Researching merchant CC accounts...

[lisas3575]

Urgh. Anyone have a credit card merchant account? I have NO idea what a "good deal" is. Any tips? I don't need a machine to capture the cc number, just an online merchant account. Someone mentioned Costco, but I think that's just for the machine itself.

[boisewinesnob]

Lisa,
costco does cc processing. I remember my friend in Seattle, who owns a Thai restaurant, telling me how much cheaper (per transaction) it was to go through costco's compared to her bank's.

Here's the link from costco's website: http://www.novainfo.com/costco/index.asp

[lisas3575]

Thanks for the link, Suzy! :) That gives me a starting place. I wonder if it works on a Mac...

[IndyKF]

Most CC processing companies will have different options for you. Have you talked to your bank about what their options are? I used to use a company called Paymentech for processing, and just used the software which they provided (the name escapes me...I don't use it anymore and uninstalled it from my computer). I don't recall the software being terribly expensive...maybe $150 or possibly less. I was in the same situation where I did not need a terminal to swipe credit cards, so this was the best option for me. (My company has since stopped accepting credit cards, mainly because the service wasn't used much...we are not a retailer, so our CC volume was low).

As far as what's a good deal, I'm not sure :o I think the going rate is approximately 2% per transaction. The percentage rate is based on several things such as sales volume, probability of fraud (your cost will be lower if you are actually swiping credit cards), etc.

If you want some more info on Paymentech or if you have other questions, feel free to send me a PM. :) FWIW, I have also heard that Costco is a good option.

[blazedog]

Depending on what your needs are google and paypal both provide the ability for people to use a charge card -- of course the buyer needs to have an account with one of those companies so it might limit your buyer's pool

Again, it depends on who much the level of your transactions are. I had checked out the arena YEARS ago when I was selling on EBAY prior to Paypal (the dark ages) and the only way for somebody to make payment was by a check or money order. I would have had to have a monthly level of transactions which didn't make economic sense to justify getting one -- but that of course could have changed in the past decade.

[Jeanz]

We use Authorize.net. They have internet service.

[boisewinesnob]

Thanks for the link, Suzy! :) That gives me a starting place. I wonder if it works on a Mac...


Good question. Actually, my friend's restaurant primarily swiped cards, so maybe since your business would be internet it might not be an accurate comparison (like IndyKF's example). But probably still worth looking into.

[DanaSD]

alot of people in my moms networking group use paypal (its different from regular paypal - I think its call virtual terminal). Also, if you set up your website a certain way, customers don't even know its paypal.

I've started searching for this too - I need a machine though but also need to be able to take phone orders (not through website though). Its very confusing.