Paypal in Kenya: Selling Online - Multidox .:.:. Blog

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Posted by Felix Okoli on Monday February 14, 2011 at 16:21:59:

With Paypal in Kenya, website owners can now get more benefits for being on the web. One of the things that can sustain a website or online business is its ability to receive payments online.
In the past, people in Kenya were used to using Paypal to send money online but with its enhanced features for select African countries, Kenyans can now also receive money online with Paypal.
Although one major drawback with Paypal in Kenya is that users may only make withdrawals to a US bank account, it is just ok that users are now also able to receive money online. That would however allow online businesses in Kenya to grow by making use of Paypal to reach the world.
Having a website adds more authority and creates a good impression about you or your business to friends and clients who may be contemplating about sending funds to you. It's one thing to use Paypal to send money between friends but this doesn't happen often as compared to if you have hundreds of customers who are willing to pay you with Paypal. Users in Kenya can reapl more benefits with Paypal if they use it to also sell onlinw, rather than just buying.

So how do you sell online in Kenya using Paypal?
Well this is what you would practically require:

- A selling platform
- Paypal buttons
- Digital product or service
- Delivery mechanism

Selling Platform
If you are interested in selling online using Paypal, it would be best if you had a platform on which to sell and on which you can display your service or product. This works well on a website such as a blog, personal site or online store. Professionals who provide services like web designing can also display their portfolio online on community websites that pays them with Paypal.
Your website should have your own unique domain name and web hosting so as to encourage your clients to trust you. Sites like Wikipedia are well respected by people and they have shown this by sending millions of donations using Paypal buttons.

Paypal Button/Form
You will need to set up a Paypal button and form which will be connected to your Paypal account. Although you already have the website where you are selling, you will need to integrate a Paypal form to it in order to be able to receive money easily. A Paypal button is one which you can setup from within your account and you could make the button either become a donation, buy now or subscription button. You can also setup a way to auto-generate button based on what your clients are paying for. One you have included Paypal button to your site, you can now start receiving payments from your website via Paypal.

Product or Service
What do you sell in order to receive paypal payments? Well you would need to be able to offer something of value to people if you intend selling online with Paypal. On your website, you will need to display an item which you can provide. In selling online with paypal, digital items work best so that you would be able to provide such items to buyers once they pay for it. But what can you sell online in Kenya? Well as I said earlier, you can offer professional services like web design, web hosting, graphics, article writing, blogging and so on. You can also offer subscriptions to news reports and communities. You may also sell digital items like ebooks, pictures and other types of downloads. It is ideal if it is a product that you can instantly deliver to buyers once after paypal by including an Instant Payment Handler (IPN) in your website. A lot of bloggers globally mostly use Paypal to sell their books since their blogs are information oriented and so selling an e-book version would be ideal.
You may also sell physical goods online in Kenya by creating an online store of your actual business.
Offering services can also be a way to make money online in Kenya if you can offer them attractively to clients. You need to do a good market research for services that Kenyans and people globally are looking for. Some of these services can be entertainment, consulting, product reviews, online advertising and so on. One you have decided on the type of item you want to sell online, just create a Paypal button from within you account and set it up on your website.

Delivery Mechanism
To deliver an ordered item is the next thing you need to do after receiving a successful paypal payment if you are a seller. Paypal normally sends an email to you in notification of a Payment received and so what you should consider is how you can deliver the item paid for.
If you are selling virtual/digital items, the easiest and most efficient way to deliver items is to make use of a Instant Payment Notification (IPN) handler on your website. Paypal normally sends and IPN to a url your specify within your website where you can process payments. If you are a seller of such digital items, using IPN is essential as it allows you to instantly send customized emails to clients who have paid. You could even send temporary download links to buyers who have paid you immediately in an email using your Paypal IPN. The IPN handler could be a Perl, PHP or other file which processes variables received from Paypal after successful payments have been made. For those finding this too complex, you may decide either sell through a third party, get a web developer to do it or sell it manually after confirmation of payment.

Conclusion
You can use Paypal as an effective means of making money with Paypal in Kenya but you would need to understand how it works and one big advantage is that it gives you access to a broader marketplace of buyers who are more than willing to pay you with Paypal, so sell something.

Comments:
Re: Paypal in Kenya: Selling Online Posted by Kayus on Friday February 18, 2011 at 10:45:19:

What does one require to open a Paypal account in Kenya?

Re: Paypal in Kenya: Selling Online Posted by Felix Okoli on Friday February 18, 2011 at 10:53:9:

I think the first think is to go to paypal.com/ke and register. Then you may have to provide proof or your citizenship, identity, bank account and so on.

Re: Paypal in Kenya: Selling Online Posted by Metu on Friday February 18, 2011 at 10:53:55:

How do i set up a paypal account in order to receive online payments in Kenya?

Re: Paypal in Kenya: Selling Online Posted by Felix Okoli on Friday February 18, 2011 at 10:55:56:

Within your Paypal account, you can create payment or donation buttons and then place the code on your website. You can also get a web developer to set it up for you. You may also use a third party software and install on your site if you are selling items online. A site like dukapress.org offers this option and the software is free.

Re: Paypal in Kenya: Selling Online Posted by Uvonne on Saturday February 19, 2011 at 11:6:23:

It is a a great thing Paypal is doing. At least friends can now send money across continents

Re: Paypal in Kenya: Selling Online Posted by on Wednesday May 25, 2011 at 14:36:26:

I want to sell my products at www.africa.commfast.com

Re: Paypal in Kenya: Selling Online Posted by NELLY on Monday June 27, 2011 at 2:44:12:

MPESA would far outweigh Paypal in Kenya.

Re: Paypal in Kenya: Selling Online Posted by isaac magara cohen on Thursday January 12, 2012 at 10:58:48:

Can paypal favour my online car rental and hire business plus tours and travel, hotel booking and ticketing?

Re: Paypal in Kenya: Selling Online Posted by lawrence on Tuesday January 31, 2012 at 9:48:14:

@ isaac magara cohen : i am sure offering paypal to your clients as a payment option will increase your business as there are still many people who just dont like giving out credit card details. Its pretty easy to integrate on your website too !

Re: Paypal in Kenya: Selling Online Posted by lawrence on Tuesday January 31, 2012 at 9:51:53:

@ NELLY : Mpesa is big in Kenya however its not supported worldwide and i am sure mpesa does not , i repeat does not , offer buyer protection when buying fysical goods. And mpesa only works when both ( you and the receiver or dender ) uses mpesa , so its functionality is somewhat limited.