Accepting Credit Cards

[Carol Esh]

I am in the process of setting up the business with the ability to accept credit and debit cards for payments on our website but am having trouble deciding on what company to work with. The choices are endless and the decision can be a steep one for a company as new as mine.

Was wondering if anyone would like to share who they are dealing with for merchant services? I am considering Paypal Standard or a couple of other national companies that have contacted me.

[Mitchell Andrus]

I use Authorize.net. They integrate with my website quite well, but they of course have a browser based interface for phone orders. If you do face to face transactions, you can get a machine too.

They all charge about the same in fees and percentages of sale - roughly 3.25 - 3.5% if you total it all together and average over all cc sales. No free ride. I don't use Paypal or Google checkout. I just don't have the volume to bother.

[Montgomery Scott]

You can get good rates if you are a Costco Executive member.

[Don Eddard]

I only sell at a few shows a year, so I went with ProPay. Their rates per transaction are a bit higher, but they don't have a monthly minimum or "statement fee". In my case, it ended up being the most economical. If you are planning to have year-round sales activity, then a more mainline merchant account will probably be better. I also looked at the offerings from Costco, but since I'm not a member, by the time I added that to the start-up (and yearly) costs, it was not as good of a deal.

[Brian Elfert]

I ran a small business in the mid 90s and had a hard time getting a credit card account established due to lack of history. I had to use Cardservices I believe and later switched to Wells Fargo once I had a credit card acceptance history.

It is easier today with Paypal and other type services.

[Joe Pelonio]

I've been happy with mine through merchant express. I do use PayPal too, but have had problems with my non-member customers paying through PayPal on large transactions (over $1,000) because PayPal tries to force them to join. I added this, where I take just the account number, exp date and code on back via phone or in person and enter it into my PC.

[Matt Campbell]

I've been thinking about this, too. I have a credit card machine, but I think most customers assign a credit card to a Paypal account and use it that way. So I'm thinking that negates the use of a credit card machine that I just bought.

[Mitchell Andrus]

It is easier today with Paypal and other type services.

Not if you need to integrate with a web-based store. Paypal and Google checkout change the rules for us every other month. If you're paying someone to implement these changes it gets too expensive to use them. And.. if you get one too many kooks, they can clobber you at will.

[Mitchell Andrus]

Matt, swiping cards-in-hand will save some fees and get a slightly better rate. when you take numbers over the phone, use the net-based entry system for better follow-ups and reporting.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Back when I did that I dissed all those service fee based providers and simply got the paper carbons from the card companies directly. Then I mailed 'em in and got paid.
The one catch is ya gotta have the CID number or the security number from the card. So ya gotta either see it or ask for it.

[Matt Mutus]

Was wondering if anyone would like to share who they are dealing with for merchant services? I am considering Paypal Standard or a couple of other national companies that have contacted me.

I have used http://www.cdgcommerce.com/

[Daniel Rabinovitz]

Try your local bank - the one you deal with on a daily/weekly basis for your savings - checking - home mortgage accounts. They were more than happy to help me and accept my card machine input.
I did not lease or rent a machine - I bought one outright - about $250.00.
Daniel

[Mitchell Andrus]

Cliff, I go back (1976) to crushing a card on paper and taking the slip to the bank like a deposit slip. Took 7 to 10 days to get the money.

'course, each week we got a list of stolen numbers and we had to manually see that each card wasn't on the stolen list.

[Carol Esh]

Thanks for all the great responses!

I have looked briefly at Autherize.net and will probably be looking closer as they are associated with the shopping cart I am considering. I would probably be interested in a machine as well since I am planning on market days and craft shows.

Since I am not a Costco executive member I will leave that one out.

So far I have had over 5 companies contact me. Apparently once my sales tax certificate went through companies feel it is enough to start solicating. One company wants me to go into a 48 month lease program but I just don't know if that would be economical for the company at this time.

Thanks again everyone.

[Mitchell Andrus]

What cart are you looking at? I'm using BVC 5.