PayPal within minutes, and the repayment plan is flexible. 

Pricing 

How much does it cost to set up an account on PayPal? Nothing, really! It costs absolutely nothing to set up a personal or business account on PayPal. Plus, there are no monthly maintenance fees, no cancellation fees, etc. 

You only get to pay a fee each time you successfully complete a transaction on PayPal. The fees vary; let’s now look at them. 

Fees

PayPal fees vary greatly and are largely dependent on a number of factors, including the country your customer is paying from and the nature of the payment. 

PayPal charges a transaction fee of 3.40% to 5.40% each time you receive payment for a sale. This fee is also applicable to international transactions. 

Sending payments to multiple vendors at a time also attracts a fee of 2%. 

Also, PayPal charges a $20 fee for chargebacks – that is, a fee you would have to pay to allow PayPal to settle a dispute should your customer initiate a refund request (chargeback). 

There is also a dispute fee of $8 to think about. 

And then there is a conversion fee to take into account too. It ranges between 4% and 4.5%. 

Withdrawing money out of PayPal to your bank account also attracts a fee as well. It’s about $5. 

Ease of use

PayPal is easy to use, thanks to its intuitive user interface. It’s so simple that you can set up your account in a matter of minutes without the help of any developer. 

What’s more, integrating PayPal into your dropshipping website is easy and you can do so with a few clicks of the button. 

Additionally, PayPal makes it easy to get help whenever you need it. You can get support by reaching out to the support team via a phone call or direct messaging. There is also a resolution center where you can resolve disputes with your customers. 

Security 

PayPal’s security features are quite impressive. 

To start with, PayPal offers robust protection for sellers that guards your business against false claims, chargebacks, and fraudulent payments. 

In addition to that, PayPal monitors its network on a 24/7 basis to keep hackers and malicious users at bay. 

Customer Support

You will want to choose a payment platform that makes it easy to get help when you need one. It’s safe to say that PayPal is one of those platforms.

Although PayPal offers limited phone support, you can always reach their support team via direct messaging. There is also a forum community where you can always turn to whenever you need help. 

Stripe for Dropshipping

Stripe is another payment solution that makes it easy for dropshippers to collect payments on their website. 

However, Stripe is not for everybody. As a matter of fact, there are certain types of businesses that can’t use Stripe to process payments, and dropshipping happens to be one of them – at least, partly. 

Here’s the thing; if you are running your dropshipping business from outside the US, you will most likely not be able to use Stripe to receive payments. 

Technically, Stripe considers dropshipping businesses from Europe, Africa, and Asia as risky. So, if you run your business from these regions, you are better off looking for another payment solution. 

That being said, let’s see what Stripe has got to offer if you are still considering using it for your dropshipping business. 

Features

Stripe comes packed with lots of features that make it a payment solution of choice for most eCommerce entrepreneurs. 

To begin with, it allows you to accept payments from customers via credit and debit cards. Also, it comes with a reporting dashboard from which you can track all your transactions and charges without any issues. 

Stripe currently operates in over 40 countries. This means you can accept payments from shoppers in these countries, and in different currencies. 

And that’s not all; with Stripe, you can effortlessly set up recurring payments on your website. 

Other notable features include invoicing, embeddable checkout, dispute resolution, and lots more. 

Price

Like PayPal, opening a Stripe account is free; no monthly maintenance fee, no hidden charges, no setup charges. You will only be charged a fee each time you successfully process a payment. 

We will be reviewing these fees in the next section. 

Fees

Stripe charges a standard fee of 2.9% + 30 cents for every successful card transaction. Bank debits and transfers attract a fee of 0.8%.

Setting up recurring billing using Stripe attracts a charge of 0.5%. 

If you wish to invoice your customers using Stripe, you will be charged 0.4% of whatever your customer pays. 

Chargeback protection attracts a charge of 0.4%. 

Accepting payments via in-person card processing costs 2.7% + 5 cents.

Finally, if you wish to receive customized support from Stripe, you will pay a monthly charge of $1,800. 

Ease of Use

Stripe is easy to set up and use, as no coding skill is required. It has an intuitive interface that is easy to navigate, allowing you to set up your account in a matter of minutes. 

However, you will have to write codes to access Stripe’s full potential and customize it to your taste. 

Security

Stripe is PCI-certified, meaning it’s one of the safest payment solution providers on the internet. Also, it uses advanced encryption technology that ensures the card details of your customers are kept safe and out of the reach of hackers. 

There is also an advanced fraud detection and prevention feature that helps to keep the platform safe from fraudsters. 

Customer Support

Getting help and support from Stripe is fairly easy. You can contact the support team via email or you can jump on Discord to get help. 

Stripe also offers 24/7 support to registered users. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Can You Use PayPal and Stripe?

Well, it depends. You can’t use PayPal together with Stripe; they don’t sync. However, you can have both solutions on your website and use them separately to collect payments from your customers. 

What Payment Processing Solution is Best for Dropshipping?

We will say PayPal. The reason is that Stripe has lots of stringent rules that might make it impossible to use it for your dropshipping business. 

PayPal, on the other hand, offers better flexibility and fewer restrictions. 

Why Do I need a Payment Processor? 

A Payment Processor makes it easy for you to collect payments from your customers regardless of their location and currency. 

Conclusion

So there you have it; a detailed PayPal vs Stripe comparison. As we earlier said, PayPal is the best option for dropshipping, especially if you are just starting. Stripe is better suited for large, complex businesses. 

To make the most out of your dropshipping business, it’s important to use the right tools. 

This is why you need Sell The Trend. 

Sell The Trend is an all-in-one dropshipping platform that allows you to automate your dropshipping product research and other repetitive tasks, connect with suppliers within and outside the US, and lots more. 

Also, Sell The Trend allows you to automate order fulfillment with ease. 

Ready to try out Sell The Trend to see how it will help your business? 

Sign up for a free trial right away