I work for a US company that sells large ticket items ($600-$5000) to companies all over the world. We occassionally (several times a year) have requests for payment by credit card. Usually these requests come from the US military.

What does everyone think would be the best solution for us? Get a merchant account? Third party processor? What percentage should we expect to shell out for credit card processing?

Based on the fact that we only would be making credit card transactions several times a year, I am thinking about a third party processor. I'm in the preliminary phase now, just trying to come up with companies to investigate further. So far, I've got a list of over 40 companies to investigate! Our president doesn't want to go with PayPal, due to it's image.

Any suggestions about who to go with or who to avoid?

TIA,

Nikki

Why they can't use their credit cards to pay through Paypal? If you only expect a few such transactions a year then a merchant account would be rather overkill.

Why they can't use their credit cards to pay through Paypal? If you only expect a few such transactions a year then a merchant account would be rather overkill.

My company's president does not want to go with PayPal - due to it's "unprofessional" image. I am not able to sway her, and she has directed me to look for other options.

Thanks for your comment!

My company's president does not want to go with PayPal - due to it's "unprofessional" image. I am not able to sway her, and she has directed me to look for other options.

Thanks for your comment!

mmmm... "unprofessional"... maybe, but: it will give a sense of "security", you don't have to provide the credit card data to the an "unknown" seller (as customer), and thus, paranoic people (like me) will be more likely to buy the service. Also, I use to receive payments by paypal, so, I use to have some money in my paypal account, and thus, I like to spend it from there directly instead of having it transferred to a bank account (that would imply another fee).

Thank you for your comment.

Our situation is very unique! We are a biotech lab that sells test kits to other biotech labs. We only sell to other companies, universities, or government agencies. We already have personal relationships with our customers, and often train them (at their facilities or ours).

So, there is no fear from our customers about giving us their CC numbers - they often try to give them to us over the phone! Our situation is also why our president is looking for a "professional" service - not PayPal. And there would be no use for us to have money in a PayPal account - we would immediately transfer it to our bank account (which is free, correct?)

If we have to go with a merchant account, we will. I was just hoping to go with a third party processor to avoid monthly fees.

There are a lot of companies that have a name, and still for various reasons certain decision makers will shy away from them. Paypal is known and still, it sounds like your president has made up their mind.

May I ask what type of merchandise or services are being provided for the payments that are being received.?

It sounds as if a merchant account WOULD be overkill as mentioned prior for what you require. A third party processor may be a better fit.

There are some established E-commerce companies available that not only are here in the United States but, they also process Mastercard, Visa, Maestro, Discover, Japanese credit bureau, and American Express.

There are very reputable.

CCbill and EC SUITE can process, both, tangible Items and Credit card transactions. They are able to handle the billing process, with Fraud protection and 24 hour customer support, so that you don't have to. That would save you both TIME and MONEY.

There are other companies out there as well, but these two should definitely make your list for further research.

Can you list some of the other companies that you are considering?

Can you list some of the hurdles that you are encountering?

It is always a good idea to compare quality and support.

Every company will try to obtain your business at one time or another with their prices or special deals, but a savvy shopper will always examine the TOTAL relationship, and then decide.

Support, reputation, business knowledge, accountability, and resources are what will make the difference every time.

If you plan to accept payments in USD only, I suggest getting a domestic US merchant account. There are several MSPs in the US who have experience with your type of business. There are advantages to getting a domestic merchant account such as there will be no wire transfer fees and the payments will be deposited in your account via ACH within one to three days of processing.

As far as fees are concerned, they vary and so does the level of service from MSP to MSP. This is B2B business model and credit card payments will probably be taken over the phone so keep in mind possible additional costs for access to virtual terminal.

May I ask what type of merchandise or services are being provided for the payments that are being received.?

As stated above, we are a biotech lab that sells test kits to other biotech labs, and we only sell to other companies, universities, or government agencies.

CCbill and EC SUITE can process, both, tangible Items and Credit card transactions. They are able to handle the billing process, with Fraud protection and 24 hour customer support, so that you don't have to. That would save you both TIME and MONEY.

There are other companies out there as well, but these two should definitely make your list for further research.

Can you list some of the other companies that you are considering?

Can you list some of the hurdles that you are encountering?

It is always a good idea to compare quality and support.

I've only just started looking at companies, so I can't say that I've had hurdles yet. I've heard of CCBill, but not EC SUITE, so I will look them up.

Thanks for your reply!

It's unfortunate that your president thinks paypal has an unprofessional image. It's the easiest solution in this case!

Hi Nikki and welcome to the forum

From what I've read of your needs, a normal merchant account is probably your best bet. You can set these easily without rep fees, then utilize an inexpensive gateway (authorize dot com is one) to process the payments for you.
I'm very familiar with ccbill and other US based 3rd party processors but if I'm understanding your business model properly, those would only cost you unnecessarily high fees for what you need.

I hope this helps .. feel free to let me know if you need anything further

Check out Paypal Web Payments Pro, it's got an API so you never have to redirect to their site or anything, so it gets rid of the possibility of the unprofessional image