What is the most important thing for a dropshipper to do before he or she opens an online store? It’s about choosing and setting up safe and reliable payment gateways for dropshipping. Without a payment gateway, you won’t be able to sell your products through a dropshipping store. So where do we start?
Surely, you must be asking yourself a million questions. Maybe you don’t even know what a payment gateway is, much less how it works or how to set one up. If you learn the basics as soon as possible, it will be easier to choose a payment gateway for your new online store. So, let’s start at the beginning.
What is a gateway for payments?
A payment gateway is a way to make an online transaction easier. Between the customer and the online store is the payment gateway. To be more specific, payment gateways make sure that the money from the customer’s account goes safely into the bank account of the retailer. Depending on what the gateway can do, the transactions are done with debit cards, credit cards, or other payment methods. In practice, when a customer makes a purchase, the payment gateway moves the money from the customer’s account to the dropshipper’s account.
In the world of dropshipping, you can’t do without a safe and reliable payment gateway. The next step is to figure out how to choose the best payment gateway for your dropshipping store.
How to choose the best payment gateway for dropshipping for your online store.
In the digital world of today, which is always changing, there are many different kinds of payment gateways to choose from. How can you tell which one is best for your store? Some criteria can make it easier for you to choose which payment gateway to buy, such as:
- Type of payment gateway: Compare the two types of payment gateways to see which one works best for your business;
- Target country: Look into the most popular payment gateways in the countries where you want to do dropshipping;
- Fees: Check the different transaction fees that all payment gateways offer, as well as the fees that apply to a monthly subscription.
- User experience: Look into the practices and services of the payment gateways to find out which one will give you the best experience as a user.
- There are pros and cons to both integrated and hosted payment gateways.
- Payment gateways can be either integrated or hosted.
Integrated payment gateway: These are the ones that let you connect your online store to the API of the payment gateway.
- Pros: This process lets you keep your customers on your website without sending them to another one. This lets you increase your conversion rates and keep your customers’ data safe and secure.
- Cons: Usually, integrated payment gateway solutions can be changed to fit your needs. This means that you will have to do some development on your own, which can be expensive for a dropshipper who is just starting out.
Hosted payment gateways: When your customer is ready to buy something, this type of payment gateway will send them to the payment service provider’s page (PSP).
- Pros: With this type, PCI compliance and data security are taken care of by the gateway.
- Cons: On the other hand, the process of sending your customers to a website they don’t know can make them doubt your services.
What is the best payment method for dropshipping?
Now that you know how the different payment gateways work and what their pros and cons are, it’s time to make a list of the best ones. Here are the 10 best payment gateways you can use for your dropshipping business.
PayPal
PayPal is one of the most popular ways to pay around the world right now. PayPal has more than 400 million active accounts, and all of the major credit cards and debit cards can be used to pay for things. If you choose to use PayPal for your store, you will use the PayPal Commerce platform, which requires a free business account. Most of the time, PayPal is used as a hosted payment gateway. However, if you want to use it as an integrated gateway, you can upgrade to PayPay Pro. For $30 USD per month, you can choose this option.
- +200 countries all over the world
- Transaction fees are 1-3.49% plus a fixed fee that changes based on where the payment is made.
- Number of currencies accepted: Accepts 25 currencies
Skrill
Skrill is a popular payment service that is similar to PayPal. Skrill is cheaper than PayPay and is used by about 120,000 merchants and 40 million people.
- +130 countries all over the world
- Depending on the payment method, transaction fees range from 0 to 5%.
- Number of currencies accepted: Accepts 40 currencies
Stripe
Next on the list of popular payment gateways is Stripe, which is an integrated payment gateway solution that uses flexible API integration. If you choose Stripe, you can change the way the platform works to fit your needs. Stripe is used by millions of businesses around the world. It is available in more than 40 countries. It can work with WooCommerce and Shopify, and most dropshippers in Canada, Australia, and the UK use it.
- +40 countries all over the world
- For international transactions, the fees are 2.9% plus $0.25 USD.
- 1.4% plus €0.25 for transactions within the European Economic Area
- Number of currencies accepted: Accepts +135 currencies
Amazon Pay
PayPal and Stripe are similar to Amazon Pay in how they work. It doesn’t cost anything to open an account, and there are different transaction fees for transactions inside the U.S. and transactions outside the country. It can be put together with an API and doesn’t cost anything every month. It’s made for people who sell things online and gives customers a great experience.
- 18 countries around the world offer it.
- For transactions within the United States, the fees are 2.9% plus $0.30 USD.
- 3.9% plus $0.30 USD for transactions outside the U.S.
- Number of currencies that can be used:
- Helps 12 different currencies
Authorize.net
Authorize.net is another popular choice for a flexible and safe integrated payment gateway. They accept it in more than 30 countries, but a lot of US-based retailers use it as a gateway. Authorize.net charges a $25 USD monthly fee and a transaction fee for each sale. Small and medium-sized online stores in the US, UK, Canada, Europe, and Australia can use the payment gateway.
- 33 countries around the world offer it.
- Transaction fees are 2.9% plus $0.30 USD per transaction if you don’t have a merchant account. If you do have a merchant account, you can choose the Payment Gateway Only plan, which costs $0.10 per transaction and $0.10 per daily batch.
- Number of currencies accepted: Accepts 12 currencies
2Checkout
2Checkout is a payment gateway that can be used in more than 200 countries around the world. It also has API integration. It’s a good choice for dropshipping stores because you can integrate it with other payment gateways like PayPal, Stripe, and Skrill, and you can also change the language to make the customer experience better. It can be paid for with major credit cards as well as other ways. Because of these things, more than 17,000 eCommerce and dropshipping businesses around the world use it as a payment gateway.
- +200 countries all over the world
- Fees for transactions: $2
- Sell Plan: 3.5% plus $0.30 USD per transaction
- 2Subscribe Plan: 4.5% plus $0.40 USD per transaction
- 2Monetize Plan: 6% plus $0.50 USD per transaction
- Number of currencies accepted: Supports more than 100 different currencies
Adyen
Adyen is an example of a payment gateway that works with more than 250 different payment methods. It can be used by online stores in Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia, and the Pacific Africa. There are no set-up or monthly fees for the payment gateway, but there is a minimum invoice of $120 USD per month.
- +38 countries all over the world
- Transaction fees are a processing fee of $0.10 USD plus a fee per transaction that is based on the payment method.
- Number of currencies it accepts: Supports more than 30 currencies
Apple Pay
Apple Pay is what most Apple users choose. All major credit and debit cards, as well as other payment methods, can be used to pay through the payment gateway. Apple Pay works with Authorize.net, Stripe, and Braintree, and they all support it. Also, most Apple users think of it as a safe and secure alternative because it lets them pay with Touch ID or Face ID without saving any information about their credit cards or transactions.
- +70 countries all over the world
- 1.5% plus $0.25 to $15 USD per transaction in fees
- Number of currencies it accepts: Supports more than 70 currencies
Braintree
Braintree is the best payment gateway for dropshippers who want a highly customized online store. It is run by PayPal. Braintree is made to meet the needs of every dropshipper, not just one. As your online store grows, it gives you the chance to make changes to the solution. Braintree works with Apple Pay, Google Pay, and all of the major credit and debit cards. As a dropshipper, you can always get in touch with Braintree’s customer service to make sure you have a unique experience.
- +40 countries all over the world
- Transaction fees: 0.75-3.49% plus $0.49 USD per transaction
- Number of currencies accepted: More than 130 currencies are accepted.
WePay
WePay is the last payment gateway on the list of the best ones for dropshipping. WePay is another option for an integrated payment gateway. It is only available in North America. WePay is like Braintree in that it can work with a flexible API to make sure that both dropshippers and their customers have a smooth experience. Some reviewers have said that WePay’s solution is a bit difficult to understand. WePay makes up for this with its full support and 100% coverage of payment risk.
- Only the US, UK, and Canada can get it.
- Transaction fees: 2.9% plus $0.30 USD per transaction
- Number of currencies accepted: Accepts two currencies
Conclusion
One of the most important steps in your dropshipping journey is to choose a good payment gateway. Your choice will have a big effect on your cash flow because, at the end of the day, the more satisfied your customers are with the payment methods you offer, the more sales you will make. If you’ve never run a dropshipping business before, we suggest you read this step-by-step guide on how to start one and cover all the basics before deciding how you want to get paid.
