Alternatives to Gocardless

[bobski]

Hi, i like Gocardless but i just feel its now becoming a tad expensive! is there anything similar on the market that people use

 

[Pjj]

Hi, i like Gocardless but i just feel its now becoming a tad expensive! is there anything similar on the market that people use

Personally feel BACS is the best method it’s reliant on the customer doing it but I find it works well

 

[spruce]

Personally feel BACS is the best method it’s reliant on the customer doing it but I find it works well

I agree. There are still the odd ones you have to send a text reminder to as they 'forget' to pay us. We do chase slow payers and now never let the bill run up, especially in these economic times.

 

[spruce]

Hi, i like Gocardless but i just feel its now becoming a tad expensive! is there anything similar on the market that people use

These are all costs that are increasing, affect the cost of running your business. A price rise must also cover these increasing costs. I believe that once you start changing customer payment methods, then things just get more complicated.

 

[Master Jedi Alejandro]

Hi, i like Gocardless but i just feel its now becoming a tad expensive! is there anything similar on the market that people use

Do you integrate it with other software?
Square I believe also have Direct Debit mandates which are charged at a lower rate and I think may even be able to port over existing customers for you. So they don’t need to sign up again.
At the moment GoCardless is the only one supported by Squeegee but I believe this is changing.

 

[dazmond]

Nearly all my customers pay by BACS(around 85%).it's free and not many problems,the rest pay cash or card on the day.

 

[Cleanco]

Sack go cardless off. I’d rather pay my lad to go knocking doors than them. Some swear by it but with the right set up there’s no need.

 

[Iron Giant]

Hi, i like Gocardless but i just feel its now becoming a tad expensive! is there anything similar on the market that people use

If you thought it was becoming expensive you should have been with them before they upped their charges they almost doubled I have used GC for almost 10 years it was inevitable that their charges would increase just like our prices in our business do, I found these Access Paysuite | Payment Solutions | Direct Debit Processing but nothing is clear on the pricing it depends if you need API integration with CP or Squeegee,

some lads on here whine about others using a company like GC but in my eyes, it's no different to any of us going into a shop a paying with our bank card or phone we expect simplicity but the retailer has to pay for the card machine and the card transaction it's part of doing business in the modern world, it ain't for everyone but it clearly works many 1,000's of businesses

 

[dazmond]

How much a year does it cost in gocardless charges though?if its a few hundred maybe it's worth it,a few thousand and I think I'd be looking at an alternative

 

[Iron Giant]

How much a year does it cost in gocardless charges though?if its a few hundred maybe it's worth it,a few thousand and I think I'd be looking at an alternative

All depends on how many jobs and their payments are been processed through GC, personally for me it's worth what I pay I don't have to go through checking payments when I am off work I don't have to have to check my bank I can completely switch off from work that alone for me is worth what I pay.

 

[dazmond]

If your a sole trader theres no way gocardless is worth it compared to BACS payments.it takes 5 mins once a day to check my payments and update my CP account.

Each to their own(if you like giving money away to a third party to process your payments)

 

[Iron Giant]

If your a sole trader theres no way gocardless is worth it compared to BACS payments.it takes 5 mins once a day to check my payments and update my CP account.

Each to their own(if you like giving money away to a third party to process your payments)

That's your personal opinion on your own business,

I don't think spending £1,000's on a hot water system is worth it either or heated seats to warm my backside,

What one sees value someone else might not, we could round and round in circles about all sorts, money is pissed in the wind every day of the year.

And each can choose to do what we see fit with our own money.

 

[dazmond]

I'd hate to work without a hot water system or heated drivers seat in the winter months!Worth every penny!??

 

[Deleted member 5762]

I would think it's all relative to what your business is like and what your customer base is like. Where I live it's a very high proportion of the population is pensioners. If I switched them to gocardless I'd lose all my work - it's sometimes hard enough getting people to pay by card or BACS lol. But if you were in an area where the population is a bit younger/more modern, and maybe also some commercial work it must be a great way of streamlining payments. They were always going to hike their fees up as soon as they had enough people using their service. Most of those 'payment solutions' businesses do the same thing. I think I read on a Facebook group some people use Stripe for payments, but I don't know how their fees and processing times compare.

 

[spruce]

If your a sole trader theres no way gocardless is worth it compared to BACS payments.it takes 5 mins once a day to check my payments and update my CP account.

Each to their own(if you like giving money away to a third party to process your payments)

18 years ago I believe the majority of us collected moneys owed from our not at home customers. Ours was Friday evening.

I found collecting on a Friday evening rather tedious, but it kept our outstanding debt under control.

If gocardless was an option back then, I would have probably considered that route. I think it cost us more in wear and tear, diesel and man hours chasing debt than the cost of using that service.

Bacs was looked at with suspicion in our part of the world, and Bacs for us really only took off with COVID.

We still have a few stubborn Bacs customers, mainly old folk, and I still collect a couple probably once a month. I can live with that.

However, if I only used gocardless as the o/p does, then I believe that he should stick with that. Trying to change customers over to another payment method has the potential to create chaos and some customer annoyance.

In the end it's how each one decides how to run their own business and their needs and wants. There are some who choose to outsource the water they use. Hence the reason for Spotless Water's services.

You choose to have hot water and heated seats. We cleaned with cold water for some 15 years and I've never had heated seats. However, having a car with air-conditioning in Africa was a necessity imo, especially in summer. I campaigned for the reps to have company cars with Aircon.

It's what is important to you and your productivity that matters.

The costs of services rise. It's inflation. It's part of the current financial situation. The cost of our equipment has also risen so we need to increase our prices to cover these cost increases.

 

[Iron Giant]

18 years ago I believe the majority of us collected moneys owed from our not at home customers. Ours was Friday evening.

I found collecting on a Friday evening rather tedious, but it kept our outstanding debt under control.

If gocardless was an option back then, I would have probably considered that route. I think it cost us more in wear and tear, diesel and man hours chasing debt than the cost of using that service.

Bacs was looked at with suspicion in our part of the world, and Bacs for us really only took off with COVID.

We still have a few stubborn Bacs customers, mainly old folk, and I still collect a couple probably once a month. I can live with that.

However, if I only used gocardless as the o/p does, then I believe that he should stick with that. Trying to change customers over to another payment method has the potential to create chaos and some customer annoyance.

In the end it's how each one decides how to run their own business and their needs and wants. There are some who choose to outsource the water they use. Hence the reason for Spotless Water's services.

It's what is important to you and your productivity that matters.

The costs of services rise. It's inflation. It's part of the current financial situation. The cost of our equipment has also risen so we need to increase our prices to cover these cost increases.

Exactly, 10-12 years ago I was offering collecting, bacs and PayPal no matter how hard I tried some people didn't want to switch and I was collecting 2-3 evenings a week for up to 2 hrs at a time riding around far more than I should have been, the big change started to happen when new houses were been built these new customers had no issue with GC and slowly I dropped old jobs and collecting

When covid hit I announced that for GC customers I'd no longer leave a calling card after each clean as the email from GC would serve as notice of the clean, I was standing writing out 25+ cards a day, and no more messing on with cards or purchasing them, quite a few costs over the years I have saved myself money on, no more hours of collecting or excessive wear and tear on my van, I charge an extra £1 on every job to cover for GC fees so I know I've covered my costs

 

[Master Jedi Alejandro]

I spent the first 5 years of my business refusing to use GoCardless because ‘I’m not paying them for that!’

Start of last year I started offering it to new customers as an option. Within a month I switched it to the only option (cash also accepted). You guys must all have the best customers in the world if you never have to chase money. And frankly, I’d rather do anything else with my life.

As far as the cost, add on 50p and it’s covered. And don’t give me the ‘ohh I’d rather the 50p’. You were never going to charge that 50p. You were always going to charge the round number. And the customer doesn’t care if the quote is £20 or £20.50. £30 or £30.60. So charge the small extra (obviously don’t just charge it, quote it) and it’s a win win.

One more thing. In November I paid £27 to GoCardless. They collected £1,200 on my behalf. Worth every penny!

 

[dazmond]

I don't miss collecting that's for sure!??I used to go on Friday and Monday evenings for well over 20 years!

Most of my customers pay by BACS within 14 days of the clean,I only have a handful every month that I have to send a text reminder(5 -10 customers out of 324).takes no longer than 15 mins.

 

[spruce]

Exactly, 10-12 years ago I was offering collecting, bacs and PayPal no matter how hard I tried some people didn't want to switch and I was collecting 2-3 evenings a week for up to 2 hrs at a time riding around far more than I should have been, the big change started to happen when new houses were been built these new customers had no issue with GC and slowly I dropped old jobs and collecting

When covid hit I announced that for GC customers I'd no longer leave a calling card after each clean as the email from GC would serve as notice of the clean, I was standing writing out 25+ cards a day, and no more messing on with cards or purchasing them, quite a few costs over the years I have saved myself money on, no more hours of collecting or excessive wear and tear on my van, I charge an extra £1 on every job to cover for GC fees so I know I've covered my costs

If @Master Jedi Alejandro just looked at the £27 he spent, then he could well think that he needs to reduce or eliminate that expense. I get that. But once you start to look at the bigger picture, you have to see things in a different light.

For example, five or six years ago, the Receiver allowed us to claim 54p per mile for running costs if we chose that accounting procedure. (I don't know if they have adjusted that figure since). When I used my private car for collecting, that's what I claimed against tax. That allegedly covered all running expenses, including insurance. If I collected once a week, doing 15 miles each week, that's cost me £32. Then there's my time to be accounted for. It then starts to put GoCardless' fees into perspective.

But I still believe @bobski will be making a 'rod for his back' by considering changing his payment method from GC to Bacs. He could offer a financial incentive, but that defeats the object of the exercise, imv.

 

[Iron Giant]

I don't miss collecting that's for sure!??I used to go on Friday and Monday evenings for well over 20 years!

Most of my customers pay by BACS within 14 days of the clean,I only have a handful every month that I have to send a text reminder(5 -10 customers out of 324).takes no longer than 15 mins.

14 days to wait to get paid, you must not have very many bills.

I'm the main earner in my house and cover almost all of our outgoings, GC ensures I ain't raiding our savings to pay my bills which is something I had to do on occasions more than 10 years ago.

I'd sooner pay GC fees than have the stress and uncertainty of chasing debt

 

[Iron Giant]

Sack go cardless off. I’d rather pay my lad to go knocking doors than them. Some swear by it but with the right set up there’s no need.

If you pay your lad £15ph let's say and he goes collecting 4hrs a week that's £60 a week, I assume he hasn't gone collecting since last week so you might a lot of debt outstanding,

Whilst all of my outstanding debt from last week is getting paid into my account