Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

These days you have alot of options out there, Pay Pal being one of the most popular one just because it`s [so they say it`s free] but in reality they are charging you a whopping 2.9% +.30 per transaction. So for example if you make a 600.00 transaction, it would cost you $17.70 aprox. so instead of making a 600, you would make 582 in profit. The down fall is if you were to make a money transfer to your banking account it takes up to 7 days, they say 3-5 but I had to wait 8 almost 9 days for 100.00 bucks. The good thing is you can apply for a debit card, go to your nearest bank and make a cash widthdrawl or purchase items with your Debit Card.

Now with a regular payment processor such as Linkpoint and Authorize.net, they both have the same features, only authorize.net is harder to integrate into a web site especially if you are using the AIM or SIM payment gateway. Plus you have to have good knowledge of PHP, ASP, or coldfusion to get your payment gateway started. Linkpoint is easier to integrate but again you must have knowledge the languages I mentioned above or if you have a shopping cart with payment modules you just enter your store number and a simple 16 character transaction key and you are done.
The thing that may hurt you is the processing fee`s they charge. Linkpoint has a 19.99 a month fee plus if you are doing business via the internet/ mail orders they charge you 2.30 % + .25 cents transaction fees. click here to see their prices. http://www.charge.com/?emonr829  this is for linkpoint if you are looking for Authorize.net click here https://www.e-onlinedata.com/nuevolution
they are very similar but it`s in the transactions per month where they get you. Honestly I can go all day telling you about payment gateways. There is much to learn and so little time to explain. if you would like to know more call me and I can walk you through the process.
626 205-3829
If you decide to have someone integrate either Authorize.net  or Linkpoint into your web site I can do that for you too

-------------------------

Edgar Monroy
Web Developer / Owner / Consultant
When starting your own business the need to "know-how" is greater than money!
http://www.nuevolution.net

I don`t have any personal experience with credit card processing as of yet, but I`ve been researching it lately for my business.  I do some home party style selling as well as trade and craft shows.  Many other people in my field recommend ProPay as the way to go.  The yearly fee is $35 and the transaction fees are low.




-------------------------

For unique freshwater pearl jewelry, head to: http://www.PerennialDesignsJewelry.com

Credits cards are much more than just rates and transaction fees.  It`s all about the hidden fees.  Most merchants have no idea why they pay what they pay, they only look at the percentage rates on their statements, and think they have a good deal.  Most times, they don`t.

Nowdays, almost evey ISO has an "Interchange Plus" program that appears on the surface to be identical to all other ISO programs.  They are not.  Interchange is the base cost that processors must pay.  Interchange Plus or Cost Plus means actual interchange plus a small profit - and it changes when interchange raises (as it does every April and October).

While processing percentages look good for these programs, the difference lies in transaction fees and hidden fees, like statement fees, monthly fees, yearly fees, account limit fees, minimum fees, etc.  Some companies will tell you they will process at actual interchange or cost, yet when all is said and done, you`ve paid more than 5% in hidden costs ! 

A good ISO will provide you with Interchange Plus processing, a relatively low transaction fee, and will fully explain all other fees.  A good ISO will also provide good customer service support, in addition to good tech support - to help you discover why your equipment is kicking swiped transactions into a higher rate processing category, like EIRF.

A good ISO will earn the profit you pay them, and service your needs to retain your business for the long haul.  A poor ISO will undercut your existing rate just enough to get you to switch, then charge more in hidden charges.

The credit card mess is why many merchants are looking at payment alternatives like ARC, E-Payment Express, etc., to process payments electronically for less.  If you can move even 15% of your customers away from credit cards and process at a cost of less than one-quarter of a percent, that`s a savings of several percentage points going directly to the bottom line.

-------------------------

Cheri
Aegis Associates, LLC
"Intelligent Payment Processing Solutions"

www.checksyes.com

We use PayPal. I have received quotes a few other companies, but PayPal has been the cheapest. They do not offer much in the fraud detection department, so be careful about that. But all in all, I have found they offer the best solution.

We are using Paypal direct,  and also a regular credit card merchant. Everything we read said that our percentage of sales would be much higher with a combination of the two.

We chose not to use Google checkout, because the customer has to go to Google before they even hit our shopping cart, and we also cannot require or ask the customer to log in to our site. So we have no order traceability if the customer calls in with a question. Well we can, but it will be a long paper trail. It`s a shame, because they were very inexpensive.

For our credit card merchant, we chose Authorize.net with Dharma Merchant Services as our reseller. Initially we chose a different vendor, but they were not forthcoming about their rates, so we canceled and went with Dharma. They have excellent rates and they are a small business, so we always get great customer service. They`ve been most helpful.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask.

Jennifer




-------------------------

http://www.ifancyfood.com

Here`s a suggestion  you might want to look into:

 As an internet merchant you will need (1) a merchant account, (2)a secure gateway provider (like Authorize.net) and in your case (since you are selling clothing and will need to categorize orders by size, color, etc.) (3) also a shopping cart.  Understand that these are three separate and distinct entities that need to be linked together. 

QuickBooks offers a very nice solution in that they include the secure gateway at no additional charge; Authorize.net will charge you a setup fee plus $15-20 bucks extra monthly in addition to your merchant account fees.  Equally important, it`s already there--you don`t have to do anything to integrate the two.  Plus, for an extra $9.95 per month they`ll include a webstore cart which will solve your shopping cart requirement without integration hassles as well--otherwise you`ll have to contract with and link with your website a shopping cart provider such as X-cart or Godaddy on your own.

As far as the QB merchant account itself is concerned, it`s a pretty good deal.  #1, there is no contract or early termination fees, so worst case scenario if you don`t like it, you can opt out anytime (one of the big landmines of many merchant service agreements is they lock you into long term contracts with substantial penalty fees if you opt out early.)  They also don`t have a lot of annoying hidden fees like batch header, AVS, annual memberships that lots of other processors have. No setup fees (normally $59 which are waived per the link provided below), no application fees, not much not to like.

Finally, the below link will get you a free copy of QuickBooks Simple Start software.  You don`t necessarily need the software to process internet via your gateway (it also comes with a no-charge `virtual terminal` so you can easily process phone and mail orders in addition to website orders), but as a small business  you`ll need  an accounting system anyway and QuickBooks is as good or better a choice as any, especially when it`s free and no risk without strings.

So take a few minutes and review the fees and Q&A`s on the below link   Just cut and paste to your browser. You can also apply online via the same link...just scroll down to the bottom to the `apply now` link.  Email me with any questions you may have.:

http://www.merchantservices-help.com/quickbooks.html

Good luck with your new enterprise.

Barry G
AMSPCS
amspcs@juno.com
www.MerchantServices-help.com

I wonder whether anyone has any comments on the information provided by AMSPCS above? I ask this because it seems like a "sales pitch"
Has anyone used the solution he mentioned with Quickbooks and the solutions that come with it?



-------------------------

Andre Costa DaCosta Chocolates, LLC www.DaCostaChocolates.com

Hello Andy,
I appreciate the commentary and opinion, sorry you took my post as pure `sales pitch`.
It was intended as a hopefully helpful and educated response to the original poster who expressed frustration with the credit card processing setup process. Yes I am an agent for QuickBooks processing (in addition to several other processors).  That`s the reason I`m familiar with the product and recommended it instead of another product as solutions to the problems the original poster verbalized--please recognize that knowledge of the benefits of a product derived from the fact that one is professionally involved with the product  go hand-in-hand and isn`t necessarily anything sinister)   I felt the many unique benefits offered by the product , not the least of which was the lack of a contractual obligation since the original poster was obviiously worried about making a long-term mistake) might alleviate some of the frustrations she expressed.

There are hundreds of thousands of QuickBooks users, both accounting software and merchant services processing, out there.  This is no fly-by-night product.  I`m sure you are aware that Intuit is a Fortune 500 company responsible for several well-known quality products like Quicken, QuickBooks, TurboTax and others.  I would hope we will be hearing from some of them at your invitation.

AMSPCS
www.MerchantServices-help.com

Jennifer I wantedto learn more from you about the reseller services. Is there an email id or number I could reach you at please? I have an online business for which I use paypal but i am planning to participate in a few festivals this fall season and i want to be able to accept credit card payments. Does the service you talk about allow that? Please advise. Thanks!