Even though it’s easier than ever to start a dropshipping store, it can be hard to keep it going. Payment options are one of the biggest problems dropshipping store owners have to deal with.
For example, there are different ways to pay in Europe, which may vary from one area to the next. So, to help you choose the best payment method in Europe, I’ve put together this helpful guide for every dropshipper.
What’s a payment gateway?
Before we talk about different ways to pay in Europe, let’s talk about some basics. You might be wondering why you need a payment gateway in the first place.
In a nutshell, it helps your customers connect to their banking network. Let’s say a customer came to your store and put any item in the shopping cart. Now, in order to buy the product, they have to pay for it in a safe place. A payment gateway takes care of this by talking to the customer’s bank and taking out the right amount.
After a real and safe transaction is done, the money is processed. So, you can get paid for selling the item and go ahead with delivering the order. A gateway network uses standard protocols to make sure that all of the communication is safe and follows strict rules.
What You Need to Know Before Sending Goods to Europe?
In Europe, running a dropshipping store can be a little different than in other places. One of the main reasons for this is that there isn’t a single way to pay. In the US, where PayPal is seen as a universal way to pay, the situation is more decentralized in Europe.
For instance, PayPal might work in some countries, but Stripe might be a better choice in others. Besides that, debit cards, bank invoices, and cash on delivery are also common ways to pay.
So, before you choose a payment gateway for Europe, you should do a little bit of research. First, try to learn about the country you want to sell to and what its most common method of payment is. Here is a list of different European countries and the payment method they prefer right now.
What are the best ways to pay online in Europe?
If you want to grow your dropshipping store, you can use one of the following digital payment solutions in Europe.
PayPal
PayPal is one of the most well-known ways to pay online, so there’s no need to explain it. One of the best things about PayPal is that you can use it in almost every country in Europe. PayPal lets you use credit cards like Mastercard, Visa, and Discover to pay for things in advance.
After setting up your merchant account, you can also use PayPal to convert the money to your local currency. But this will cost more than PayPal’s standard transaction fee to process.
2Checkout
You can also add 2Checkout to your store, which is a popular digital payment service in Europe. At the moment, you can use 2Checkout in more than 80 countries, including most of Europe.
It also works with American Express and Diners Club transactions, as well as Mastercard and Visa. Also, the overall transaction fees for 2Checkout are lower than those for PayPal.
Stripe
Even though Stripe is based in the United States, it is currently available in most European countries. Since Stripe’s interface as a whole is pretty light, it’s easy to make it work well on mobile phones and apps.
Another good thing about Stripe is that it can be used with social platforms like the marketplaces on Facebook and Instagram.
Skrill
Skrill is another big company that you can use to pay for things in Europe. It works well with most credit cards and debit cards and makes transactions easy.
Skrill has one of the lowest transaction fees right now, at about 2%. This makes it a great choice for small businesses.
Pay with Apple
Apple Pay is the company’s built-in way to pay for things on iOS devices. Now, Apple Pay is a popular way to pay on many different platforms and apps.
If you sell things online, you should think about using Apple Pay as a way for people in Europe to pay. The tool has a wide reach and is easy to set up, but it costs more than other options to process.
Google Pay
Google has also made its own way to pay, which is called Google Pay or Checkout. This is similar to what Apple has done. The process to set up and use this Europe payment option is quite simple.
You can use Google Pay on a lot of different platforms besides Android devices. The solution makes it easy, safe, and profitable for store owners.
Authorize.net
Last but not least, if you want a safe way to pay in Europe, you can also look into Authorize. The tool supports multiple encryption layers for payments, so it meets all of the European Union’s security requirements.
The only problem with Authorize is that it is not available in all of the top European countries. Also, its transaction and handling fees are a bit higher than those of Stripe or Skrill.
How to Choose the Best Method of Payment in Europe
As you can see, there are a lot of ways to pay in Europe that you can think about. Since there are so many tools, it can be hard to choose the best one. Here are some things to keep in mind.
Popularity
The most important thing is that the way you let people pay must be a common one in the country. To do this, you need to do some research on the market and find out which payment methods are most popular with locals. PayPal seems to be the most popular choice, but Stripe and Skrill are two new options.
Availability
Also, you need to make sure that the payment method works and is available in the country in question. To do this, just go to the website of the payment method you want to use and see if it is available. As of right now, this is how many different ways to pay there are around the world.
Change of currency
If you don’t live in a local market, you should look at the tool’s currency conversion feature. For example, PayPal and Stripe have options that make it easy to change money into the local currency.
Fees for processing and doing business
Also, you should check how much the payment gateway charges for each transaction and how much it costs to process each transaction. If the fee for processing or converting is too high, it can have a direct effect on your net profit margin.
Help with Dropshipping
Some payment gateways don’t work with dropshipping stores because the number of returns is so high (or have higher processing fees). So, before you choose a preferred payment method for Europe, make sure it works with your dropshipping store.
Scalability
Lastly, the payment option should help you grow your store internationally. So, you can easily serve people in other countries without having to set up different ways for them to pay.
You should now be able to choose the best online payment method for your store in Europe with ease. But you can browse Dropship Corporation to grow your store and add a lot of relevant products to it.
- The official AliExpress dropshipping store has a lot of tools you can use to run your store from one place.
- You can browse products in a lot of different categories by hand, or you can use the Supplier finder feature. This will choose the top-rated supplier for your product right away.
- You can save time and money with features like automatic updates on the status of your order and syncing of tracking numbers.
- You don’t have to pay to use Dropship Corporation , and it’s easy to connect it to platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, and Wix.
- Dropship Corporation also lets you buy in bulk, bundle products, manage your stock, and do a lot more.
Conclusion
That’s all we have to say! I’m sure that after reading this post, it will be easy for you to find out what the best way to pay online in Europe is. Because there are so many ways to pay digitally in Europe, you might get lost.
So, I would suggest going with a solution that is used all over the world, like PayPal, Skrill, or Stripe. Also, you can think about using Dropship Corporation to manage your dropshipping store. It is an official dropshipping tool from AliExpress that has been used by thousands of suppliers and has a lot of different features.
