Online Business L(a)unch™ > Setting Up a Website: Accept Credit Cards

1    2    3     4     >> 

accept credit cards

If you are selling a product or service online you must be able to accept credit. Very few of your customers will take the time to print and fill out the order form, then write a check and mail it to you.

According to statistics, 87% of your customers would prefer paying online with a credit card. As a result, accepting credit cards is vital for your business success: if you don't accept credit cards your potential customers can easily find your competitor who will.

Most of how-to-start-online-business books or websites will advise you to open a merchant account. Well, if you believe you can reach $1000 or more in monthly sales immediately after starting your business, it’s definitely going to be cheaper for you to have your own merchant account.

But usually, if you are just starting out, you just can't afford using a merchant account/gateway approach! You’ll end up with paying $50-$80 in fees a month even if you don’t make a single sale!

The best way for your brand-new online business is to start with well established third-party credit card processing company (you can switch over to using your own merchant account at any time): these companies are the perfect cost-effective way to start selling your products to internet shoppers and their service includes payment processing and a shopping cart application.

Usually there is a one time only small set up fee. After that, they will handle you credit card transactions and you only pay for sales. Although they will charge you a higher per-sale commission rate than merchant account would, with third-party processing company if you sell nothing, you pay nothing.

There are usually no leases, no monthly fees, no application fees, no gateway fees, no additional card company or third party charges and no statement fees. And they offer shopping cart applications and other free tools as the part of the deal.

PayPal is one of the most popular payment processing option for start-up online businesses. You need to signup for a FREE PayPal business account and there is no setup or monthly fees. Expect to pay 2.9% + $0.30 per sale.

The only disadvantage is that in order to pay you, your customers must have PayPal account. However, for a brand-new online business using PayPal can be the perfect solution.

2Checkout is one of the lowest cost options. 2Checkout collects one time only set up fee of $49.00 and 5.5% commission on each transaction plus a $0.45 charge per sale. There are no additional fees. 2Checkout accepts customer orders via online checks, Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, Dinners, JCB and debit cards with the Visa and MasterCard logo.

ClickBank works exclusively with digital products and services. ClickBank has a one-time $49.95 activation fee and charges you $1 + 7.5% on each transaction. There are no monthly fees. With ClickBank your customers can pay by Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, Eurocard, Bravo, Visa Debit, MasterCard Debit, and Novus. They also accept online US checks. The big advantage is “build-in” affiliate network for your product.

CCNow – Expect to pay $9.95 a months for their Monthly Promotional Program (mandatory) and 9% of your total sales in excess of $100.00. With CCNow your customers can pay by Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover/Novus cards.

1    2    3     4     >>