I haven't really found a provider that I like yet. I set up a paypal account but found we have no control over the information and it's very cumbersome to change anything without the customer doing it him/herself. Besides everyone uses paypal looks a bit unprofessional.

I checked out 2checkout.com and it's just paypal 2.. So I'm thinking to bite the bullet and shell out 10-30 bucks a month for a merchant account. I just have some questions.

Anyone explain the basic jist of a merchant account? I know a lot about them but would just like a basic intro from a web hosting provider that uses one. Also I use WHM Autopilot and would like something compatible. Ie. Authorize.net or Internet Secure.

Any more advice would be helpful

Thankyou,

<<Signature to be setup in your profile>>

you'd be better off asking in the e-commerce forum; this kind of thing is covered there daily.

Request the mods to move the post and you'll get answers.

Of course, as a quick answer it would be authorize.net....

nocturnal, he had mentioned authorize.net himself... :)

In answer to your question, a merchant account works a little bit differently than a 3rd party processing account.

To start with - you get paid much faster and there are usually no reserves unless there are particularly high risks or issues present on your account.

In addition, you have only your own DBA and phone # listed on the credit card descriptor. This is beneficial both from a marketing standpoint (to show credibility) as well as on the customer service side to make it easy for a cardholder to contact you.

You also have your choice of whatever payment gateway and/or billing software you want to use. For instance, if you use Authorize.Net - you could easily work with WHMAutopilot.

When selecting a merchant provider, depending on your volume - you will want to ask about many common fees such as Monthly Minimums, Statement and/or Support Fees, Gateway Fees, Annual Fees and Cancellation Fees.

If your volume is < $1,000/month on credit cards, it is best to get a merchant account without a Monthly Minimum to avoid paying $20-25/month in extra cost -above and beyond- the monthly statement & gateway fees.

If your volume is > $1,000/month, you will want to get specific % figures on how many sales are downgraded to mid and non-qualified and what specifically determines this. You will find that sometimes a provider with a lower % discount rate will actually make it up by having more expensive downgrade fees which can really add up.

Lastly, if you can avoid a cancellation/termination fee of any kind - that is a plus since you won't be locked into an agreement and have to pay $250+ if you ever switch.

Best of luck with your search! :)

Just to add a few things, internetsecure is usually Canadian - although they do support the United States. It's just one of those things - when I har Internet Secure, I think Canadian.

But since you are in Florida & hopefully staying dry, you have a number of choices. One more pet peeve of mine (sorry) - authorizenet.com is not a merchant account & not a processor - it is an internet gateway, this of of similar to the POS terminal in the grocery store. Just getting an authorizenet.com account will not allow you to process credit cards - like a lot of people think it will.

You should add that to your .sig file Corey. ;)

"Authorize.Net is NOT a merchant account but a gateway ONLY"

LOL - I'm thinking about it!

Another good reason not to go with a 3rd party processor is that with a merchant account there is no rolling reserve and the transaction fees are much lower. The way I look at it, if you have a part-time business or hobby get a 3rd party account. If you have a full time business that you are serious about growing get a merchant account.