Input requested..cc processing

sisterpine · #1 09/21/09, 01:30 PM

Good morning from our mountain top! Bit chilly at 27 degrees today but warming up nicely.

I currently sell my products via my website, ebay, craigslist, farmers markets, catalogs, and trade shows. Right now I am using paypal for the website and ebay with propay for the rest. I am also paying Auctiva 9.99 or so per month for their services- relating to ebay.

Since it is time to renew these agreements I would love to hear how you other business folks are handling your credit card payments. I have no complaints about paypal or propay, both have worked exactly as promised. Just wondering if I am paying way higher fees than need be. My sales have never gone over 2000.00 per month (well, once or twice in four years) so I am low volume client.

I will appreciate any suggestions, recommendations , warnings etc that you all have! Sisterpine

ErinP · #2 09/21/09, 01:41 PM

That's about where my sales volume is, too, and I just use PayPal for all of my credit card processing. I even upgraded to Virtual Terminal so I can take payments over the phone, too.
For me, it's the best thing.
I can ship/print postage directly, track finances (both income, as well as on my PP debit, etc. It's all in one convenient location. I've been more than happy with them over the past 10 years or so.

ihedrick · #3 09/21/09, 05:03 PM

I used a company called Cell Charge. they too were 9.95/mo and some small percent or each sale. But most of my business was auto detailing and I didn't sell over the internet.

**clovis** · #4 09/21/09, 05:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ErinP

That's about where my sales volume is, too, and I just use PayPal for all of my credit card processing. I even upgraded to Virtual Terminal so I can take payments over the phone, too.
For me, it's the best thing.
I can ship/print postage directly, track finances (both income, as well as on my PP debit, etc. It's all in one convenient location. I've been more than happy with them over the past 10 years or so.

Erin-

I would love to hear more about the Virtual Terminal. Can you fill me in?

FWIW, I use paypal for all my ebay sales, but I haven't ventured much past ebay.

ErinP · #5 09/21/09, 07:38 PM

I remember someone on this board said his father had taught that you should never limit the way people can pay you. And that stuck in my mind every time I'd have a customer call, ask some kind of clarifying question (or confess to being unable to figure out my website's shopping cart) and I'd have to admit that I had no way to take their order over the phone...

It costs me $30 per month, plus PP's usual fees, but I think it's well worth it. If nothing else, it makes me look more credible to customers...

It basically comes up as a screen where you input the info. Ie, the customer has to tell you their card number, billing addy, etc. and then you type it into the online form.

For me, I have a paper form I've created for phone orders. Item number, quantity, etc., as well as customer's shipping/billing addresses and card info. That way I can take the order quickly and then enter at some later point when I have a chance.
And because I'm paranoid about security, as soon as I've entered their info, I Magic Marker over their card numbers so it's completely illegible and then use the form as their packing slip.

From a pure numbers standpoint, I would say VT just pays for itself in the orders it allows me to take vs. the monthly cost. But like I said, for me, it's worth it.

Also, as there's an "address not needed" option, I could theoretically use it for a B&M store, too. (Or flea market, craft fair, etc.)
It'd take a couple more minutes than a swipe machine, but for the sales volume I'd see, that'd be no big deal...

countrygurl · #6 09/21/09, 10:06 PM

We started accepting cc over the phone about 8 months ago, for some reason people who were not familar with paypal didint want to use it even after I expalin it, one guy said never mind (about sale if i couldnt take his cc over the phone (thats when i looked into cc. I called several merchant service providers waited for some one to return my call. I called a company called Leaders the returned my call with in 30 minutes so I went with them and was set up within a week (terminal) when a customer calls from viewing our website they call to place an order I take info over phone (rates are lower if you verify address & 3 didget code on the back of their card when punching in info fraud prevention). excellant customer service and they have a website that you can login to your acct to verify deposit is made. it goes straight into our business checking acct. this is how it works: Mr John calls and places an order, I get info and thank the customer. I hang up and go to the termial and punch in cc info it gives my a confirmation number. then I batch out every day this takes all the transactions and submits it for payment ( just a few punches on the termial). The next morning I login to my acct thru their website to verify the deposit has been made. No need to bug my bank to make sure the money is their, dont want to overdraft my acct! never had a problem. I only accept visa & master card, amex & discover has to high of rates.

sisterpine · #7 09/23/09, 08:14 PM

Thanks for all of the good info. I have begun my investigation towards locating the right company for my needs. Since I am going to retire from my full time day job in several months I want something that will be quick and easy at fairs, trade shows and festivals etc. I am thinking about a mobile terminal but i see the cost goes up considerably. The other option would be to take my laptop, connect to the net and use the computer terminal where i punch in all the data and get the approval. That is very slow and quite the pain in the tusch for me when I am working a show alone. Will let you all know what I find out besides what I already know which is that there is a tremendous variety of fees, charges, etc for each company which are vastly different and confusing! sis