why do you use third party payment processors
Patrick has a long and thoughtful post on the scam currently being run by the payment processor SWREG, which was uncovered by Andy Brice. Obviously what they're doing is horrible, no doubt about that.
My question is though, why do all you guys use these processors? I see lots of downside and very little upside. My main concerns would be total lack of control over the checkout process experience (as shown by this event) and the insane fees. It's significantly more expensive to use these guys than to just run the transactions yourself via a payment gateway. I suppose the convenience of not having to get a payment gateway is the main draw, but doing that little extra work gives you complete control and will save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars a month. Am I missing something?