Re: Online payment options......

Just a query to see who uses what for online payments and what people find the best as far as integration, cost, setup, payment options etc.... I am really only familiary with paypal, but would like to hear others feedback. I would like to incorporate into our structure some different payment options if possible.

 

We use GeoTrust. Have been good so far.

 

I've had a merchant account and it is a PITA as well as expensive when you're a small business. The merchant account fees, statement fees, transaction fees, chargback fees, software lease, terminal lease, etc........ all add up to a substantial financial burden. Granted, it's much, much easier for the customer if you have a merchant account and accept payment directly.

Now that PayPal does not require an account to make payments, I've integrated it into my shopping cart and even though it adds a bit to the checkout process, it is inexpensive and very well known. It may discourage a small percentage of buyers, but it's a heck of a lot cheaper and easier for me than the expense and hassle of a merchant account.

Just my .02¢

 

I've always been of the opinion that paypal comes off as a tad bit unprofessional..

actually, from what I've read, the fees from setting up something with authorize.net isn't very bad at all- like 100$ setup, 20$ a month, and a small % of each transaction.

I've never actually set one up yet, though.

 

I use Ikobo.com for credit card processing ... not setup fees .. charges are reasonable, you also get an atm card to draw your money virtually anywhere in the world :-D ... and they have nice customer service.

I also take moneybookers and paypal ... but i hate the paypal customer service .. it sucks.

 

I second payoutwindow.
Ikobo is a good alternative. 2checkout is a alternative too. But it has setup fee and its transaction fee is relatively high.

 

I'm selling shareware so my experience is probably not entirely relevant. I'm also in Australia which also taints my views somewhat.

I use regsoft exclusively at the moment, who charge around 10-15% with no monthly fee but can send me a cheque to the land of kangaroos and wallabies. They accept payment in any form you can think of (probably including giant beanstalk seeds if you ask).

I'm going to move to another provider soon who can electronically send the money to the land of koala bears and dingoes thus eliminating the 8 week gap between end of month and the money appearing in my accounts. This provider charges around 5% less per transaction but includes a setup fee and a monthly fee of $20. I'll put their name here when I've used them for a bit.

 

Credit card via a merchant account.

 

I've just come across the Live Human Software on Ikobo.com - amazing!

https://www.livehuman.com/

 

I also use ikobo. It's a good alternative for people who can't use paypal, and it has quite a considerable country coverage. Someone mentioned Asutralia, I think they cover that as well. I'm not certain, you'll have to check that out.
About livehuman, I also like it, from a user's perspective that is. It has helped me, actually the operators from ikobo did, with a few problems I've had.

 

That's just for the gateway, that's not a merchant account. Those fees are on top of the cost of having a merch. acct. Unless you're doing a booming business, the merchant fees will eat you alive

 

I'd like to know what is unprofessional about it? eBay use it almost exclusively. Would you say eBay is a tad unprofessional?

 

Yep, that's right. Authorize.net is only a gateway, in order to use it you also have to sign up for a merchant account. For small businesses a wise solution would be signing up with a third party merchant account provider which doesn't have high fees. I know it's not the same as having your own gateway, but still, it's a good choice.

 

for US 59.95 mo which includes hosting, secure gateway, shopping cart, merchant account (your own) and more. I have been using it for a few years. Our charges are through Nova and are 2.34 percent plus 30 cents I think.

I first started using CCnow in the beginning, it was 8 percent flat rate, but I think it is 9 or 10 now.

 

I own a small business and I need a third party merchant account. What payment provider do you recommend ?

 

For your brick and mortar business, or your online business?

1. For brick and mortar ask your Bank.

2. For online business I'd go with PayPal.

 

iKobo covers every country that has mastercards atm/pos machines because they give you MC debit card (iKard) connected to your account. Their fees are cheap, so whats the problem? They process Visa only. No Mastercard, Amex or Discover. That sucks, at least for me because my main customers have one of those three cards, alhough Visa is the most presence on the Net. No need to mention that in the last three-four months (thats how long they stopped processing amex & mc) I got so many messages from their support that they will fix it "in the next week" - they acted completly unprofessional. Beside that, their fraud protection is a bit rude - 50% of your cash is frozen for three months, without any incentive. Yet, their live chat is one of the rare easy-to-get support systems [2co has terrible system, you can wait a week or so to get your questions answered]

For me, PayPal sucks. Maybe for USA people its good, but their international support is VERY poor. Id rather use iKobo/2co with all their limits/fees than PayPal. I cannot say anything about their support team/software because I never used it. Because I couldnt. Due to my geographic location...

I also think that your own merchant account is the best solution for online payments - if you can afford it [paying setup & account maintaining, but note that you get the best processing fees around!] & if you really need it for your type of business... otherwise, Id go with iKobo (again, note that you have Visa processing support only with their 3rd party merchant acc.!) or go with 5.5%'s and choose 2co [higher setup fee, transaction fee, monthly card maintain fee, card withdrawal limit ($307 per transaction), ATM [per transaction] fee... everything, in comparation to the similar feautures @ iKobo]

 

sisgo:
I think you can try Ikobo first. Because it has no setup fee and monthly fees. If you do not satisfied with it, You can switch to other providers without any costs.

 

sisgo:
I think you can try Ikobo first. Because it has no setup fee and monthly fees. If you do not satisfied with it, You can switch to other providers without any costs.