Small business owners!

[gittyup]

Do you guys accept credit cards? Not online but for in-person purchases. It looks like it may be a good idea for me to have that ability. Is there any good companies that don't charge much for the machine and a low percentage? I don't plan to use it a lot, but you never know. Just trying to be prepared in advance. Thanks...

 

[Phil21]

Call your bank.

You'll get the lowest rates if you go full-out and get a merchant account, and such. Plus you most likely allready have a strong relationship with your bank so it makes things easier.

Do you need the physical machines? If not, just get an on-line console (you pretty much enter the customers information like you would when you order something on-line, and the amount to charge their card for), which is much cheaper.

Expect to pay ~$300 or so in setup costs (without hardware processing gear), perhaps a security deposit for chargebacks (if with a bank, they'll have you put it in a CD most likely.. prolly somewhere around $1,000). Typical fees depend on the amount and size of the transactions. You'll prolly see somewhere around 3% or so though, for normal small-business type needs. More if you have lots of small transactions, and less if you have a few large ones. There will also almost assuredly be a monthly processor fee, of somewhere around $50.

You can of course go with a ccbill type place, that essentially charges for you. The customer doesn't see your name on the statement, and you get nailed with something around 10-18% transaction fees. NOT the route to go for almost any small business, save perhaps businesses that are selling access to sites (porn, heh.)

So.. not exactly cheap.. But the benefits outwiegh the cost for us at least.

-Phil

 

[Phil21]

Forgot to add..

if you have a very small company, and don't do very much volume at all (few charges a month) see if you have a friend or someone who has a merchant account, and have him run the charges through for you for a percentage.

That's prolly the best way for the tiny companies to do it.. But, keep in mind that your friend would be violating the visa (not sure about others) merchant agreement. Not a big deal if you trust your clients, and he trusts you though

Just another option to keep in mind.

-Phil

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

phil gave good advice, ill just say if you are small, stay the hell away from amex, yearly fee +5% of each purchase really adds up

 

[gittyup]

Thanks for the advice. I am small time and really don't want to pay a lot of fees per month but do want the ability to be able to process credit cards. I would hate to lose business because of that. I will do some more research then...

 

[masterxfob]

amex sucks! unless you're the one using it of course

yeah, those credit card things are really a jip. my mom (interior design) doesn't accept cc's but my dad (restaurant) does. as a small busines, it's hard enough to make it out there with all the competition, let alone the cc's raping you for the little that you do make. it's a dog eat dog world out there (hehe, i think that's the saying? lol)