Having a wail about payment options.

[MerrilyMe]

I'm fed up, mainly because i haven't really given enough thought to where i am going next with my site :unsure:

I applied for a merchant account, set on what i completely assumed was the default option of turning on the cc module in osc, getting an SSL certificate and taking payments by receiving credit card details and then entering them into the machine.

I clearly haven't thought it all through well enough :( I know there are people doing it that was and i even know people who have installed it to work and who have run shops doing it that way, but now i get there, i'm wondering if i have just set myself up for a future crisis if by any chance someone accuses me of fraud.

Whatever i do, i need the merchant account, so having done that is a good thing. The contract to have acard machine may have bee adaft idea, thoguh truthfully i get asked quite a bit by people if they can just pay over the phone and i've used it lots in just 2 weeks but....

... i've also paid out on an SSL cert that i'm beginning to think perhapsi didn't need, though no doubt it will still help to give the site credibility. I'm starting to think a protx system would be better for me. BUT... i keep looking and looking at that site and i have no idea which version, where to start or if what i originally planned is just plain daft.

Please could someone who understands come and tuck a rug around my knees and explain it slowly? £20 out a onth on protx isn't a nightmare, but it doubles my costs (now i have a terminal anyway) i REALLY wanted to keep people on my site but don't want to deal with an audit and in all honesty, i can't see how protx is any different to nochex. Is it? Will it be more reliable, willpeople trust it more, will it deal with overseas customers?

Help someone please :(

[sadierhianne]

Hi Merry,

The fraud concern - i think i already mentioned that i'd been told that it wasn't permitted to allow those card machines in a home situation, you have one and now you feel concerned - i have no idea how they work but i am sure that unless you actually committed the crime then you really do have no need to worry. I know that it is very easy to carry out card crime using one - have had it done to me but i'd think that the records all show what's been happening with the machine.

I can't explain anything to you because i have no idea - i know that i have been looking at thinking about - not this year but hopefully next year getting rid of Paypal - i know that i need a merchants account and i had looked at sec pay and world pay - in reality i have no idea how they work, i'd assumed similarly to paypal but with a better reputation and less fees with a higher level of orders.

I know more than one company that i deal with process your order and then take payment - if i am honest it is all a bit slap happy 'cause i am almost positive that there is too much room for error - well i know there is 'cause i have been overcharged - They also have hold of my card details - hmmm.

my hmmm might say a lot. hmmm i might trust you emphatically but a lot might not but then a lot obviously do 'cause they are asking for the service.

Maybe it just takes you some time to feel comfortable with it - i am sure that no one would sue you for fraud honey.

personally i'd have been scared to take the route you have but if it works better than nochex and paypal then trust you did the right thing.


Are you able to share the costs of the merchant account and explain how that works - you seem to be a step ahead a lot of us i think.

[MerrilyMe]

Well, the merchant account is fine - i asked, they gave. The card machine links into it and if i used protx that would too. They just charge a fee for each transaction. If i use it in person the person puts their card in and uses their pin; if it is cardholder not present i just key in the details, including the back card number and it prints off a merchant copy and a customer copy. The card number is on that, but not the back number (so i would have to be writing those down to use it again, which obviously i'm not, and i'm keeping the merchant copies under lock and key with each one talied to an invoice; they also have an invoice ref on them.

The card people knew it was coming to a work at home, so that bit is fine.

The machine costs £25 a month; in 2 weeks of just getting the hang of it i've used it 10+ times so i daresay it will be very handy indeed. I do wonder if i've been under advised though as the merchants really could have told me that i didn't HAVE to go that route, that since i was online, there were other options, like protx.

My worry is that to do it all via OSC and use my machine at the ned of the day, i have to store those numbers, albeit on an SSL protected server. But it COULD backfire - and it bothers me. OSC splits the data out but at the end of the day, i'd have it, even if i delete it daily. protx removes that risk from me; i'd use my card machine at fairs/on the phone etc, but the risk isn't the same as i'm not storing the info on a database.

Ho hum. I'm gonig to have to rethink and go with protx; even though i have checked and double check and the bank is happy for me to use OSC and SSL, I'M not happy. That's the problem. :(

[sadierhianne]

euuuwwwwwwwwwweeeee i am so confused now - i think that you need to go what you feel happy with BUT maybe like i said before need to just feel more confident.

what would you plug the machine into if you was at a fair?

I assume that the machine is linked to the merchant account.

Daft question, does your merchant account act as a business account?

If not, are merchant accounts expensive per month - like more than £25 a month - yes or no will do if you can -

I need to go ask a similar question 'cause i don't think your question si the same as mine - now that i have read yours.

Hopefully someone will answer Merry, its late now, not a lot of us about.

[MerrilyMe]

The machine is battery powered and wireless- like a mobile- so it dialsthe people andauthorises the card there ad then :)

Merchant account is free with the same people as my business account - yes, likea businessaccount - it takes money in from other peoples cards and drops it into my account in 24 hours. At least, if it isn't free (apart from the fee for doing it) then i missed out on the small print! Eeeek.

[sadierhianne]

Oh there's a fee for doing it. I need to look into this. i start with business charges soon - thinking about changing banks - i don't want to - not ready to start with business charges yet.

Clever device batteries and wireless - cool

thanks

xx

[judithbl]

Hi Merry

I've got Protx - but the checkout is hosted on the Protx site not on mine. It is just like the way that you go to paypal's site to pay.

It is hugely cheaper than paypal and most people do use it.

There is also an admin side and it does the security checks for you where you can see that the name and address of the card holder are correct and also the security number.

I've only been using it since december so am still very much a novice. But so far so good.

The only down side is that they charge to give a refund.

HTH

Judith

[sadierhianne]

Judith, that sounds great - is it a huge charge for refunds? I do partial refunds now and again when it is clear that the site has charged too much postage so not often - how muc cheaper than paypal - i think paypal is sooo expensive, it is taking all of my profit and i resent paying costs for customers postage.

I need to look into this carefully now because in another years time i want to have a much better payment processor.

I haven't included a charge in my products to cover paypal, even if i put prices up on a few items it wouldn't make any difference, i'd pay more in paypal costs.

I don't think that i am taking enough to cover the costs of a merchant account - Judith i assume that you also have to have a merchants account, but hopefully in a years time things will be looking up and i can move in that direction.

Merry, hope you are feeling more sorted today.

xx

[judithbl]

Hi
Yes you do have a merchants account and it is costly to set up although depending on who you bank with you may get a reduced rate, but on credit cards I get charged 2.9% and on debit it's a flat 40p whatever the value.

I have found that most people pay by debit card - so as an example (I believe it is 3.4% plus 20p for paypal) - on a £40 order paying through paypal it would cost £1.60 - so 40p is a lot better than that and particularly at Christmas this made a huge difference. On credit card it would cost £1.16.

It all mounts up though and I would say that 85% of people are paying on debit card.

It really depends on your average order value too as to whether it's worthwhile and how many orders you get.

Paypal charge 20p before the percentage for every order.

As regards to a merchant account - try your own bank first as they sometimes give preferential rates.

Hope this helps

Judith

[MerrilyMe]

Honestly, i've got a total blank on setting up my merchant account; i've done it but honestly, i can't remember what was said! shrugshoulders111

I didn't pay a fee to set it up though, i'd remember that :hysterica but i've got a 3 year agreement and i think that is perhaps because i agreed to rent a machine. I pay £25 for that but the upsideof it is that the debit card fee is 20p (or possibly 25p) and the credit card rate is 2.6%

Judith, which protx version have you got and how much did it cost you to get it installed on to your site (ish, if you don't mind?) I'm running on empty a bit at the moment and so costs count! :help2:

[judithbl]

errr - gonna sound dim now - all I did was go on to the Protx site and chose the one for small businesses.

It didn't cost anything to install, but I pay £23.50 per month.

Oh and forgot to say earlier that refunds are I think about 80p per refund.......but hopefully that shouldn't happen too often.

x

[sadierhianne]

Thank you Judith and Merry.
xx

[trogette]

I've run into the nochex issue with partial refunds this week :( Some gateway things require a SSL cert on the site anyway, and I think some people look for it now (I don't know if I'm losing sales from not having one but...) before entering personal details too. If you take orders over the phone I don't really see how that's different to doing the osc cc thing wrt number storage etc... give it a couple more weeks and see how it feels then maybe?