Great Merchant Account & Gateway

[ViciousSummer]

I FINALLY found an affordable and reputable merchant account and gateway! I'm super picky and have been looking at all the different options for a year. I chose to go with MerchantPlus.com (http://www.merchantplus.com/) and so far they are EXCELLENT. There is no set up fee for the merchant account or gateway and the monthly/transaction fees are some of the lowest I've come across. (Here is their pricing (http://www.merchantplus.com/internet.php)). My account was set up very quickly and my websites were accepting credit card payment within a couple of days. I was 100% Paypal before, but it became too much of a pain in the ass for international orders. And I can already see that customers prefer to pay via credit card vs Paypal.

Just thought I'd share since I've seen so many "what is the best way to accept payment on my website" posts :D

[dct]

Looks useful, to prevent me reading loads before finding out do you know if they are international, well UK?

[carowan]

I FINALLY found an affordable and reputable merchant account and gateway! I'm super picky and have been looking at all the different options for a year. I chose to go with MerchantPlus.com (http://www.merchantplus.com/) and so far they are EXCELLENT. There is no set up fee for the merchant account or gateway and the monthly/transaction fees are some of the lowest I've come across. (Here is their pricing (http://www.merchantplus.com/internet.php)). My account was set up very quickly and my websites were accepting credit card payment within a couple of days. I was 100% Paypal before, but it became too much of a pain in the ass for international orders. And I can already see that customers prefer to pay via credit card vs Paypal.

Just thought I'd share since I've seen so many "what is the best way to accept payment on my website" posts :D

Thanks for the info, I have been looking into getting a new merchant account/provider and this seems to be pretty good. It is cheaper than what I am paying now. They do the standard Amex/discover/MC/Visa right?

[ViciousSummer]

Yes, they are a standard merchant account (visa, mc, amex, discover, etc) and are usable internationally. They also have a "virtual terminal" so you can process payment manually, which has proved useful as well. :)

[mystikmedia]

Which gateway are you using? I have used many, but they all have some limitation. I am using authorize.net currently, but their fees are high, and I don't like the way you issue a refund with them. Also, many users do not receive their email receipts. The one I was the happiest with was LinkPoint, but they started having a lot of downtime, which is why I switched to Authorize.net. I may check back with them and see how things are looking there now.

[kokopelli]

Another cheap (and good) one is http://propay.com - they have no statement / gateway fees. See their pricing here (http://propay.com/cgi/appProcess1.exe/tier_detail)

[mystikmedia]

Well, it looked great until the end (really great), but the monthly limit wouldn't work. :-/

[ViciousSummer]

Which gateway are you using? I have used many, but they all have some limitation. I am using authorize.net currently, but their fees are high, and I don't like the way you issue a refund with them. Also, many users do not receive their email receipts. The one I was the happiest with was LinkPoint, but they started having a lot of downtime, which is why I switched to Authorize.net. I may check back with them and see how things are looking there now.The package I got from MerchantPlus is with Authorize.net as well.

[ViciousSummer]

Well, it looked great until the end (really great), but the monthly limit wouldn't work. :-/What monthly limit (I looked but couldn't find it)? I guess that is something I should know!

[Edz]

Question for ViciousSummer?

In connection to my interest with starting a business relation to a drop shipping company i am wondering... because i will also want to accept CC payments on my website... if there is any need to incorporate to be eligable for such a merchant account?

Have you set up your own corporation for this? in some sort of business form such as Ltd company formation or a Inc company formation?

[ViciousSummer]

You can be any sort of "business" to apply for a merchant account. I am a "sole proprietorship" for example. :)

[Edz]

But a form of business registration is needed?...i presume a civilian without any chamber of commerce registration or company registration number is not accepted for a merchant account.

[Cartman]

Does the merchant have any minimums that you need to hit, otherwise you get hit with additional fees?

[ViciousSummer]

But a form of business registration is needed?...i presume a civilian without any chamber of commerce registration or company registration number is not accepted for a merchant account.Of course. Banks are not going to hand out credit card processing ability to random individuals. Many banks require that your business has been established for a couple of years.

[lorien1973]

Or you have a good credit rating. Most of them usally say they accept 98% of applications, so its easy to get in. If you have bad credit or no credit, expect them to hold funds for a while, or you may have to fax them invoices and shipping information for a while until they trust you. Getting a merchant account is easy....getting rid of it is a pain in the ass.

[Edz]

Of course. Banks are not going to hand out credit card processing ability to random individuals. Many banks require that your business has been established for a couple of years.


Yes thought so, i have seen quite some stories on the net about people opening merchant account's and they deliver it like they are going to do so... if it's nothing special.

So that maked me wonder a bit, thanks for the reply ViciousSummer and letting me know things aren't much different from here in The Netherlands.

[briandunning]

I notice that they have a per-transaction fee, though (.25) - make sure you factor that in when looking at their discount rate. On a $15 transaction that adds an extra 1.7%.

[techbuzz]

Thank Vicious. I've been looking for an alternative to paypal / paypal pro. Wading through the thousands of merchant account sites (and resellers out there) is tedious work.

[mddv]

looks great thanks i will give them a try. the fees arent that high also.

Im currently 100% PayPal but this will enable more customers to process payments to me that are in countries that paypal dont support.

Cheers
Martin

[ViciousSummer]

...Wading through the thousands of merchant account sites (and resellers out there) is tedious work.Tell me about it. I got fed up numerous times! :p

[ViciousSummer]

...Im currently 100% PayPal but this will enable more customers to process payments to me that are in countries that paypal dont support...That's the reason I finally made the switch. I was just getting too many people wanting to place orders from countries Paypal doesn't support.

[techbuzz]

Vicious - how do you handle international shipments as far as taxes/duties and the like go? I would like to ship internationally but my first glance at the UPS & FedEx indicated that I would need to fill out and submit forms for each country I wanted to ship to and get some sort of approval? And I've heard some bad stories here about international shipping and people not paying any extra fees they owe on their end. Maybe I'm making a mountain out of a molehill...

[janetmorn]

I e-mail them and received an "e-mail does not exist" message back. I wanted to know if they accepted Canadian merchants. Has anybody else tried e-mailing them?

[ViciousSummer]

Vicious - how do you handle international shipments as far as taxes/duties and the like go? I would like to ship internationally but my first glance at the UPS & FedEx indicated that I would need to fill out and submit forms for each country I wanted to ship to and get some sort of approval? And I've heard some bad stories here about international shipping and people not paying any extra fees they owe on their end. Maybe I'm making a mountain out of a molehill...
You're making a mountain out of a molehill ;). 40% of my customers are international. Shipping internationally requires you to fill out a simple customs form and that's it.

[ViciousSummer]

I e-mail them and received an "e-mail does not exist" message back. I wanted to know if they accepted Canadian merchants. Has anybody else tried e-mailing them?
I've never emailed them, but I have used their "live support" and had my question answered within a couple of minutes.

[janetmorn]

You're making a mountain out of a molehill ;). 40% of my customers are international. Shipping internationally requires you to fill out a simple customs form and that's it.

Sorry to intrude on this post but I just wanted to say that ViciousSummer is certainly correct here. I would say about 85% of my customers are international (located in the US), 10% are located overseas (mostly the UK, Hong Kong, Australia) and only about 5% are located domestically (Canada). We get a few here and there from South America as well.

I have never felt it to be a pain shipping internationally. One form and *poof* you're done!

The beauty of the internet is the ability to reach an international audience that hasn't been available to merchants in the past. Take advantage of it!

[ViciousSummer]

Sorry to intrude on this post but I just wanted to say that ViciousSummer is certainly correct here. I would say about 85% of my customers are international (located in the US), 10% are located overseas (mostly the UK, Hong Kong, Australia) and only about 5% are located domestically (Canada). We get a few here and there from South America as well.

I have never felt it to be a pain shipping internationally. One form and *poof* you're done!

The beauty of the internet is the ability to reach an international audience that hasn't been available to merchants in the past. Take advantage of it!No intrusion at all :D (Welcome to the forums by the way!).

Yes, if you are not shipping internationally, you are losing a lot of business!

[janetmorn]

Thank you ViciousSummer. :-)

[Corey Bryant]

Your personal credit history will not usually come into effect unless your monthly volume is over $30,000 a month.

You can be any type of business (sole, LLC, ect). Most of the time, banks like the one Merchant Plus is using - Chase - has a partner with a merchant account provider (MAP). Chase is partnered with First Data. First Data is actually a transaction processor that owns LinkPoint. The gateways (LinkPoint, Verisign's Payflow Services, Authorizenet.com) actually use First Data to help process the transactions.

If you are in the United States and you are expecting to do business with a United States MAP, here is a tip. At the bottom of their website on all pages it must state who they use / go go thru for the acquiring bank and ISO. If it does not, do not consider using them. Their website is not in compliance with Visa regs. And depending on how they are (re)selling the merchant accounts, you might even lose your merchant account.

[monoblue]

Well when i look all of yours reviews I see it is good but i started to aply and I was disapointed :( they only support US countrys :(

[ViciousSummer]

...they only support US countrys :(Bummer! I was unaware of that.