Ask HN: Why aren't people using PayPal Payflow?

Maybe, for a taste of it: Paypal ships API documentation as X00 page PDF files. Their Payflow Pro product, being relatively simple, requires only 176 pages.

Or, in terms of design decisions, consider all the fun of writing software which implements a case statement that maps error code 100 to "Invalid transaction returned from host (Processor), in the case where the processor is Global Payments East or Central." to, well, whatever the heck you're supposed to do when that happens.

Yes, a merchant account. "Start accepting credit cards using your existing merchant account."

PayFlow is just a gateway. A gateway cannot process credit cards without being attached to a merchant account; it is just an API to bridge the web with the processing network of the merchant account provider. You can't use it to charge credit cards for $25 and $0.10 per transaction, you pay that _on top of_ the processing fees charged by the merchant account provider.

PayFlow was previously a Verisign product that PayPal acquired in 2006.

That isn't to say you can't save money over Stripe with PayPal. PayPal Payments Pro is their integrated gateway and processing solution, and discounts below Stripe's rates start at $3,000 per month of volume instead of $80,000 per month.

https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/merchant-fees

It's been a while, but I've set up a few Payflow-based systems, and it's been a great way to go... Payflow allows you much more control and detailed logging than, say Stripe. Yes, it's a bit of a pain to get it all set up at first, and there are a few tricks with error handling, but it's a good way to go to implement your own payment system.

Second, ease of use reputation. Paypal is not known to be easy to integrate with and use.

Third, reputation in general. Paypal has a history and reputation (whether deserved or not) of freezing your accounts and leaving you in the worst situation etc.