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Hub You - Understanding Your E-Commerce Options
Definition of the 80/20 PrincipleThe 80/20 Principle is based on the fact that in most cases 80% of the results come about due to 20% of the effort. The same is true in reverse 80% of failure is due to 20% lack of effort or effort in the wrong direction. The relationship between effort and results are unbalanced. When actually measured it may turn out that only 15% of the effort resulted in 80% of the result or 25% of the effort resulted in 73% of the result, but it will hardly ever be 50% of the effort resulting in 50% of the result. In other words it will never be balanced.If you are looking at products, you will find the about 20% of any given number of products in a company account for about 80% of the profits. The flip side of this would be that 80% of the products make only 20% of the profits. Nearly always, a small proportion of the total products produce a large proportion of the profits.How to use the 80/20 PrincipleThere are two applications of the 80/20 Principle, 80/20 Analysis and 80/20 Thinking.80/20 AnalysisPreciseQuantitativeRequires investigationProvides factsHighly valuable80/20 ThinkingFuzzyQualitativeRequires thoughtProvides insightHighly valuable80/20 Analysis looks at the relat
c. What do customers say about their service and support?
d. Are there any “hidden” fees? These may be listed in the merchant contract but not provided up-front and online for your consideration.
e. Do they require a contracted commitment…1, 2, or 3 years?
f. How do they handle charge backs and fraud?
4. Investigate Fraud Detection Services:
Request information from the merchant processor on methods which reduce fraud and charge backs. These may be in-house solutions such as Address Verification Service (AVS) or Credit Verification Value (CVV) or 3rd party solutions such as Cybersource or Precharge.
5. Call the toll-free number and speak to a customer service representative about any contract/fee concerns or questions you have. It’s better to inquire about all fees now than to find out on your next monthly bank statement!
DO NOT:
1. Forget to read the ENTIRE Merchant contract. This means cover to cover! The full details are sometimes buried in the very fine print. These contracts can be intimidating; go slow and highlight areas which may be of concern.
2. Select the first merchant you talk to. This is a highly competitive business so investigate your options before making a decision.
3. Signup with multiple merchants at once. Merchant Accounts generally require a credit check. Be picky about which companies you allow to access your personal and business information.
5. Customers who Prefer Offline Payments
The decision to allow “offline” payments is an important choice. For example, companies who deliver digital goods such as paid newsletter subscriptions and e-books, have designed their product to facilitate instant payment and delivery. The
If you plan to make outrageous but true claims in your direct response copy, make sure you have a calculator nearby as you write. Because sceptical prospective customers and existing customers will check your numbers, even if you don't.As Exhibit A I present to you the outrageous and impossible-to-believe claims of Vincent James, the self-proclaimed 12-Month Millionaire who sells a get-rich-quick course on direct response copywriting by the same name.Here is how Vincent starts his online sales letter: Finally! Successful Entrepreneur and High School Drop-Out Vincent James Breaks 12 Years of Silence To Teach YOU His Money-Making Strategies and Powerful Secrets That Anyone Can Use To (legally) Make As Much As $77 Million By This Time Next Year!"The Amazing Money-Making Secret of a 28-year-old Convicted Felon Who Earns More Money Per Year Than The CEOs of FedEx... eBay... Amazon.com... Time Warner... Apple Computer... McDonalds... Microsoft... Nike... Yahoo... Ford Motor Company... General Motors... and Goodyear COMBINED!" Do you believe that Vincent James makes more than all those CEOs combined? I didn't. So I did the math. You can, too. Simply visit the Forbes CEO Compensation Survey for 2005 and look up the annual compensation for these CEOs. Here's what you'll find:
Why should you implement E-Commerce into your website? Simply put, because the ability to market goods and services and accept online payments is a great example of a passive income model. Your online store is running, customers have found their way to your site and their purchase is completely automated – from payment processing and approval to product delivery. With prior and proper preparation, your involvement in the transaction process is limited, leaving you more time to focus on other areas of your business.
1. Accepting Credit Cards Boosts Profits
As an online merchant you should already have a good understanding of the importance of making your product easily accessible to potential customers. With so much competition on the Internet, a frustrated potential customer can exit your site without looking back if you do not offer a clear and easy method to order and deliver your products and services.
Let’s look at an example:
Assume two competitive merchants, A and B, both have websites which are geared to marketing jar candles. Merchant A offers detailed product information, appropriate product photos, great customer service and the ability to quickly and easily order his product through an online shopping cart and payment processing system with a price slightly higher than that of Merchant B.
Merchant B also offers detailed product information, appropriate product photos and excellent customer service but a lower price. You’ve decided to order from Merchant B because his price is lower. Upon trying to checkout, you then discover that Merchant B does not have a shopping cart, cannot process credit cards from his website and requires you to either email or call to place your order.
Which merchant do you believe would earn the final sale in this example?
If you said Merchant A, 99.9% of the time you’d be correct. Accepting credit cards can boost your profits immensely because it adds value and convenience to your customer’s online shopping experience. The merchant benefits because he is not consumed with taking orders via phone or email; he is diversifying his income streams by delivering goods and services online thereby freeing up time to focus on other aspects of his business. Processing payments online also reduces the total transaction time since the traditional method of waiting for checks to clear prior to shipping/delivering products and services is eliminated.
2. Online Payment Systems
Now that you’ve decided to accept credit cards ? you’ll need to select a merchant processor to handle the transactions and to deliver your money to you. Names in the processing arena come to mind such as: PayPal, 2checkout.com, ProPay, or various other Merchant processors such as Wells Fargo or Verisign who can provide you with an Internet Merchant Account.
What is the difference between PayPal and an Internet Merchant Account?
PayPal
PayPal is referred to as a 3rd party payment processor. Simply, this means that PayPal holds the Internet Merchant Account, and will process your credit card transactions using their account for a nominal fee of 2.9% + $.30 per transaction. One of the advantages to PayPal is that there are no signup fees, no setup fees, no credit checks, no monthly minimums, no monthly service fees, no contract, no gateway fees, no statement fees and their shopping cart is free. For a small business venture who is just staring out, this is an attractive cost-effective method of conducting online business. Currently there are other processors such as ProPay and 2checkout.com which are based along this same concept; however some competitors charge setup or monthly fees in addition to per transaction fees that can run as much as 5%.
There are some things to be aware of if you are going to use PayPal. In exchange for the freedoms from contract periods and monthly fees, you are consenting to process your business’ transactions through a Merchant Account that does not belong to you. Why is this important to me you ask? This becomes important when you are dealing with issues of charge backs or fraudulent transactions. Despite our best intentions as merchants to conduct business fairly and securely, at some point a fraudulent purchase may be made from your website. PayPal’s Terms of Service agreement gives them unrestricted rights to freeze and remove all funds from your PayPal and checking accounts in the event of a dispute or fraudulent transaction. Your best bet is to read the entire agreement cover to cover and be prepared to ask questions if you are uncomfortable with anything listed.
Internet Merchant Account
An Internet Merchant Account is a relationship between a retailing company and a Merchant Bank, which allows the retailer to accept credit card payments from customers via the Internet.
As a merchant, you have a direct relationship with the processing bank, the account is in your name (belongs to you), you have control over how transactions are conducted, and what steps you can take to reduce risk to your cardholders and to your business. Most processors offer fraud detection suites and companies like PreCharge can screen and identify online credit card-based transactions for your business in an effort to prevent charge backs and fraud. PreCharge will also reimburse you 100% of your charge back fees should a transaction later turn out to be fraudulent. This reduces risk for the merchant processor and gives peace of mind to you in your business dealings.
The obvious downside to an Internet Merchant Account can be the initial start-up costs and increased monthly costs as compared to 3rd party processors such as PayPal. This is in addition to a credit check and the wait for the account to be setup. That being said, more and more merchant processors are offering specials which include no setup fees, no application fees, reduced monthly fees and per transaction processing rates which are lower than PayPal, making them easier to obtain and an attractive alternate.
3. Merchant Account Reviews
An excellent source of information on merchant processors is available online at the Merchant Account Forum Here you can access information and feedback on some of the most well known merchant processors.
4. Do’s and Don’ts of accepting Payments Online
A quick list to keep in mind…
DO:
1. Assess your processing needs first:
a. Do you want to accept Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express or perhaps just Visa and Mastercard?
b. What is your monthly budget for card processing fees?
c. Are you comfortable paying signup or annual fees?
d. Would you prefer to apply online, via mail or fax?
2. Consider a handful of merchants who meet your initial criteria:
Create an excel file to track merchant fees and assess your overall costs at zero transactions and 100 transactions.
3. Assess the merchant:
a. Are they available to answer your questions promptly?
b. What is their track record?
c. What do customers say about their service and support?
d. Are there any “hidden” fees? These may be listed in the merchant contract but not provided up-front and online for your consideration.
e. Do they require a contracted commitment…1, 2, or 3 years?
f. How do they handle charge backs and fraud?
4. Investigate Fraud Detection Services:
Request information from the merchant processor on methods which reduce fraud and charge backs. These may be in-house solutions such as Address Verification Service (AVS) or Credit Verification Value (CVV) or 3rd party solutions such as Cybersource or Precharge.
5. Call the toll-free number and speak to a customer service representative about any contract/fee concerns or questions you have. It’s better to inquire about all fees now than to find out on your next monthly bank statement!
DO NOT:
1. Forget to read the ENTIRE Merchant contract. This means cover to cover! The full details are sometimes buried in the very fine print. These contracts can be intimidating; go slow and highlight areas which may be of concern.
2. Select the first merchant you talk to. This is a highly competitive business so investigate your options before making a decision.
3. Signup with multiple merchants at once. Merchant Accounts generally require a credit check. Be picky about which companies you allow to access your personal and business information.
5. Customers who Prefer Offline Payments
The decision to allow “offline” payments is an important choice. For example, companies who deliver digital goods such as paid newsletter subscriptions and e-books, have designed their product to facilitate instant payment and delivery. The
Do you think it's true that blogging is one of the best ways to make money these days?Maybe, maybe not. It depends on how you put your blog together.The personal aspect of blogging makes it much easier for readers to consider you as their friend. You should write a blog post like you are actually talking to a person. Give real advice and a lot of information. This way, the people who read your blog become your “friends” and return over and over for continued advice.Unfortunately, you can’t just stop at blogging! If you want to make money at it, you still need to treat it like a separate part of your business.Here are a few things you might want to consider adding to your arsenal of blogging tools.Always remember to include the basics: Put Google AdSense ads on your sidebar; include affiliate links inside your content; and randomly include an affiliate banner or two at the end of your posts.The most important thing, and the one that is most overlooked, is to find other blogs that are similar to yours and leave comments. Most bloggers love it when people comment on their blog. It shows them that somebody is reading what they write and is interested in the subject.Informative comments serve two purposes. The blog owner, as well as the reader, may click through to your site and begin reading your blog. By adding comments that include
2. Online Payment Systems
Now that you’ve decided to accept credit cards ? you’ll need to select a merchant processor to handle the transactions and to deliver your money to you. Names in the processing arena come to mind such as: PayPal, 2checkout.com, ProPay, or various other Merchant processors such as Wells Fargo or Verisign who can provide you with an Internet Merchant Account.
What is the difference between PayPal and an Internet Merchant Account?
PayPal
PayPal is referred to as a 3rd party payment processor. Simply, this means that PayPal holds the Internet Merchant Account, and will process your credit card transactions using their account for a nominal fee of 2.9% + $.30 per transaction. One of the advantages to PayPal is that there are no signup fees, no setup fees, no credit checks, no monthly minimums, no monthly service fees, no contract, no gateway fees, no statement fees and their shopping cart is free. For a small business venture who is just staring out, this is an attractive cost-effective method of conducting online business. Currently there are other processors such as ProPay and 2checkout.com which are based along this same concept; however some competitors charge setup or monthly fees in addition to per transaction fees that can run as much as 5%.
There are some things to be aware of if you are going to use PayPal. In exchange for the freedoms from contract periods and monthly fees, you are consenting to process your business’ transactions through a Merchant Account that does not belong to you. Why is this important to me you ask? This becomes important when you are dealing with issues of charge backs or fraudulent transactions. Despite our best intentions as merchants to conduct business fairly and securely, at some point a fraudulent purchase may be made from your website. PayPal’s Terms of Service agreement gives them unrestricted rights to freeze and remove all funds from your PayPal and checking accounts in the event of a dispute or fraudulent transaction. Your best bet is to read the entire agreement cover to cover and be prepared to ask questions if you are uncomfortable with anything listed.
Internet Merchant Account
An Internet Merchant Account is a relationship between a retailing company and a Merchant Bank, which allows the retailer to accept credit card payments from customers via the Internet.
As a merchant, you have a direct relationship with the processing bank, the account is in your name (belongs to you), you have control over how transactions are conducted, and what steps you can take to reduce risk to your cardholders and to your business. Most processors offer fraud detection suites and companies like PreCharge can screen and identify online credit card-based transactions for your business in an effort to prevent charge backs and fraud. PreCharge will also reimburse you 100% of your charge back fees should a transaction later turn out to be fraudulent. This reduces risk for the merchant processor and gives peace of mind to you in your business dealings.
The obvious downside to an Internet Merchant Account can be the initial start-up costs and increased monthly costs as compared to 3rd party processors such as PayPal. This is in addition to a credit check and the wait for the account to be setup. That being said, more and more merchant processors are offering specials which include no setup fees, no application fees, reduced monthly fees and per transaction processing rates which are lower than PayPal, making them easier to obtain and an attractive alternate.
3. Merchant Account Reviews
An excellent source of information on merchant processors is available online at the Merchant Account Forum Here you can access information and feedback on some of the most well known merchant processors.
4. Do’s and Don’ts of accepting Payments Online
A quick list to keep in mind…
DO:
1. Assess your processing needs first:
a. Do you want to accept Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express or perhaps just Visa and Mastercard?
b. What is your monthly budget for card processing fees?
c. Are you comfortable paying signup or annual fees?
d. Would you prefer to apply online, via mail or fax?
2. Consider a handful of merchants who meet your initial criteria:
Create an excel file to track merchant fees and assess your overall costs at zero transactions and 100 transactions.
3. Assess the merchant:
a. Are they available to answer your questions promptly?
b. What is their track record?
c. What do customers say about their service and support?
d. Are there any “hidden” fees? These may be listed in the merchant contract but not provided up-front and online for your consideration.
e. Do they require a contracted commitment…1, 2, or 3 years?
f. How do they handle charge backs and fraud?
4. Investigate Fraud Detection Services:
Request information from the merchant processor on methods which reduce fraud and charge backs. These may be in-house solutions such as Address Verification Service (AVS) or Credit Verification Value (CVV) or 3rd party solutions such as Cybersource or Precharge.
5. Call the toll-free number and speak to a customer service representative about any contract/fee concerns or questions you have. It’s better to inquire about all fees now than to find out on your next monthly bank statement!
DO NOT:
1. Forget to read the ENTIRE Merchant contract. This means cover to cover! The full details are sometimes buried in the very fine print. These contracts can be intimidating; go slow and highlight areas which may be of concern.
2. Select the first merchant you talk to. This is a highly competitive business so investigate your options before making a decision.
3. Signup with multiple merchants at once. Merchant Accounts generally require a credit check. Be picky about which companies you allow to access your personal and business information.
5. Customers who Prefer Offline Payments
The decision to allow “offline” payments is an important choice. For example, companies who deliver digital goods such as paid newsletter subscriptions and e-books, have designed their product to facilitate instant payment and delivery. The
There are many ways in which a church can raise funds and there are plenty of places where a person can look in order to find a church fundraising idea. In this article we will look at a number of different ways for raising funds for your church. But before you start any fundraising activities there are a few things that you need to do in order to make it as good and successful as possible. Select someone from your church to control the fundraising activities. Ideally it should be someone with good organizational skills and is good at getting people to do what is needed. Also get as many volunteers as you can, certainly most church fundraisers will not be short of these and they will need to do everything from setting up tables to selling the goods as well as advertising the event as well.Below we provide a number of different ideas that you may want to consider for your next church fundraising event.1. Bake SaleIt is important that you specify to the volunteers who are actually doing the baking as to how much and what it is you actually need. You do not want to end up with 120 different cakes and only 3 pots of jam. These are certainly one of the most tried and tested forms of fundraising around today and is certainly one of the more popular. Plus as all the baked goods will be donated by the churches congregation it is sure to be a money winner.
There are some things to be aware of if you are going to use PayPal. In exchange for the freedoms from contract periods and monthly fees, you are consenting to process your business’ transactions through a Merchant Account that does not belong to you. Why is this important to me you ask? This becomes important when you are dealing with issues of charge backs or fraudulent transactions. Despite our best intentions as merchants to conduct business fairly and securely, at some point a fraudulent purchase may be made from your website. PayPal’s Terms of Service agreement gives them unrestricted rights to freeze and remove all funds from your PayPal and checking accounts in the event of a dispute or fraudulent transaction. Your best bet is to read the entire agreement cover to cover and be prepared to ask questions if you are uncomfortable with anything listed.
Internet Merchant Account
An Internet Merchant Account is a relationship between a retailing company and a Merchant Bank, which allows the retailer to accept credit card payments from customers via the Internet.
As a merchant, you have a direct relationship with the processing bank, the account is in your name (belongs to you), you have control over how transactions are conducted, and what steps you can take to reduce risk to your cardholders and to your business. Most processors offer fraud detection suites and companies like PreCharge can screen and identify online credit card-based transactions for your business in an effort to prevent charge backs and fraud. PreCharge will also reimburse you 100% of your charge back fees should a transaction later turn out to be fraudulent. This reduces risk for the merchant processor and gives peace of mind to you in your business dealings.
The obvious downside to an Internet Merchant Account can be the initial start-up costs and increased monthly costs as compared to 3rd party processors such as PayPal. This is in addition to a credit check and the wait for the account to be setup. That being said, more and more merchant processors are offering specials which include no setup fees, no application fees, reduced monthly fees and per transaction processing rates which are lower than PayPal, making them easier to obtain and an attractive alternate.
3. Merchant Account Reviews
An excellent source of information on merchant processors is available online at the Merchant Account Forum Here you can access information and feedback on some of the most well known merchant processors.
4. Do’s and Don’ts of accepting Payments Online
A quick list to keep in mind…
DO:
1. Assess your processing needs first:
a. Do you want to accept Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express or perhaps just Visa and Mastercard?
b. What is your monthly budget for card processing fees?
c. Are you comfortable paying signup or annual fees?
d. Would you prefer to apply online, via mail or fax?
2. Consider a handful of merchants who meet your initial criteria:
Create an excel file to track merchant fees and assess your overall costs at zero transactions and 100 transactions.
3. Assess the merchant:
a. Are they available to answer your questions promptly?
b. What is their track record?
c. What do customers say about their service and support?
d. Are there any “hidden” fees? These may be listed in the merchant contract but not provided up-front and online for your consideration.
e. Do they require a contracted commitment…1, 2, or 3 years?
f. How do they handle charge backs and fraud?
4. Investigate Fraud Detection Services:
Request information from the merchant processor on methods which reduce fraud and charge backs. These may be in-house solutions such as Address Verification Service (AVS) or Credit Verification Value (CVV) or 3rd party solutions such as Cybersource or Precharge.
5. Call the toll-free number and speak to a customer service representative about any contract/fee concerns or questions you have. It’s better to inquire about all fees now than to find out on your next monthly bank statement!
DO NOT:
1. Forget to read the ENTIRE Merchant contract. This means cover to cover! The full details are sometimes buried in the very fine print. These contracts can be intimidating; go slow and highlight areas which may be of concern.
2. Select the first merchant you talk to. This is a highly competitive business so investigate your options before making a decision.
3. Signup with multiple merchants at once. Merchant Accounts generally require a credit check. Be picky about which companies you allow to access your personal and business information.
5. Customers who Prefer Offline Payments
The decision to allow “offline” payments is an important choice. For example, companies who deliver digital goods such as paid newsletter subscriptions and e-books, have designed their product to facilitate instant payment and delivery. The
What does FedEx, Pfizer, Wachovia, 3Com, Mellon Financial, Shurgard Storage, Sempra Energy and Proctor & Gamble have in common? What board committee exists for only 10% of publicly traded companies but generates 6.5% greater returns for those companies? What is the single largest budget item after salaries and manufacturing equipment?Technology decisions will outlive the tenure of the management team making those decisions. While the current fast pace of technological change means that corporate technology decisions are frequent and far-reaching, the consequences of the decisions—both good and bad—will stay with the firm for a long time. Usually technology decisions are made unilaterally within the Information Technology (IT) group, over which senior management chose to have no input or oversight. For the Board of a business to perform its duty to exercise business judgment over key decisions, the Board must have a mechanism for reviewing and guiding technology decisions.A recent example where this sort of oversight would have helped was the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) mania of the mid-1990’s. At the time, many companies were investing tens of millions of dollars (and sometimes hundreds of millions) on ERP systems from SAP and Oracle. Often these purchases were justified by executives in Finance, HR, or Operations strongly advocating their purchase as
The obvious downside to an Internet Merchant Account can be the initial start-up costs and increased monthly costs as compared to 3rd party processors such as PayPal. This is in addition to a credit check and the wait for the account to be setup. That being said, more and more merchant processors are offering specials which include no setup fees, no application fees, reduced monthly fees and per transaction processing rates which are lower than PayPal, making them easier to obtain and an attractive alternate.
3. Merchant Account Reviews
An excellent source of information on merchant processors is available online at the Merchant Account Forum Here you can access information and feedback on some of the most well known merchant processors.
4. Do’s and Don’ts of accepting Payments Online
A quick list to keep in mind…
DO:
1. Assess your processing needs first:
a. Do you want to accept Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express or perhaps just Visa and Mastercard?
b. What is your monthly budget for card processing fees?
c. Are you comfortable paying signup or annual fees?
d. Would you prefer to apply online, via mail or fax?
2. Consider a handful of merchants who meet your initial criteria:
Create an excel file to track merchant fees and assess your overall costs at zero transactions and 100 transactions.
3. Assess the merchant:
a. Are they available to answer your questions promptly?
b. What is their track record?
c. What do customers say about their service and support?
d. Are there any “hidden” fees? These may be listed in the merchant contract but not provided up-front and online for your consideration.
e. Do they require a contracted commitment…1, 2, or 3 years?
f. How do they handle charge backs and fraud?
4. Investigate Fraud Detection Services:
Request information from the merchant processor on methods which reduce fraud and charge backs. These may be in-house solutions such as Address Verification Service (AVS) or Credit Verification Value (CVV) or 3rd party solutions such as Cybersource or Precharge.
5. Call the toll-free number and speak to a customer service representative about any contract/fee concerns or questions you have. It’s better to inquire about all fees now than to find out on your next monthly bank statement!
DO NOT:
1. Forget to read the ENTIRE Merchant contract. This means cover to cover! The full details are sometimes buried in the very fine print. These contracts can be intimidating; go slow and highlight areas which may be of concern.
2. Select the first merchant you talk to. This is a highly competitive business so investigate your options before making a decision.
3. Signup with multiple merchants at once. Merchant Accounts generally require a credit check. Be picky about which companies you allow to access your personal and business information.
5. Customers who Prefer Offline Payments
The decision to allow “offline” payments is an important choice. For example, companies who deliver digital goods such as paid newsletter subscriptions and e-books, have designed their product to facilitate instant payment and delivery. The
Years ago there was something of a stigma attached to occupying a serviced office. After all, who would want to deal with a company that could vacate its offices at a moment’s notice and without a second thought? Now though the perception is very different. Government departments, law firms, IT companies, financial institutions and many other reputable businesses have suddenly seen the light.So, why would you endure all the heartache of owning or leasing, maintaining, equipping and to a certain extent staffing your premises when you can outsource the entire business cost efficiently to a third party? With managed and serviced offices achieving acceptability the floodgates have opened and worldwide the industry (known as the “Flexibly Managed Office” or “FMO” sector) is booming.In London for example the number of workstations supported by the FMO sector has doubled, to 52,000, over the past few years – and new offices are quickly filled when they come on-line. But of course, commercial acceptability is only one factor in the present growth. Far more significantly is the fact that occupying managed or serviced offices makes very good business sense.Occupiers are attracted to the flexibility which the solution offers. Agreement periods can be for a matter of months if required and many FMO providers will let occupiers vary the office space they take, both up or
c. What do customers say about their service and support?
d. Are there any “hidden” fees? These may be listed in the merchant contract but not provided up-front and online for your consideration.
e. Do they require a contracted commitment…1, 2, or 3 years?
f. How do they handle charge backs and fraud?
4. Investigate Fraud Detection Services:
Request information from the merchant processor on methods which reduce fraud and charge backs. These may be in-house solutions such as Address Verification Service (AVS) or Credit Verification Value (CVV) or 3rd party solutions such as Cybersource or Precharge.
5. Call the toll-free number and speak to a customer service representative about any contract/fee concerns or questions you have. It’s better to inquire about all fees now than to find out on your next monthly bank statement!
DO NOT:
1. Forget to read the ENTIRE Merchant contract. This means cover to cover! The full details are sometimes buried in the very fine print. These contracts can be intimidating; go slow and highlight areas which may be of concern.
2. Select the first merchant you talk to. This is a highly competitive business so investigate your options before making a decision.
3. Signup with multiple merchants at once. Merchant Accounts generally require a credit check. Be picky about which companies you allow to access your personal and business information.
5. Customers who Prefer Offline Payments
The decision to allow “offline” payments is an important choice. For example, companies who deliver digital goods such as paid newsletter subscriptions and e-books, have designed their product to facilitate instant payment and delivery. The idea with e-books being is that they are instantly downloadable and readable. Not all companies are cutout for allowing offline payments. For example, if you allowed your customers to download your digital product with a promise of mailing their payment, you would be setting yourself up for the risk that the payment may never come. What recourse do you have of recovering your money? Unfortunately, not much.
Not all customers will be open to paying online. There are many who feel that it is not safe to place personal credit card information on the Internet, and no amount of security or encryption notices will convince them otherwise. Does that mean you simply cannot do business with them? Absolutely not! One of the alternatives to paying online is to allow customers to place orders and mail in a check or money order for payment.
Who then is uniquely setup to accept “offline” payments? Merchants who ship products to their customers can help their customers take advantage of this additional payment option. In these instances, search for a shopping cart which has a check or money order payment option to allow your clients to check out of your website without providing credit card information. ALWAYS wait to ship the product until the order has been confirmed, and the payment has cleared. Confirming the order and waiting to ship until the payment has cleared will help reduce risks to your business.
Closing
The main idea behind selecting a good merchant processor is to assess your needs closely. Assess your needs prior to selecting a merchant, and read the fine, fine print to be sure you completely understand your commitments as a merchant. This ensures that you are equally matched with a merchant processor and hopefully starts your business relationship off on the right foot.
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