PayPal Point Of Sale Review (Formerly PayPal Zettle)

Pros

• Easy-to-use interface
• In-app invoicing available
• Free sub-user accounts
• Competitive flat-rate pricing
• Ideal for lower-volume merchants

Cons

• Account stability issues
• No offline mode
• Inconsistent customer support
• Not suitable for high-risk industries
• Not ideal for higher-volume merchants

What Is PayPal Point Of Sale?

PayPal Point of Sale, formerly known as PayPal Zettle, is PayPal’s mobile processing solution that combines a free mobile app with two mobile card reader options and several ready-made Store Kits complete with receipt printers, iPad stands, and other accessories. PayPal Point of Sale allows small businesses to accept PayPal in-store, though it also integrates with PayPal’s online payment processing services.

PayPal Point of Sale offers well-designed and up-to-date card readers, an intuitive, capable app backed by the PayPal name, and a wide array of merchant services. PayPal is not without its drawbacks, though — its customer service is inconsistent, and it has less stability than you’d get with a dedicated merchant account.

Businesses That Would Benefit From PayPal Point of Sale

A wide variety of small, low-risk businesses stand to benefit from using PayPal Point of Sale to take payments and service customers, especially those that need same-day merchant account approval to get up and selling quickly.

While large, high-volume businesses will pay less for processing with a POS that connects to a dedicated merchant account with interchange-plus pricing, PayPal’s flat rates for in-person payment processing are actually lower than those of competitors like Square, making PayPal Point of Sale a solid choice for lower-volume merchants.

Occasional sellers who sell items at fairs or markets may find an easy mobile solution like PayPal Point of Sale particularly appealing, with its convenient card reader that fits easily in your hand and its competitive processing rates.

PayPal Point Of Sale Pricing

Because PayPal Point of Sale offers low POS processing rates and doesn’t charge hidden fees, the company has earned an excellent score in this category. Here is what you can expect to pay when using PayPal Point of Sale:

High-volume merchants may be able to negotiate better rates — contact PayPal for a custom pricing plan.

With PayPal Point of Sale, you won’t pay any:

• Monthly/annual fees
• PCI compliance fees
• Setup fees
• Monthly equipment fees

Note that if you process a lot of American Express transactions, you could potentially save money with PayPal because of its flat-rate pricing. You’ll pay less for Amex transactions with PayPal, but you might pay a little bit more for some kinds of Visa and Mastercard transactions than you would with a full merchant account.

PayPal Point of Sale’s in-person transaction rates are more competitive than PayPal’s online transaction rates, making PayPal a good choice for merchants who have an online presence but do the bulk of their sales in person. To learn more about pricing for credit card processing and how PayPal’s fees compare to other options, check out our guide to credit card processing rates and fees.

Extra PayPal Point Of Sale Costs & Fees

Note that the above pricing pertains to US merchants only. For UK pricing, see our Zettle By PayPal (UK Version) review.

PayPal Point Of Sale Features

PayPal Point of Sale makes for quite an attractive mobile POS package. It’s easy to get started, and if you use PayPal for anything else, your information gets consolidated in one place. And along with the mobile card reader, you’ll get the option to have a full countertop register.

PayPal POS includes numerous features and integrations. It’s not as fully featured as Square, but most retail and restaurant businesses with basic needs will find everything they need in the app, including multichannel selling options.

With that being said, I’d like to see PayPal add an offline mode. This would let you securely add all of your customer’s credit card information into the app without an internet connection. Whether you’re offline temporarily due to an outage or you’re offsite, you shouldn’t have to stop business due to a bad connection. While a PayPal POS reader can be a very handy tool for taking payments at farmer’s markets and conventions, Wi-Fi at such events can be spotty at best.

Features Overview

PayPal Point Of Sale Features In Detail

Let’s look at some Paypal Point of Sale features in detail.

Customer Service & Technical Support

With PayPal Point of Sale, you’ll be using PayPal’s main support system. PayPal has several different customer service/support options, including a community forum and online help center. However, phone support is not great.

Customer Support Channels

PayPal Point of Sale’s customer support offerings include the following:

• Community Forum: The PayPal Community has over 5 million members with over 2 million posts and over a thousand people online at any time. You can ask any question and likely get a quick response. However, keep in mind that PayPal doesn’t guarantee the answers here. You’ll find a dedicated spot for business owners called the PayPal Merchant Community, with subsections on merchant products and services, business tools, reporting, managing risk and fraud, and more. It also features a searchable knowledgebase.
• Help Center: You can search and find answers for issues, including password and account access, account setup, payments-specific matters, such as holds and declines, as well as other how-tos.
• Phone/Email: Sadly, PayPal’s phone support is notoriously inconsistent. If you have an account-related issue, you’ll have to call. For most other questions, concerns, or problems, you can find help through one of PayPal’s other support channels. To be fair, while my experience involved a considerable wait for a callback, the help I received was reasonable.
• Social Media: Besides the primary Twitter account and Facebook, there’s a support Twitter account where PayPal will field your service and support questions.

The biggest mark against PayPal is the customer service via phone — numerous users have had a poorer phone experience than my own. When you need help, you probably don’t have time to worry about inconsistent phone service.

Ease Of Use

I can say from my experience with the PayPal Point of Sale app that it is intuitive and easy for non-techies to operate successfully. Functions are easy to access, and nothing threw me for a loop.

While there’s nothing particularly new or innovative about the app itself, its well-designed, easy-to-navigate features fit the bill for almost any need you’d encounter on the go. As a bonus, most of the features are also easily managed right from within the app, making it a truly mobile option. Plus, connecting to your POS device and peripheral hardware is a cinch.

PayPal Point of Sale Contract & Commitment

PayPal is a third-party payment processor, which means it aggregates accounts instead of creating individual merchant accounts for each business. This model makes signing up more accessible since approval is also a simpler process with fewer hoops to jump through. Most merchants can sign up and start processing on the same day. As far as additional fees, you won’t face any added monthly costs or early termination fees.

If you already have a PayPal business account, it’s fairly easy to start using PayPal Point of Sale — though you’re not automatically guaranteed access. You’ll have to apply and wait for approval.

While you won’t need to sign a three-year contract, you will be signing a contract, so take the time to understand what you’re signing. All in all, we’re happy to give PayPal an excellent rating in this category because of the freedom it gives you to change your mind or scale when needed.

Concerns About PayPal Point of Sale

Beyond the aforementioned lack of an offline mode and lackluster phone support, there really isn’t much to warrant concern. The card reader and touchscreen terminal are both capable and reasonably priced devices for taking payments, and the POS software is solid and versatile.

The real concern regarding PayPal Point of Sale is on the payment processing side of things; in particular, it’s the frequency with which users experience withheld funds and account freezes/terminations.

As a third-party processor, PayPal aggregates all its merchants into one single merchant account, which means there’s an inherent amount of account instability. You can get set up almost right away, but PayPal analyzes your individual transactions that much more closely to make sure you’re not conducting prohibited business activities or processing fraudulent transactions.

Upticks in processing volume — common for seasonal merchants — may also trigger an account review, followed by a hold/reserve, a freeze, or even an account termination. However, that’s the risk of using an aggregator; you’ll find these issues with Square and Stripe as well. I should note that a majority of PayPal business users experience no such issues.

PayPal Point of Sale Reviews

Reviews specifically addressing PayPal Point of Sale can be hard to find amidst the avalanche of PayPal reviews posted by both consumers and merchants. However, PayPal Point of Sale currently gets an average rating of 3.1 out of 5 at the Apple store based on 950+ ratings and an average rating of 3.8 out of 5 on the Google Play store based on over 43,000 reviews.

Generally, merchants seem to like the app itself, though a lot of users have complaints about PayPal’s credit card processing.

How PayPal Point Of Sale Compares To Other Mobile POS Solutions

PayPal Point of Sale is a strong contender in the mobile POS and processing fields, but how does it stack up against its competitors? We decided to compare it to two competitors whose products are targeted to a similar audience in the mobile processing/mPOS space: Square and Helcim.

Final Verdict On PayPal Point Of Sale

PayPal Point of Sale has everything most new and mid-sized businesses need to take payments, whether on the go or as part of a full retail setup. We can wholeheartedly recommend PayPal Point of Sale to anyone interested in standalone, pay-as-you-go processing. PayPal Point of Sale gets a strong score for its ease of use, great hardware, transparency, and overall dependability. It’s not perfect by any means, but it’s among the top mPOS apps on the market today.

If you already have an online store or want to start one, PayPal has a lot to offer in this area. Check out our full PayPal review for a thorough rundown of the company’s online credit card processing and the other myriad tools in PayPal’s payments arsenal.

Before making a final decision, however, check out some of your other options to compare features and decide what’s best for your particular business type.