So I am starting out so I need a way to receive payments for my products. I am just starting out so I won't have too much traffic to start. Each transaction should be around $150-$200. I prefer that they can pay on my website. I have a Chase business checking account, if that makes any differences. I'm in the US and will only be selling to the US at the moment.

Option 1: Paypal looks good because its per transaction BUT I don't like that you have to leave the site and go through the extra steps with paypal.

Option 2: Paypal Pro, there is a $30 monthly charge on top of the rates.

Option 3: Merchant Account, I looked up Elavon and through Costco. Tried Chase Paytech, but I could not find information about their service.

Option 4: CDG: sounds good with just $10 monthly but the rates are a bit higher and if they use a Rewards card, it shoots up higher.

Additional problems with paypal is they sometimes block merchants accounts with no reasons just because their algorithm raises a red flag. Google "paypal horror stories merchants" and you will get it. So my advice - anything except paypal.

The advantages with paypal are that you do not store the financial details, most customers are familiar with it, and you pay as you go.

Not storing or processing the info means that PCI ocmpliance is a not a factor for you.

You should go for both and maybe also add moneybookers, now a days many are using PayPal rather than a cc if it is possible.

We use both PayPal and Google checkout.
Google checkout was added due to demand from customers and we also like there internal fraud checking system. I must say that Google’s fraud protection and maxmind protection added together has allowed us to experience a zero charge back rate. PayPal... well that's a different story but still most of your customers out there are going to have a PayPal account so excluding that payment feature may harm you in the long run.

Hello LDanny,

If you are just starting out you will definitely want to minimize your initial costs while also setting yourself up in a position that will be beneficial as your business grows, especially if there is any recurring billing element to your business.

You've listed out a number of viable options in your post. I would definitely encourage you to consider setting up your own merchant account to position yourself for future growth and to maximize the control that you have over your billing and operations.

The problem with any 3rd party service, whether it be PayPal or another option, is that you don't have the same kind of portability and control over your billing. If you utilize a merchant account and have control over your customer data, you can always "switch out" to a different merchant account if it benefits you at a later point in time.

In addition, the fees on PayPal for a small business usually start at around 2.9% which is higher than the base qualified rate fee for a typical merchant account and there are other fees for currency conversions, international transactions, etc. There are some other downsides as well as some of the other posters here have mentioned.

The point that was made earlier in the thread about PCI compliance is also a very cogent one. There are some technology options available with a direct merchant account that can allow you to keep your customers on your Web site (without ever re-directing them to a service like PayPal) but have the payment information transferred directly to the gateway without ever touching your network - and still retain full billing control. This is definitely a "best of all worlds" scenario.

If you go the merchant account route, you will also want to make sure that the account you sign up for does not have any monthly minimums, annual fees, early termination fees or any kind of unnecessary "PCI compliance fees."

It is also important to note that the level of included fraud protection & order verification - as well as chargeback support - varies greatly from one merchant processor to another so I suggest inquiring about this with any processor that you consider. Everyone will provide the basic AVS & CVV - what you'll want to know is what is provided above and beyond the standard fraud verification tools... such as support for VBV/MSC (and at what cost, if any?) and other services that might be beneficial either now or later down the road.

Best of luck with your research and decision!

Is PayPal Pro available to international merchant?

Is PayPal Pro available to international merchant?

Best place for the most accurate answer is the country specific pages of paypal.

well everybody have different stories, paypal is used by millions of people from worldwide so give a chance try them.

you can also try authorize or linkpoint if you want to authorize customers from your website pages.

I'm going through the signup process with Chase Paymentech right now. I have heard a lot of good things about CDG Commerce, but found that I could get a better deal from Chase.

I have heard many nightmare stories about PayPal (from a merchant's perspective), but they are too ubiquitous to be ignored. Since we are a small company still trying to establish our brand, we went with PayPal's standard service. We specifically did not go with the Pro service, so that people who are wary of putting their credit card number into our site can go to PayPal's site instead. If there is enough demand, I think we will add Google as well shortly.

To make a long story short, don't limit your self to one processor. There was a story a while back about a major processor going down, and many sites couldn't charge cards for a day or two (a fire in a DC IIRC). Always good to have a backup plan.

I wouldn't avoid paypal just because of the supposed "horror stories". Truth be told, those are made to seem far worse than they actually are, and they'd be the same anywhere, in any processor.

The truth:
Paypal looks out for the merchant 100% of the time in cases where no tangible item has been purchased. The only exception to this is where direct credit card (or debit card) funding is used, and paypal's hands are tied. Any time something goes directly to a bank, the bank is going to look after it's customer, 100% of the time, no matter what.

I've been using paypal for some 10 years now (across 3 accounts), and really can only say good things. The first account I closed off because I was changing focus of the business, then opened the main one around 2002. I've had the account 'temporarily suspended' a few times due to their security hacks, but every time it's been re-established within 24 hours.

As for a secondary processor, I agree. CDG commerce is one of the best out there for that. I think between them an authnet, I probably dump 50-100 in fees out a month (total, and that's on a very high month), and that's realistic to me. It's certainly cheaper than most.

Have a word with David who runs (http://www.merchant-accounts.ca) although they deal with clients mainly in Canada they can help anyone Worldwide with any questions or help with you setting up a full Merchant Account.

Gave me some fantastic advice over the past few days and a great help in getting my Application sorted with WorldPay in the UK :)

Hope it helps! :agree:

Thanks for all the advice. I will most likely use paypal AND a merchant account.

CDG looks good right now. But I am concern as to whether or not I can get it to work with Godaddy's Shopping Cart. Also, the rate for "Reward" Cards are at almost 5%. What qualifies as a "rewards" card?

I contacted Chase, but their rates are similar and I would have to be in a contract with them.

What qualifies as a rewards card? I'm assuming that would be anything that gave the buyer a 'reward' for purchasing.

Example:
U.S. bank gives their members cashback rewards for purchases made that are not 'debit card' purchases

Well if you are questioning Paypal charges then its some thing other factor but their quality cannot be compared with any other companies.

Their merchant account might be charging this much but they are providing you quality in that service. For those extra steps...your customers will also need to undergo those extra steps if you are thinking to charge them through credit cards.

In every case such extra steps will be considered...

you can try 2checkout

If I were you i'd sign up for Paypal and a merchant account. You always want to have at least one payment option as a back-up incase something happens to your account. The monthly fee of keeping a back-up account running is nothing compared to the losses you'll face if you have no payment options. Especially since Paypal is known for limiting accounts with no warning.

If you must choose one or the other, I recommend a merchant account. Personally, sites that offer Paypal along with a traditional merchant account check-out don't bother me. I'll rarely if ever buy from a Paypal only site unless they have something really unique that I need. I reserve may Paypal usage to eBay purchases only because as a shopper, I trust my charge-back rights with may bank more than I trust Paypal. I think if you look around you'll find many merchants have a similar opinion (although many are happy with Paypal).

Have a word with David who runs (http://www.merchant-accounts.ca) although they deal with clients mainly in Canada they can help anyone Worldwide with any questions or help with you setting up a full Merchant Account.

Gave me some fantastic advice over the past few days and a great help in getting my Application sorted with WorldPay in the UK :)

Hope it helps! :agree:


How does David makes his money ? gets kickbacks from the processor ?

Hi Craig9 - I think I'm qualified to answer your question! =)

In HostToday's case we were able to help because we are WorldPay's Canadian partner company, having had a relationship writing accounts through RBS for almost 10 years. I know many of the underwriters there and am all too familiar with the approval guidelines so I knew the problem he was running into. To answer your question, in his case he was not linked back to our portfolio at RBS so no we were not compensated in any way for helping him out. With that said, generally speaking I'm always happy to jump in and help out regardless.

You seem to be curious about how the acquiring industry works. There are the card associations (Visa, MC), the issuing banks (they give you your credit card), the acquiring bank (they have the relationship with the card associations to process transactions) and then the ISO's / Payment Gateway / Agents / that provide the service to business owners (merchants).

If you are curious as to where Merchant Accounts.ca fits into the puzzle, we determine the merchants processing requirements (currency, type of sale - online/pos) work on the approval of the application, get your merchant ID's are issued, set your account up on the gateway and handle ongoing support. I hope that sheds some insight into how the industry works.

If you are curious as to why I take the time to post on the forum, it’s because jumping in and helping merchants like David (HostToday) provides us a bit of positive PR and in turn helps provide us with more clients! There is a misconception that the card payment industry is an anonymous machine, but it’s actually staffed by real people (like myself!) who enjoy helping out and working with business owners.

PayPal is great if you are starting out. I would recommend setting up a merchant account as well. Some customers don't like using Paypal and you shouldn't solely rely on paypal. You can also try 2checkout.

Idanny, PayPal is a great way to start processing cards. If you start to process over $1,500 a month you may want to consider going with a true merchant account and gateway provider, you'll be able to save on your monthly fees and get the stellar service you deserve. Merchant processors are affiliated with FDIC insured banks and work with Visa and MC directly to in the instance you receive any charge backs. Choose a provider that can give you great rates as well as exceptional customer service. Look for a provider that doesn't outsource underwriting or fraud management and has 24-7 technical support. Would you feel more comfortable with signing a service contract or would you rather have the freedom to leave your processor without penalty? If you shop around for rates without considering the value of service, you may be disappointed in the long run. Good Luck!

Save yourself some time and energy and stick with the easiest option to start out with until your business is raking in some serious money...

PayPal buy now buttons are really easy, the fees are not that bad and PayPal is universally identifiable.... lots of people trust PayPal and this can help build trust on your website.

Of course there are some bad things with PayPal but as a total package it will save you time and money when starting out.

My personal opinion is Authorize.net with a merchant account. Some customers view PayPal as a small merchant only solution. Its just not as professional to many online shoppers. Its nothing against PayPal, its just that you loose sales conversions if that is your only payment option.

Merchant accounts can be quite costly for a start-up or small business, and then you have to worry about being PCI compliant. With services such as PayPal and Moneybookers, however, that's a non-issue.

Keep in mind that if you store credit card details on your server, and you're not PCI compliant, you could be fined $500,000 per incident if there's ever a breach. It's very costly to become fully PCI compliant, so the cost-effective measure is to go with a third-party processor.

Just a point of clarification, there are true merchant account solutions available that have the same "third party hosted payment" benefits as far as security and PCI is concerned (and more). Cost wise, something like Paypal will be cheaper to a startup because there is zero up front costs and no monthly's -- but as you get bigger, you'll be paying more in the transaction rates and these incremental per transaction costs can add up rapidly as your volume increases.

Determining the best payment processor really depends on your needs & experience. As many have mentioned Paypal is the most widely used & thus well known, however there are quite a few horror stories. Instead of just telling you which one is better I'll give you a few pros & cons.

Paypal
+Fairly Trusted
+Majority of Merchants are happy with the service
+Requires very little development/programming skills
+Financial data is not stored on your server. In fact you never interact with the customer's financial information. This is a very important security concern
+Fairly reasonable fees
-Practices nearly random account blocking. So if you depend solely on paypal you'll be in trouble.

Merchant Account
+More control over the transaction
+Fees can be lower
-Many of the MA providers are scammers
-May need to know some coding
-Security Issues

Third Option: Google Checkout or Moneybookers
Very Much like Paypal except for the random account blocking.

My Recommendation:
If this is a new website I would suggest that you go with paypal & google checkout. You should not sign up for any service that adds additional cost to the website, until it has proven it should generate revenue. However, if you're running a fairly large, estimated offline business, you should consider a merchant account.

I hope this helps. PM me if you have any questions.