eCommerce and Third Party Processors
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In order to accept credit cards online as
a payment method, you need to have a merchant
account. For many small or start up businesses,
however, the general "red tape"
and expense involved in getting your own
merchant account can be somewhat overwhelming.
To have your own merchant account you will
need and must pay for set up costs, processing
software, a secure server, customer service
fees, monthly gateway fees and/or or minimum
transaction fees.
There is another option available for those
that do not have their own merchant account.
This option is to outsource your credit card
processing to a Third Party Processor.
A third party credit card processor accepts
credit cards on your behalf and takes a percentage
of the cost of the transaction. This percentage
is relatively higher than it would be if
you had your own merchant account, but you
only pay fees if you sell your product. There
are usually no monthly fees.
These online credit card processing companies
will send you payment for all of your processed
orders, minus their fee and a reserve fee.
A reserve fee is withheld to cover charge
backs you may have. If you have no charge
backs within a specified period of time,
your reserve will be refunded to you.
Third party credit card processors can often
be the best option for small and just starting
out businesses, as well as for international
(non-US) businesses where obtaining your
own merchant account is too expensive or
hard to get.
Most third party processors are reasonable
as long as your total sales are relatively
low. When your monthly sales reach around
$3,000 to $5,000, you should really consider
opening your own merchant account where the
initial setup cost is higher, but the percentage
of the ticket price that you have to pay
is lower. (See our Merchant Accounts page for more details.)
Listed below are two popular online third
party credit card processors recommended
by LJg that will process credit card orders
for you without requiring that you have your
own merchant account.
All of the eCommerce websites designed by
LJg include step-by-step assistance in setting
up the payment method best suited for your
business as well as setting up your storefront
to assure seamless integration between your
website, your payment gateway and your payment
processing options.
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Get paid by credit cards or instant bank
transfer with one simple, cost-effective
solution. There are no setup charges, monthly
charges, or gateway fees. With PayPal, you
pay as you go—with rates as low as 1.9% -
2.9% + $0.30 USD per transaction.
Personal Accounts are free, but cannot accept
credit card payments. Premier and Business
Accounts are charged either the Standard
or Merchant rate based on volume.
There is no fee for US customers to withdraw
your funds from your PayPal account (transfer
to your bank account).
Setup: Free
Orders by: Credit cards or direct transfer.
Transaction Fees (Standard Rate): 2.9% + $0.30.
To sign up for PayPal and start accepting
credit card payments instantly, Click Here.
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This is a reletively cheap and reliable service.
Sale of products or services is accepted.
Merchants with US or Canadian bank accounts
can have payments electronically deposited
directly to any bank account at no cost.
This processor can be incorporated into almost
any shopping cart that supports the authorize.net
gateway.
Payments are made twice per month.
5% reserve fee, 90 day hold.
Chargeback fee of $10-30 per transaction.
Available for US and international merchants.
Setup: $49.00
Orders by: Credit cards and online checks.
Transaction Fees: 5.5% + $0.45.
To start accepting credit cards within minutes
for a low one-time fee and instant set up,
Click Here.
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