Hi, I want to use Authorize.net as a payment processor and i dont know where to start.. Their site is so confusing.. Reseller or merchant.. All i want to do is accept payments by credit card and have the payment go into a bank account. Do i need to buy a merchant account from another site? Do I need to sign all sorts of forms and fax them in?

Thanks

You would just give them a call or shoot an email stating that you are interested in a merchant account/gateway. Both will cost you around $25. You do not have to get the merchant account from them however.

Right, you would first need a merchant account and then you can use Authorizenet for your gateway. The gateway does the actual credit card processing. Depending on what billing software you plan to use, setting up Authorizenet should fairly easy for you to set up.

When getting set up with Authnet you want to be a merchant, not a reseller. Reseller means you want to resell their services.

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~Kacy

You can also ask Authorizenet to provide help over Live Chat.

Good choice by the way :-). Lots of customers in USA prefer Authorize.net gateway

Good choice by the way :-). Lots of customers in USA prefer Authorize.net gatewayYes, I agree with you.

A couple things I learned:

1. Set up your own merchant account beforehand. And do extensive research in this space. The MA Auth.net recommends is not competitive in IMO. PM for more info.

2. The standard setup fee for Auth.net is $99.95. You can get this reduced by searching online through resellers. I don't remember but there was a chamber of commerce offer for maybe michigan or ohio where you could get an Auth.net account setup with a setup fee for ~ $40. That was the lowest I saw.

3. When you have your MA setup and want to link it to your Auth.net account, request the form from Auth.net. It will tell you the info you need to provide them and they will setup that day. I would work with your MA in filling out this info as all the numbers can get confusing if you are new to MA.

I have not done any test transactions yet but let me know if anyone has does this.

Thanks

Just so you know, the test transaction site for Auth .net is crap ... best is to test with micro transactions on the real site.

XfrostX , have you finally launched an account with Authorize.net?

A couple things I learned:

1. Set up your own merchant account beforehand. And do extensive research in this space. The MA Auth.net recommends is not competitive in IMO. PM for more info.

2. The standard setup fee for Auth.net is $99.95. You can get this reduced by searching online through resellers. I don't remember but there was a chamber of commerce offer for maybe michigan or ohio where you could get an Auth.net account setup with a setup fee for ~ $40. That was the lowest I saw.

3. When you have your MA setup and want to link it to your Auth.net account, request the form from Auth.net. It will tell you the info you need to provide them and they will setup that day. I would work with your MA in filling out this info as all the numbers can get confusing if you are new to MA.

I have not done any test transactions yet but let me know if anyone has does this.

Thanks

If you get a merchant account through Wells Fargo they through in an authorize.net account for no setup charge (though they do have a setup charge for the merchant account itself, so I guess it's not really free):
https://www.wellsfargo.com/biz/merchant/options/gateways/ima/pricing

i am interest in authorize too, but what is the different between merchant and credit card gateway? is their have 1 package right?

i am interest in authorize too, but what is the different between merchant and credit card gateway? is their have 1 package right?

A good explanation can be found here:
http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?t=322415

I hope this link is OK, since there is really helpful information on this question.

Yep...get it through someone else...mine I got set up for free, for example (this was a few years ago of course).

Most Authorize.net resellers are far cheaper than Authorize.net directly. Last time I heard, they outsourced the merchant account service. My recommendation would be to go with one of their countless resellers.

A merchant account gives you the ability to accept the credit cards. The gateway simple allows you to collect the credit card data and sends it to the processor. The merchant account does the rest, funding, billing, etc. The gateway just collects and submits the data for you securely to your merchant account provider.

Curtis