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.

[Carol Esh]

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

We have recently decided to switch to osCommerce. We were orginally going to go with Zen Cart.

[Mitchell Andrus]

They have a user's forum - Google osCommerce+forum - top of the page. Ask there and when in Rome.... They'll have had a chance to find the one(s) that work best with your cart.

Matter of fact, read everything on the forum to get to know the ropes.

[Reed Wells]

Carol, try http://www.merchantanywhere.com/ I have been using them for about four years now and they had the best pricing I could find. They also accept large amounts (over $8000.00 ) with no problem. I accept my orders over the phone then enter them with the puter. Reed

[Brian Elfert]

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.

Wow, do banks still accept those for card not present transactions? Don't they charge more for transactions done this way?

For me personally, if I was selling hard goods I would want to run the credit card electronically to be sure the card was valid and had enough credit remaining.

Yes, there can still be chargebacks with electronic transactions, but you've eliminated a majority of the issues up front and don't have to wait a week or more to find out there was a problem.

[Brian Elfert]

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.

When I brought up Paypal and the rest I was mainly talking about being able to take credit cards period not necessarily taking them online for ecommerce.

When I started my business in 1995 it was hard to find anyone who would set up a merchant account for a new business, particularly an ISP. These days pretty much anyone can accept credit cards through Paypal and similiar services if they don't have another option.

Shutting down accounts if you get too many bad transactions is not unique to Paypal. Any card processor will close your account or up the fees and possibly require a reserve if you get too many chargebacks.