"Love is the child of illusion and the parent of disillusion."Miguel de Unamuno
|
| |
Accepting Credit Cards - Positives vs. Negatives
Today there are hundreds of thousands of small & medium size businesses in this country that take orders via credit cards. In addition, every day in this country, there are hundreds of companies entering the world of e-commerce. They come from many ...
Low Interest Credit Cards: Are They For Real?
Credit cards are very common nowadays. In fact, some surveys show that 81% of the American households have at least one credit card. However, most financial experts contend that these facts are not on its positive aspect. This is because most of the ...
Making Money with Credit Cards Instead of Spending Money.
Is it possible to actually make money with credit cards instead of just using them to spend money? Well, of course for the large credit card companies and banks. But how about for the average person? Is it really possible for the average person to ...
|
|
|
| |
If you are building an online shop, you will need to address the question of taking payments for orders. You can, of course, request that a check payment be sent to you in the mail. Most shopping basket software allows you to select this option when you are setting it up. If you already have an offline, bricks and mortar business, you may simply wish to accept credit card payments over the phone.
However, there are some basic problems with these solutions and it all comes down to the way people shop on the internet. Customers expect to be able to add items to their basket and proceed to the checkout to pay. If they then find they must telephone you or print out and send their order, they may simply abandon their order and hop over to another website. Shopping online is all about convenience and if you are unable to provide this, you may be losing customers without even being aware of it.
So, what are your options and what is it all going to cost? Well, the good news is you can do it all very simply and cheaply. Paypal does not have a set-up charge and is a large and trusted online payment processor servicing 78 million accounts worldwide in 56 countries. Your only cost is a small percentage on each sale; a transaction charge. Payments from your website go straight into your Paypal account from where you can transfer amounts to your bank account with the click of a button.
Once you sign up with a payment processor, you can either link to their secure server from your shopping basket facility or build 'add to basket' buttons via a simple web query form. The html generated is then pasted next to items on your web page and your customers will be transferred to a secure server when they go to checkout.
Traditional merchant accounts are normally set up through your own bank and will become integral to your business account. Having your own merchant account gives you the choice of many different online payment gateways. Most, however, do charge a set-up fee, monthly fee and transaction charge. Just as you would offline, do make sure you research any company you sign up with on the internet. Print out and read their terms and conditions. Take particular notice of where they are operating from, their fees, when and how you will receive your money into your account.
Another point to consider is the question of chargebacks. This happens when a buyer requests a refund of an amount already paid to you. Reasons include not receiving goods ordered or items arriving faulty, damaged or not as described. Sometimes requests are made if the buyers card was used fraudulently.
If the chargeback request is successful, your merchant payment processor will charge you a processing fee. However, some companies will now provide you with insurance against chargebacks inclusive in your monthly fee. It's certainly worth shopping around for the right solution for you but knowing you have done your research will give you some peace of mind.
About the Author
This Article Was Published By Hans Hasselfors, from The Business Professional. Get the net working for you. Join a community of like-minded entrepreneurs and make your living online. Become a member of The Business Professional network: http://www.internet-marketing-experts-online.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Card debt still choking low, middle incomesChicago TribuneForty percent have turned to their credit cards to cover basic living expenses such as rent, mortgage bills, groceries and utilities, according to a national survey by think tank Demos. Those surveyed were low- and middle-income people who carried a ... |
|
Glacier Credit Card Trust Raises C$200M From Debt IssueWall Street JournalTORONTO (Dow Jones)--Glacier Credit Card Trust raised C$200 millon (US$195.3 million) from an issue of asset-backed securities, according to people familiar with the matter. The offering was priced at 138 basis points over the relevant Government of ...and more » |
|
