After hearing tons of other shop-keepers on etsy praise RevolutionMoneyExchange (usually referred to as just "RME") to the heavens, and after doing a bit of research on my own, I've decided to join in on this particular free-us-from-PayPal-fees revolution.
My biggest incentive, honestly, was when I had 33 cents of a 1 dollar shipping bill taken out by PayPal in fees earlier this week. Stuff like that is enough to drive a small shopkeeper nuts!
Obviously, then, the perk of RME is its freedom from fees--no costs for signing up, requesting, sending, or receiving money. (There are fees for overdrafts and paper checks though--but since neither of those is an issue for me, that didn't put me off).
Basically it's that you can only transfer money between RME account users--unlike PayPal, where non-account-holders can just use credit cards to pay. This means that if the person paying you doesn't have an RME account they'd have to set one up to pay, and then it will be a couple days before their account clears and money is transferable. (In other words, its work basically how PayPal works when you're not using credit cards--if there is money in their account, it transfers immediately; if it's being pulled from their checking first, there's a delay). Also, it only works for people in the U.S. currently (which I think is very unfortunate).
Yes, that's a bit annoying. But to me it's far less annoying than paying 33% in fees (I know, that's only a bill for 1 dollar, but still!). In order to make it more appealing to my customers, I'm thinking I'll either include a free extra with purchases made through RME or I'll offer a 2% discount (PayPal charges 3%, but they also have a flat 30 cent transaction fee they add to this 3%, which is what makes those low-priced-item transactions on PayPal so brutal, fee-wise). What would you find to be the best incentive?
[5/6/2010 edit: There is longer a giveaway associated with this post because RME no longer offers a referral bonus. But I'm still offering an extra goody to those customers who purchase from my Etsy shop via RME]
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Until We Meet Again
9 months ago
9 bits of commenty goodness:
I am getting really annoyed with paypal fees as well. By the time you pay your etsy fees and paypal fees you're not making anything! Well, at least for me, because most of my items are under $5!
I'm really going to have to check this RME out! Is it common amongst buyers?
I signed up for RME back when it first came out but haven't done a thing with it since then. I guess I'll have to go back and look into it some more.
Since I already have a RME account, I guess I can't enter your contest. Dang!
Hi! I was delighted to read your blog and signed up for RME through your referral link. I hope it catches on.
Just yesterday I had a nightmare with PayPal, on behalf of my church, as they wanted information "for compliance purposes", but they wouldn't accept the information via e-mail as attachments. It would have cost us more to fax the materials than the PayPal account had in it for the past 9 months---a whopping $2.52
I tried to sort it out via email, but to no avail after multiple vollies with their "compliance" people. Finally, I found a number and talked to a lovely woman in their customer service, who couldn't help at all. She referred me to an arrogant, obnoxious, and sexist male who was useless at best. Finally, I ended up simply asking to have them send the balance in our account to the church's bank account. They said they couldn't "close" the account, however, until the church sent in the requested forms---which I explained had been sent on multiple occasions, but they wouldn't accept via email. AARGH! So, who cares what PayPal does? I'm thrilled to learn about RME and will let others know about it---and that they can sign up through you!
Thanks, again.
I already have RME (sorry!) but I've used it a few times and have been nothing but pleased with it. It's nice to know the money is actually going to the seller instead of some middle-man.
please note that RME is for US customers only - I only found out going thru the registration process!
if i had to choose, i'd choose the $10 gift certificate. jacieka@msn.com. :)
Hi, I have signed up for RME and let me tell you, I quit selling on eBay b/c of paypal's fees. Ebay's were out of control, too, but it just got too hard to handle! I'd love a $10 gift cert if you are still offering that promotion! stasew at hotmail dot com.
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