Hi Im thinking about opening my busness in web hosting but need to process credit cards. Getting a merchant account looks hard but does using 2checkout or whatever look unprofesional to the client? Thx

Originally posted by Alan62
Hi Im thinking about opening my busness in web hosting but need to process credit cards. Getting a merchant account looks hard but does using 2checkout or whatever look unprofesional to the client? Thx

the 2 best out there are hostcharge and 2checkout. I don't think any of my clients mind at all. plus I feel very happy not handling the security aspect's of CC transaction ( one less item to worry about or to pay insurance on )

Mike

I would also recommend Revecom (PaySystems.com) we use them and haven't had any problems what so ever.

I don't personally think 3rd Party processors look unprofessional, 99% of hosts probably use them. You will however find as your number of sales increases it will become more cost effective to open a true merchant account.

Thx guys. I never head of hostcharge are they a company just for web hosts? And I didn't realize everyone used 3rd partys anyways, I though you guys all had merchant accoutns. Im going to go check them out.

I don't think they are unprofessional. I have merchant accounts and use them for all product sales. However, I have found third party processors easier to deal with for hosting for the following reasons:
1-More proactive in fraud control
2-Better handling of recurring charges
3-More tolerant of hosting business and its inherant issues
4-More receptive to billing longer terms than one month

Read Tina's thread, Affordablehost.com, and her experience with EMS and you see my reasons clearly. Unfortunately, we are in a business where we face fraud every day...where we face signups that have no intention of paying every day. With products, I have easy verification as I ship only to the card address. With products, I only ship to the U. S. However, hosting does not afford the same protection, so I am thankful for third party processors.

Just don't use paypal. The sux0rz mucho.

Paypal is fine for small accounts, imo... if you have a few customers paying 5-20 a month, it's really not worth it to pay the huge set-up fees associated with other 3rd party merchants.

Originally posted by Justice
Paypal is fine for small accounts, imo... if you have a few customers paying 5-20 a month, it's really not worth it to pay the huge set-up fees associated with other 3rd party merchants.


49 $ ?? it isnt that huge, you probably spent about the same amount when you go out, few drinks and a account with 2CO is gone :)

We're in the process of setting up our own Merchant account. It will cost a little bit more now but in the future it will save hassles.

Even I look through my CC statement and see the name of a third party processor - I think to myself "what is this for". It's so much clearer for the client when reconciling their statement and can result in less chargebacks.

We won't be having real-time authorisation at this stage. Basically because we want to check for any indiscrepancies in the client details.

Cost to us:
Setup fee AU$50 (US $28)
Monthly fee AU$27.50 (US$15.40)
Transaction commission: 2.92%

Other advantages are that we can also accept orders over the telephone and by mail and enter the details ourselves. With other processors it is often against their TOS to enter details on behalf of clients. We'll also get the money deposited into our account at 9:45pm on the night of the transaction - much better than having to wait for cheques to be posted and for cheques to clear.

We should be getting the terminal, etc. within the next week or so which will be good.

--Shaun.

If you are in the UK check out PayStamp.com, its pretty new and has great rates with FREE signup. I have been with them for just under two months now and look forward to my second payment.

I don't think many people consider it "unprofessional" but I can only relate to you my personal experience:

When using a third-party company whose name appeared on the customer's bill, we experienced chargebacks.

When we went with ProPay, and OUR name appeared on the customer's bill, we didn't experience any chargebacks -- but we also couldn't take anything but Visa and MC.

When we went with our own merchant account through ECHO, we didn't experience ANY chargebacks (plus chargebacks are free at ECHO even if we did) AND we accept Visa, MC, Discover, AMEX, and online checks as well. On top of that, the money is in our account in two days -- we don't have to wait for some disbursement, AND we don't have some processor holding back funds to cover potential chargebacks. We get all of our money, every two days.

I'd personally never go back.

Some people have mentioned that they get cancels when the client see's that it's via a thrid party. I solved that very simply.

I have in my signup text that the billing is done via 2checkout.com and that they shoudl expect that. I have a clear line above and below the statement. Overall I think it has saved me a ton of little problems and assured my clients.

Mike

Yes, it looks unprofessional. Even the tiniest mom and pop outfits in the non-virtual small biz world have their own merchant accounts.