I was kinda curious on this subject. I am wondering if, once I get my hosting biz up and running, that I should buy one of those machines that process credit card numbers and take out what the customer ordered and have it go directly into the company bank account. Yes, I know that these machines aren't cheap, but it would be easier and it would show that my hosting company on their credit card statement and not some other company that they have not heard of. What are everyone elses opinion?

'Those machines' are typcially for in-person transactions, something I'd think you'd have very little of, unless you sell hosting from a storefront and your customers come to a counter (unlikely, but who knows). What you'd probably want is a virtual terminal type set up and real time processing via scripting to connect your order form to the processor.

Originally posted by Chicken
'Those machines' are typcially for in-person transactions, something I'd think you'd have very little of, unless you sell hosting from a storefront and your customers come to a counter (unlikely, but who knows). What you'd probably want is a virtual terminal type set up and real time processing via scripting to connect your order form to the processor.
A real merchant account is what I think 'long winded' Chicken is trying to say. ;)

yeah... one of them thingys...

You could always get a "virtual terminal". That's what we are in the process of getting.

How much do "virtual terminals" run?

That depends. Ours will probably be free with a 2.5% discount rate plus about 25 cents per transaction. It's basically an encrypted Java window, I have been told. Expect to be approved in a few weeks, at which stage I'll be able to say more. :)