Comments on: Why You Don’t Have To Have A Merchant Account

By: Arvada

Arvada — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 20:01:24 +0000

Thanks for your detailed comments!

Overall, I agree with you and that’s why I said:

“Once you’ve been doing business online for awhile and are earning substantial revenue selling your own products and services, then it may be time to look into getting your own merchant account.”

You mentioned disputes only being a problem with third parties… that’s not true. I’ve heard many horror stories about merchants who have merchant accounts having all their funds held up for months because they had a sudden influx of cash and didn’t let the bank know ahead of time.

I still think that going through third parties is ideal for beginners until get their feet under them.

By: Dat To

Dat To — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 19:19:23 +0000

I want to clarify that I am talking about companies that sell physical products online. I don’t know what companies that only sell information products do in regards to payment processing for their websites.

By: Dat To

Dat To — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 19:17:07 +0000

You are right, you don’t need a merchant account if you are starting out, are a 1st time business owner and you are not sure what your sales will be. Third parties like paypal are good for that. But once you do over $3k/mth in credit cards, then you do need a merchant account.

Third parties are simple to deal with, but no way cheaper or flexible. You also will have no control of your funds if disputes happen.

You say that there are “tons” of payment processors and they charge a “small fee”, but don’t name any and don’t give any examples.

It seems like your main concerns are set up fees, payment gateways and shopping cart. Shopping carts are part of building & designing a site.
1 You pay $2000+ for a proper ECommerce website and getting a shopping cart is an issue? Set Up fees can be negotiated, but they are just one time fees.
2 Your customer’s cards will be charged (fee wise) to you in multiple tiers/baskets/buckets. With third parties, it’s usual an average of the buckets, so you always pay more in the long run. But no set up fees- YEEHAHH!
3 Payment Gateways are usually taken care of with reputable processors. One stop.

Here are two third party/ non-merchant accounts, not “small fees”. I got these online in Jan2009.

Not sure what the monthly for google, but paypal is $35/mth.

Monthly Sales Google Checkout
fee per transaction
Less than $3,000 2.9% + $0.30
$3,000 – $9,999.99 2.5% + $0.30
$10,000 – $99,999.99 2.2% + $0.30
$100,000 or more 1.9% + $0.30

Monthly Sales PayPal fee
per transaction
$0.00 – $3,000 2.9% + $0.30
$3,000.01 – $10,000 2.5% + $0.30
$10,000.01 – $100,000 2.2% + $0.30
> $100,000

By: marketarticles

marketarticles — Tue, 26 May 2009 22:02:25 +0000

Why You Don’t Have To Have A Merchant Account: When you start a new online business and sell a product or .. http://tinyurl.com/p9pkc9

This comment was originally posted on Twitter

By: arvadayates

arvadayates — Tue, 26 May 2009 22:02:07 +0000

Why You Don’t Have To Have A Merchant Account: When you start a new online business and sell a product or .. http://tinyurl.com/p9pkc9

This comment was originally posted on Twitter