Merchant Credit Card Processing

dx2olson@msn.com · May 5th, 2008, 05:26 PM

My husband and I have started a small embroidery business. We are interested in being able to accept credit/debit cards as payment for our services. Our volume is low right now so we don't need a full services package and, of course, we are trying to keep our expenses to a minimum. Any feedback on merchant credit card processing vendors would be appreciated both good and back would be appreciated.

Robert Young · May 5th, 2008, 05:44 PM

If you have a local Sams Club or Costco... they usually have pretty inexpensive cc processing plans for small companies... have you given them a thought?

dx2olson@msn.com · May 5th, 2008, 06:41 PM

Funny you should mention Sam's Club. I was just there and picked up a brochure from them. Have you, by chance, used this company (First Data)? Thanks for the input!

LUV DEM TIGERS · May 6th, 2008, 08:54 AM

If you are starting out really small and don't want the monthly fee, paypal has an option. I do my invoicing in quickbooks and paypal as an add on that will link with quickbooks (and probably other programs and other ways) where you can e-mail the invoice to the customer, they can click on the paypal button, they can then use any credit/debit card or their own paypal account and pay for the invoice. You will receive instant notification via e-mail that the customer has paid for the invoice. You can then withdraw the money. The cost is $.30/transaction plus 2.9%. There are not setup fees, cancellation fees or monthly fees. Here is the website for additional info. https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/we...erview-outside

rick4310 · May 6th, 2008, 10:16 AM

1 thing you need to watch for is the monthly fees, they will kill you, and whatever you do don't lease a machine!!!! I was young and real dumb and leased mine for 4 yrs 48 months @ 42.00 per month... After 4 yrs I had the option to purchase the machine for $150.00. I bought the same machine off ebay for $120.00, called my new company up and they guided me through the setup process of the machine. The company i use now is NPC, I signed up about 3 yrs ago and was setup on a plan that i pay 2.1% of the transaction. Some say that to high but that is all I pay besides a $5.00 per month statement fee. At least I know what the credit card fee is when I run the card with no hidden crap.. At the end of the day i do a batch total and the moneys in my account the next day.

LUV DEM TIGERS · May 6th, 2008, 10:49 AM

Paypal has an option that you can e-mail invoices to customers, they click on a paypal button, and the can pay using any credit or debit card or their own paypal account. You will receive instant notification of the payment being received. You don't have to worry about getting credit card numbers etc. You can also link it with Quickbooks and can e-mail your invoices directly out of it or use other programs. It works like a charm. The cost is $.30/transaction and 2.9% of the transaction. There are no monthly fees, no setup fees and no termination fees. My wife an I use that in our business and it has been great. I can't see paying $30.00/month or whatever the fees are for our small business.

Here is more info: https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/we...erview-outside

Robert Young · May 7th, 2008, 09:55 AM

No, I have never tried them, we use Authorize.net for our processing, not sure who the actual bank is because we find we have to switch every two years or so to keep our costs down.... they all seem to start out nice and fair.. then over time the charges start creeping in... every couple of years we take our statements to prove our new steady volume and start shopping around... they all want to play ball to land the account.... and the same thing repeats... all is fine and then the charges slowly come in again, etc etc etc.
Some take their portion out each and every transaction so your statement into your bank is confusing because different cards take a different percentage ( for example corporate cc's take more because guess who is paying for the perks the client receives... yep YOU!)... and some take the money out of your account all at one lump sum once a month... (that is the kind we have now..) I prefer it because the money going into my account exactly matches my sales daily... then I only have 1 entry into quickbooks for my cc fees.