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I am wanting to setup a merchant account to accept credit cards. I was hoping to buy a card swiping machine off E-bay or something so I wouldn't have to lease it. Anyone know how/if I can do this?
Thanks!
-------------------- Amy Brown Life Skills 101 Private Address Posts: 3502 | From: Lake Helen, FL, USA | Registered: Feb 2001
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Amy, NPC had the best deaL for us. Free card swipe terminal thingy Printer $75 or $100 $9 month service charge 1.49% per transaction .20 per swipe http://www.npc.net/merchant/merchant.htm
The printer and the terminal are mine so all I have to pay are the monthly charge, swipe fees and % of each transaction.
Negotiate with them on everything!
[ April 13, 2002, 03:04 PM: Message edited by: Wayne Webb ]
-------------------- Wayne Webb Webb Signworks Chipley, FL 850.638.9329 wayne@webbsignworks.com Posts: 7404 | From: Chipley,Florida,United States | Registered: Oct 1999
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I dunno Shane, I guess indefinitely....or until they increase the rates. At any rate the terminal and printer are mine. I could switch merchant accounts if I want. They charge an additional 1.55% for transactions with big corporations. Supposed to be higher risk. So, one of my big clients pays by company card now and it costs me 3.04% per transaction. Now get this: It's supposed to be illegal to add to a customer's invoice to cover credit card fees...but... The IRS now takes credit cards for tax payments. Guess what? They charge a service charge for that!
-------------------- Wayne Webb Webb Signworks Chipley, FL 850.638.9329 wayne@webbsignworks.com Posts: 7404 | From: Chipley,Florida,United States | Registered: Oct 1999
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I only use these guys for a website so I don't know how to go about getting set up for a in shop machine but I do know they do it. Cardservice International, I don't know their phone no. or website off hand but they are a really big company and I am sure google or alta vista will have them listed. We have been with them for 3 years and had not one problem ever (knock on wood). Money is in the bank asap. I don't know there rates but they were very competitive when we got set up (my wife handles all of the money thats why I don't know the figures, Heck I might not even have any money left, I guess I better check)
-------------------- John Thompson JTT Graphics "The big guy with a little sign shop!" Royston/Hartwell Georgia jtt101@hotmail.com Posts: 626 | From: Royston Georgia | Registered: Feb 2002
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We looked into accepting Credit Cards at our shop for a while. But, when we talked to the various banks and with the Small Business Administration, the were negative with the idea unless we did a minimum of sales each month with the Card. Both said that if we couldn't show a minimum of $2000 per month in Credit Card sales in a consistant basis, then taking cards was not a good idea and would be more costly than it was worth.
What are your thoughts?
[ April 14, 2002, 02:47 AM: Message edited by: Glenn Taylor ]
Tracy and I went through the same thing. We get some people asking to put their purchase on a card but it is not on a consistant basis. I had never heard of of the $2,000.00 monthly threshold but it does make a lot of sense to me.
The costs involved are not worth the 5-10 card requests a year. At least that is how we feel about it.
Have a great one!
-------------------- Bruce Bowers
DrCAS Custom Lettering and Design Saint Cloud, Minnesota
"Things work out best for the people who make the best of the way things work out." - Art Linkletter Posts: 6451 | From: Saint Cloud, Minnesota | Registered: Jun 1999
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We have been accepting cards for about 3 years now, and I believe it has been a good choice. Only a few sales a month averaging around $500 to $800 go on it. The benefit is that it makes it easier for people to pay or to just run the number on a client who is slow to send a check. I just ask those types " do you want to put it on your card"? Sometimes when the price seems high to some people, they will ask if I accept credit cards. No minimum sales through my account, probably around 2% and some misc. charges. The terminal I bought used, and the imprinter is a manual one. If volume was way up I would invest in a printer, but is not really necessary at this time.
A lot of business people think they have no reason to accept cards, but I believe you really cannot guage how many sales may be lost, impulse and such, and how you would have better cash flow because of it. Many officers of companies now carry corporate credit cards for purchasing.
-------------------- Wright Signs Wyandotte, Michigan Posts: 2785 | From: Wyandotte, MI USA | Registered: Jan 1999
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I firmly believe that my sales would increase greatly if I accepted credit cards. I also think it makes a company have a higher class reputation. With everyone using debit cards for everything nowadays I see it as a must have.
I just lost a BIG job to a place in California who found me on the internet because they wanted to use a credit card because of the time it would take for them to get a check cut from corporate headquarters. That would have easily met my $2000 monthly Glenn spoke of.
I intend to start drawing more business from the internet and out of my area so the need is there for me.
-------------------- Amy Brown Life Skills 101 Private Address Posts: 3502 | From: Lake Helen, FL, USA | Registered: Feb 2001
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One of the things I try to do is look at "sucessful" people and businesses to see if I can learn from them to make my business better. That is why I started trying to push for taking credit cards.
But it was interesting that when we went to each bank and then to the SBA, they all said the same thing about the $2000 gauge. It was like they had all been to the same meeting or something and that was the magic number they came up with.
I still want to start taking credit cards though. I have no "hard numbers" reason why to do it, but my instincts tell me its the thing to do.
[ April 14, 2002, 11:07 AM: Message edited by: Glenn Taylor ]
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I think it's just a standard necessity in this day and age. The banks want everything to start going electronically. You get charged for actually seeing the teller. It's just part of the flow!
-------------------- Amy Brown Life Skills 101 Private Address Posts: 3502 | From: Lake Helen, FL, USA | Registered: Feb 2001
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I have been looking into that myself as well. Think about this for a moment, lets say you have a customer who wants some truck lettering, and lets say you use the 3 tier pricing structure. The customer will see the best design is the most expensive, but my bet would be you would have a better chance on him actually buying the most expensive one with a credit card than having to write a check. I know I have done this with purchases before.
I have a company that I deal with that would pay me right there on the spot if I took credit cards, instead I have to wait a week for payment. I think overall, it would be a good thing to accept cards, you would probably get paid alot sooner and think of how getting the deposit would be easier if you could ask them to just put it on the card!
-------------------- Tony Broussard Graphic Details Digital Media Loreauville, LA Posts: 395 | From: Loreauville, LA | Registered: Jul 1999
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I don't know where everyone is getting this $2,000 monthly figure. Mine and many others do not have this requirement. You may pay a little more interest but so what. You will lose some sales by not accepting cards.
Amy's point about the use of debit cards is right. One more reason to go with it.
-------------------- Wright Signs Wyandotte, Michigan Posts: 2785 | From: Wyandotte, MI USA | Registered: Jan 1999
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We also use Cardservice International for our credit card transactions. We manually process all cards throught the Linkpoint merchant services page and don't have a terminal in the office, it is all done on the computer. If you are looking to do more internet business and don't have much in the way of person to person transactions, it is a pretty easy way to do things. Their rates were competitive and the money is always deposited asap.
posted
Glenn, I don't think the $2,000 number is a rule as much as it is a quideline to use for offsetting the cost of the terminals, merchant fees, etc...
You'll never know what kind of sales you could be missing if you don't accept credit cards.. then again, if you are busy as it is without having the extra payment option available, maybe you dont need to worry about it.
If you have alot of people wanting to give you credit card numbers and you cannot accept them and you lose the sale because of that fact, you might want to go ahead and get credit card processing going.
I've been thinking about getting CC processing on and off the past couple years..
On one hand, I might be losing sales from my site because I don't have it available. On the other hand, the past 3 years my site has been running, I havent had a single person tell me they wouldn't buy from me because I cannot accept their credit card. Everyone that wanted to purchase something has found some way to get payment to me whether it's a check, cashier's check, money order, Secured Funds COD (no checks via COD, money order only) or PayPal.
CC processing via my site is still in the back of my mind but I've pretty much put it on the back burner for now.. I did get burned recently on a transaction, it was a COD order and I forgot to check the "Secured Funds Only" box, so when the check came in (checks are not secured) it was from a closed account. I did get the money from this incident, I tracked the deadbeat down from across the country along with his local Sheriff's Office and District Attorney. Basically scared him into sending a money order for the full payment plus returned check fees.. but it opened my eyes.. up til this point I'd never had a problem getting paid from online customers.
Since this incident, I've pretty much quit accepting any non-secured payment, which would include credit cards... merchants are not protected from losing their money with credit card purchases, they favor the customer.
Besides all that.. if it's a matter of waiting for checks... We're dealing with custom orders anyway so there's gonna be some kinda waiting involved.. Hell, I'm backlogged 3 weeks on my orders and so far I havent had any customers complain about it when I told them.
-------------------- "If I share all my wisdom I won't have any left for myself."
Mike Pipes stickerpimp.com Lake Havasu, AZ mike@stickerpimp.com Posts: 8746 | From: Lake Havasu, AZ USA | Registered: Jun 2000
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Mike, just wanted to note that the waiting time for checks is waiting for deposits. I refuse to start work without deposits because I have been burned. Then if it is a regular check you add in the time for it to clear through the bank. When they have to send the deposit check they lose time on their project and some just need it quicker than I could do it!
-------------------- Amy Brown Life Skills 101 Private Address Posts: 3502 | From: Lake Helen, FL, USA | Registered: Feb 2001
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You might check with your banker. My bank sets up merchant accounts as a service to their business customers. They supplied a new terminal and a reconditioned printer for less than $300, which I own. They charge a flat fee of $1.50 a month whether you use the account or not. The company(The Bankers Bank Card Center) then charges 2-3% on transactions and a $45 annual fee. I take Visa and MC only. They charge additional fees for Disc and AmEx.
I don't do a high volume this way, so it works great. Sometimes a customer will pick up something and doesn't have the cash with him or ask if I can send a bill and I can get payed by suggesting the plastic.
posted
I did credit cards for 2 yrs. It cost me too much money because it wasn't used enough. It did little to increase my business. Since then I've dropped the yellow pages, stopped doing bids over the phone, and bids in general, and no installing! Take CASH and LOCAL CHECKS only. All this has increased my business about 12%, and added about 40% to my bottom line. All this and staying a one-man operation with an increase in spare time. NOW THAT'S PROGRESS!
posted
I started taking credit cards 5 years ago when the military did away with their petty cash fund. I bought the swipe machine from NOVUS and the merchant acct. is through Discover. Discover Credit Card Services . The service charge is 2% and I think there is a small swipe charge. There is no minimum monthly sales. I have gone months without a credit sale. I prefer large purchases to be paid by check to avoid that 2%. But, with the military, you have no choice. As for Discover, I don't know what equipment they require at this time. All I have is the wall mounted swiper and the manual slide printer that I never use. For long distance sales, you just punch the keys for the sale and you get an authorization number in a few seconds. Then, write that info on the customers receipt as paid. It takes 24-48 hours for the sales to hit your bank. It is not instantaneous, but, it is back tracked to the swipe date for credit purposes. I have found that a customer looking at my website and e-mailing me or calling me on the phone and wanting to place an order right then and there. There's just something about shopping on the world wide web that makes sales without having to jump through a lot of hoops trying to make the sale and haggling over prices. Good luck to ya!!!
-------------------- John Smith Kings Bay Signs (Retired) Kissimmee, Florida Posts: 817 | From: Central Florida - The Sunshine State | Registered: Jan 2000
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Amy, ahh.. the ol' deposit routine. I dont have to worry about that, all my sales are 100% up front. One of the joys of pimpin' vinyl online I suppose. They expect to pay 100% up front so I kindly oblige.
John, isn't it nice not having to go back and forth over price? That's definitely what I like about selling online, it's more like a retail store sale. They ask you for a price, you give them a price. They take it or they leave it... no bartering for a reduced price plus a week's worth of free coffee at the local coffee house when ya dont even drink coffee!
-------------------- "If I share all my wisdom I won't have any left for myself."
Mike Pipes stickerpimp.com Lake Havasu, AZ mike@stickerpimp.com Posts: 8746 | From: Lake Havasu, AZ USA | Registered: Jun 2000
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Thanks for the different options and opinions everyone. I'll be investigating further and in the next couple months figuring all this out. Thanks again!
-------------------- Amy Brown Life Skills 101 Private Address Posts: 3502 | From: Lake Helen, FL, USA | Registered: Feb 2001
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yeap, Mike. . .. it is very nice to be without price haggle!! I just sent in my new yellow page ad for the 2003 phonebook. I went from a full 1/4 page color ad for $265.00 a month to just a plain black listing for $19.95 a month. Those that came to my meet a few weeks ago could not find me 'cause I don't have a sign on my shop. The world wide web has increased the quality of work that I like to do. And, like you, 100% upfront makes life much easier!!! Visa?? Why, yes, of COURSE we accept visa !!! KaChing!!! paid in full...........
-------------------- John Smith Kings Bay Signs (Retired) Kissimmee, Florida Posts: 817 | From: Central Florida - The Sunshine State | Registered: Jan 2000
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Another option for accepting online payments is PayPal. It works very similar to credit cards except there's no monthly fees. Customers can pay PayPal with their Credit Card and PayPal sends you the payment minus their fee. Your only cost is the percentage of the sales. Sign up free by clicking this link. Free PayPal Sign Up
-------------------- EmpY Mayo Pardo #138 South Elgin, IL. Posts: 436 | From: South Elgin, IL | Registered: Nov 1998
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Empy, do you use PayPal yourself? I signed up for a business account, however, did not realize that the customer had to sign up with them in order to pay with a credit card. How do you handle this?
For those that use Cardservice International, can you share how much it costs to use their Virtual Service...the one where you just log into their site to put the customer's info? I am interested in that but they have no payment or fee schedule on their website.
-------------------- Randy Graphic Details Promotional Merchandise Distributor South Glens Falls, NY Posts: 381 | From: South Glens Falls, NY USA | Registered: Mar 2001
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Randy, I use PayPal quite regularly and it's pretty handy.
If a customer chooses to go that route I tell them they need to sign up for an account.. it's free (hell they even pay ya $5) and painless.. I havent had anyone complain about the extra few days required to verify and authorize the account, it's all for security's sake.
I think there is a way they can pay without having an account, they fill out some sort of form and they are given some sort of trasaction code they then have to enter back into the form for the payment to go through. Might want to check PayPal's site for the info.
-------------------- "If I share all my wisdom I won't have any left for myself."
Mike Pipes stickerpimp.com Lake Havasu, AZ mike@stickerpimp.com Posts: 8746 | From: Lake Havasu, AZ USA | Registered: Jun 2000
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Yes I use PayPal myself. I use it (offer to accept payments) on items I sell on E-bay and I use it on one of my web sites so that people can send me payment for items they want to purchase.
In some ways, it could be thought of as more secure than using a credit card online, because the person who receives payment never sees the customer's credit card number.
When I start to accumulate a balance in my PayPal account, I simply transfer as much as I want to my bank account (at my local bank) for no fees and the money is available within a couple days or so.
-------------------- EmpY Mayo Pardo #138 South Elgin, IL. Posts: 436 | From: South Elgin, IL | Registered: Nov 1998
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I am Pat's brother, a retired CPA, up visiting. The economic feasibility is easily determined by adding the monthly lease of the machine plus the per transaction cost and dividing this amount by the credit card sales. This percentage is a discount rate and then you decide if this is acceptable. It is not a good deal for Pat.
HOWEVER..........I recommended that Pat keep the machine for the following reasons: 1. It portrays a higher image than that of his competitors. 2. It provides a convience for his customers. 3. It eliminates the possibility of a bounced check. (At least 35% of his business consist of start-up business, most of which I suspect are under financed.) NOT ALL THINGS IN BUSINESS SHOULD BE MEASURED FINANCIALLY. What is the rate of return on a cheerful telephone voice, positive attitude, or that extra time spent on design that makes the customer feel the sign is special. "KNOWLEDGE IS WORTHLESS UNLESS PASSED ON"
posted
Mine has definitely been worth it because I have made sales that I probably would not have. It only costs me $9 a month regardless of whether I make a sale or not and I have no monthly minimum. I own my machines so there is no lease to pay. So far, I have averaged one or two sales a month. I'm not complaining about that.
[ April 19, 2002, 03:59 PM: Message edited by: Wayne Webb ]
-------------------- Wayne Webb Webb Signworks Chipley, FL 850.638.9329 wayne@webbsignworks.com Posts: 7404 | From: Chipley,Florida,United States | Registered: Oct 1999
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![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
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One of the joys of pimpin' vinyl online I suppose. ![[Wink]](wink.gif)
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