I want to accept credit card payments.

tylerboyo

Hi,
Some of you may know, i am banned from paypal for life, as ive posted before about this. Anyway, business is still good just accepting cheques, postal orders, bank transfers and bankers drafts.
I feel business would be better, if i could accept credit card payments.
I did dismiss this idea before, but I am ready for it now.
How do i go about it?
What are the prices?
What do I need?

Is there anyone on here that has a terminal to do this, how easy is it etc?
I have tried looking up info on it before, but all i can get is you need a merchant account(dont know what this is), and a business bank account.
I dont haver a business bank account, but am planning on getting 1 soon anwyay.

Now what id like to know,
how many of you here would pay an ebayer be credit card, over the phone? i know alot of people are weiry about this type of stuff. can it be done over the internet, possibly to re-assure my buyers?

but, what makes YOU pay with a credit card?
i dont currently have a shop, would having a shop, just a basic £6 a month one, make me look more professional?
i am currently re doing all my listings, with templates, to look more professional, i am sure this will help.
my feeback on ebay is 100% at 450points. but this is growing rapidly, with around 250-300 sales in the last 4 weeks.

any help, advice, prices etc are appreciated.
cheers

mrtg0525

Have you looked into using something like NoChex for UK-based bidders? Admittedly it does seem to be a bit painful to get people to use it as it's "not Paypal". Well, that was kinda the point...

Stuart_P

i use nochex. nochex deal with online payments only.

only an opinion, buy i doubt very much that adding credit card as a payment option will actually increase your sales. by my reckoning 8/10 buyers don't even realise i don't offer paypal and only then realise when they have committed to buy and get to the ebay checkout stage.

tylerboyo

yeah, i dont really plan to use it to boost sales, would just like it as an option.

Stuart_P

tylerboyo wrote: »

yeah, i dont really plan to use it to boost sales, would just like it as an option.

nothing to lose then! go for it!

tylerboyo

yeah, dont really want to use nochex, heard some bad things about them. any1 have info on merchant accounts and the like?

Stuart_P

tylerboyo wrote: »

yeah, dont really want to use nochex, heard some bad things about them. any1 have info on merchant accounts and the like?

what have you heard? i've used em for yrs. never had a problem.

soolin

Stuart_P wrote: »

what have you heard? i've used em for yrs. never had a problem.

There have been quite a few reports of problems with them levying standing charges on sellers who only use their account occasionally. Even on the nochex forums (until the threads get pulled) there are rumblings of discontent. There has been some threads on here as well, mostly on other forums, not here on the ebay one.

tylerboyo

yes, soolin, thats what ive heard, dont want to have to deal with that. can anyone shed any light on a merchant acct and a terminal?
cheers

Stuart_P

tylerboyo wrote: »

my feeback on ebay is 100% at 450points. but this is growing rapidly, with around 250-300 sales in the last 4 weeks.

if you have the above sales in a month you'll have no problems with nochex - you'll not even be close to being classed as an 'occassional' user, so they'll not levy any standing charges on you.

if you really don't wanna do the nochex thing, then you'll need to stump up funds for a merchant account and research all the alternatives. why not talk to a bank, see what they suggest?

Sarah-Jane_2

Hiya

We use a terminal at work for accepting payments from out website customers. They're really simple to use You have an option for customer present or not present (as they would be if buying from eBay!) and then you just need to fill in the info It's so simple! You just need a free phone line to use it.

As for merchant accounts - I don't know how you go about getting one, sorry! But I think the company supplying the card machine set it all up for you as we have a retail outlet and a wholesale business and the merchant account is different for both and it's on the top of all their statements etc.

We use these: http://www.streamline.com - they're really good and their customer service is excellent - if you have a problem with the terminal they will talk you through it etc and if it can't be solved a sparkly new machine arrives the next day:D They charge a small percentage on your monthly takings and the use of the machine - but it's so little it's hardly worth talking about.

Maybe you could phone the card people and ask their customer services people about merchant accounts - i'm sure they'll be really helpful.


As for paying by card over the phone on eBay - i've done it a few times and never had a problem. If the seller has good feedback I wouldn't have an issue with it. If you've got a card machine and a merchant account thingymabob it must mean you're a trust worthy person (else I doubt they'd supply the machine!) But seeing a shop with fancy listings etc would make me feel better about paying over the phone so maybe you could set one up.