Gossamer Forum: General: Internet Technologies: Good merchant account service?

May 8, 2002, 6:30 AM

Andy

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May 8, 2002, 6:30 AM

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Good merchant account service?

Ok..not sure if anyone has had any experience with this. I'm basically looking for a merchant service that will be able to offer me a merchant service to accept credit-cards etc. I'm used to laid back PalPal...but I recently had a bad experience with them..so am looking for other ways to accept payments. I dont mind paying a little a month (up to about £50)...the main thing I am looking for is being able to offer purchases in both US$/CA$ and GB£.

Anyone know/got any experiences with this kind of merchant service, and if so, who? I've been looking around...but all the ones I have seen so far are ridicuasly priced Frown

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk

May 8, 2002, 6:33 AM

Wil

Veteran / Moderator (4108 posts)

May 8, 2002, 6:33 AM

Post #2 of 26

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Re: [Andy.] Good merchant account service? In reply to

What bank are you with? Most banks now offer you merchant account for a nominal fee.

- wil

May 8, 2002, 6:41 AM

Andy

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May 8, 2002, 6:41 AM

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Re: [Wil] Good merchant account service? In reply to

I'm with Nat West. I may have a look at that. My main thing is, once I have the merchant account, how would I intergrate the scripts etc with my account? This is all quite new for me (in case you havn't noticed)..I'm used to PayPal and ClickBank Tongue

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk

May 8, 2002, 6:50 AM

Wil

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May 8, 2002, 6:50 AM

Post #4 of 26

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Re: [Andy.] Good merchant account service? In reply to

You'd buy yourself a secure certificate and run them directly off your site into the (usually shared) merchant account.

It's worth checking out their website for more information.

- wil

May 8, 2002, 6:52 AM

Andy

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May 8, 2002, 6:52 AM

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Re: [Wil] Good merchant account service? In reply to

I'm looking at this one now....http://www.worldpay.com/usa/index.html

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk

May 8, 2002, 6:53 AM

Andy

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May 8, 2002, 6:53 AM

Post #6 of 26

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Re: [Andy.] Good merchant account service? In reply to

Oh well...$400 setup fee....sod that Frown

I'm gonna just keep to PayPal/ClickBank for the time being, until I do this as a full time job Tongue

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk

May 8, 2002, 7:00 AM

Wil

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May 8, 2002, 7:00 AM

Post #7 of 26

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Re: [Andy.] Good merchant account service? In reply to

So, I take it you didn't look here:

http://www.natwest.com/...S/MERCHANT/ECOMMERCE

- wil

May 8, 2002, 7:28 AM

Andy

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May 8, 2002, 7:28 AM

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Re: [Wil] Good merchant account service? In reply to

Sure did...but that page redirected me to StreamLine, and stream line are partners (I think) with WorldPay..so world pay was the only one I could fiund a price for Wink

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk

May 10, 2002, 12:23 PM

BeaverheadRiver

User (283 posts)

May 10, 2002, 12:23 PM

Post #9 of 26

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Re: [Andy.] Good merchant account service? In reply to

Costco.com uses NOVA and the rates appear to be very attractive. I don't know how easy this or any other merchant account would be to get. Unfortunately, it appears to be a USA only solution.
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May 10, 2002, 12:28 PM

Paul

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May 10, 2002, 12:28 PM

Post #10 of 26

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Re: [vanderen] Good merchant account service? In reply to

Looks like costco members get a special thingy too...

http://www.iongate.com/costco/body.asp

May 10, 2002, 1:11 PM

Ian

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May 10, 2002, 1:11 PM

Post #11 of 26

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Re: [Paul] Good merchant account service? In reply to

Thanks, that costco one looks pretty good. I have just sent their support people a message. The fees seem reasonable, but will shall wait and see. I am hoping they offer services in Canadian Funds.

May 21, 2002, 3:53 AM

Andy

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May 21, 2002, 3:53 AM

Post #12 of 26

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Re: [Ian] Good merchant account service? In reply to

Once again PayPal are being complete pricks! They just refunded 2 payments of $39.95 for absolutly NO REASON! If anyone is reading this...DONT USE THEM! I'm trying to stick to ClickBank at the moment..but their rates are soooo high! As soon as I can afford a merchant account/service I'm definatly gonna go with it!

Sorry, just had to vent that Tongue

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk

May 21, 2002, 7:32 AM

Andy

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May 21, 2002, 7:32 AM

Post #13 of 26

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Re: [Andy.] Good merchant account service? In reply to

Mmm...actually, re-looking at WorldPay, their fees are not that bad (didn't see this page before). Have a look at http://www.worldpay.com/...ng_worlddirect.shtml to see what I mean. Hasd anyone ever had any experience with them?

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk

May 21, 2002, 7:34 AM

Ian

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May 21, 2002, 7:34 AM

Post #14 of 26

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Re: [Andy.] Good merchant account service? In reply to

Andy, I think I mentioned once on this forum before:

Why don't a few of us team up and share our own? Lets make the cost of doing this less then these people while giving us control over it. I have maby 1-2 transactions per month at the moment so Idefintately could not justify doing this myself. But I do dislike the restrictivness of Paypal - they don't support my countries currency for a start, and I don't like the lack of customization for their payment screen (it really does look like you have left your site and gone somewhere else). They could easily have implement a templete scheme (much like we do with links), where the whole process at least looks like your site.

Thats my two bits anyways.

I think it is $10,000 or something rediculous for the bond you have to put up in Canada, just to process setup the transaction account... don't quote me on this, but this is what I remember last time I enquired.

I wonder if the UK is any better setup (and cheaper)?

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May 21, 2002, 7:40 AM

Andy

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May 21, 2002, 7:40 AM

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Re: [Ian] Good merchant account service? In reply to

No, the UK is not much cheaper Frown

I could probably justify getting one of these account now, as my monthly income is quite a lot higher than they are charging. The main problem is the initial setup fee, and I'm just worried that if I don't like the service they offer, then I can't exactly say "oh well, it was free, and I gave them a go", like I could with PayPal Frown

As for sharing an account...this would be quite hard, especially from my point of view with having to keep business books and accounts. There is also the problem of how you would get your money...as the money is paid on a weekly basis into your bank, in which case mine would be a UK one.

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk

May 21, 2002, 7:44 AM

Ian

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May 21, 2002, 7:44 AM

Post #16 of 26

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Re: [Andy.] Good merchant account service? In reply to

I have a UK bank account. But thats ok, if your setup doesnt permit sharing, I understand.

I agree with you about getting stung after putting up the money to set something up. How do you know its not just another dud?

I think on-line money handling is one of these things which will become more accessible and cheaper each month. It has too, as more and more small business want it, and there are so few options in my opinion. For most people, it seems to be Paypal.

If I had the resources, I can see a market in this for sure - especially for countires outside of the US.

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May 21, 2002, 7:48 AM

Andy

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May 21, 2002, 7:48 AM

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Re: [Ian] Good merchant account service? In reply to

LOL..I just realised you are sooke Tongue

I wondered where this Ian guy came from all of a sudden Wink

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk

May 21, 2002, 7:53 AM

Ian

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May 21, 2002, 7:53 AM

Post #18 of 26

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Re: [Andy.] Good merchant account service? In reply to

Ha ha! I was wondering why everyone stopped talking to me all of a sudden!!! Wink

I think yogi has worked it out, and now you.... maybe it was a mistake! I am going to make an announcement in this forum!!

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May 21, 2002, 7:59 AM

Andy

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May 21, 2002, 7:59 AM

Post #19 of 26

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Re: [Ian] Good merchant account service? In reply to

Maybe you should make that 'former alais' in your sig a little larger....something like;

Former Alais: sooke

Wink

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk

May 21, 2002, 8:00 AM

Ian

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May 21, 2002, 8:00 AM

Post #20 of 26

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Re: [Andy.] Good merchant account service? In reply to

Yes, i just posted something about this in a new thread.... but how did you set your font so big?

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May 21, 2002, 8:02 AM

Andy

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May 21, 2002, 8:02 AM

Post #21 of 26

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Re: [Ian] Good merchant account service? In reply to

You use: [size 6] and then I made mine bold, just for good measures Tongue

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk