Merchant account

[surreality]

Any recommendations for a good merchant account? Preferably one with low fees. The only one I know of is CDG Commerce, so I'm wondering if there are others out there.

[sam]

Have you tried Moneybookers. Low transaction fees as low as 1%.

[carl owen]

Well, if you are looking for merchant accounts then we would suggest you to go for Paypal or Google checkout. The reason for this is the fact that Paypal is the most widely used payment gateway in the world and you will receive payments instantly with Paypal When it comes to Google checkout, Google checkout takes some time for the payment clearance but the payment is well verified before you receive it so you are sure about the payments you receive

When you will use Merchant accounts from these payment gateways, you may be charged more but the benefits and features of these payment gateways are excellent and hence you can afford to spend some more to get merchant accounts from these payment gateways.

[Amelia]

I agree with Carl. I would highly recommend using Paypal and Google checkout.

[userdan]

Paypal, Google Checkout and Moneybookers are payment processors, not merchant accounts. They are a good alternative to merchant accounts, though.

As for actual mechant accounts, you could check out Authorize.net. They have a very good reputation as as a merchant account, so it's worth checking out.

[Joseph]

Originally Posted by userdan

Paypal, Google Checkout and Moneybookers are payment processors, not merchant accounts. They are a good alternative to merchant accounts, though.

As for actual mechant accounts, you could check out Authorize.net. They have a very good reputation as as a merchant account, so it's worth checking out.

Well, as far as I know about Merchant accounts, Merchant account helps you to accept online payments easily and that's what Paypal and Google checkout do. The difference is, they have a lot of features other than what is generally included in this type of services. Certainly, you will be charged per transaction if you use Paypal and Google checkout. However, if you get more services and security for some extra bucks, you shouldn't mind that

Yes, Authorize dot net also has a good reputation and one can try Authorize dot net for Merchant account also, however, when it comes to security and features, I would suggest Paypal and Google checkout

[iamsam]

Another vote for Authorize.net. Be aware, though, that there is some additional hassle involved in using a merchant account instead of a payment gateway like Paypal. If you will be accepting only small transactions, then Paypal should suit you just fine. If you will be accepting larger transactions, though, then go ahead and get a merchant account from Authorize.net (or whatever company you decide on).

[Martin]

None of the genuine and quality services are free. I think even Authorize.net must be charging for every transaction.

[surreality]

I'm aware that they'll be charging me per transaction, and probably for setup fees as well. Honestly, if anyone offered a "free" payment processor, I'd run far away as fast as I can.

Anyway, I checked out Authorize.net and it seems like the prices for the setup fee, monthly fee, and the transaction fee aren't listed. They want me to contact them for that information, apparently. >_>

I checked CDG Commerce again and I just noticed that they're a free payment gateway. While I'll normally be leery of such things, CDG Commerce has a very good reputation so I'm more inclined to trust them. There's probably a catch there somewhere, though.

[Joseph]

Originally Posted by surreality

I'm aware that they'll be charging me per transaction, and probably for setup fees as well. Honestly, if anyone offered a "free" payment processor, I'd run far away as fast as I can.

Anyway, I checked out Authorize.net and it seems like the prices for the setup fee, monthly fee, and the transaction fee aren't listed. They want me to contact them for that information, apparently. >_>

I checked CDG Commerce again and I just noticed that they're a free payment gateway. While I'll normally be leery of such things, CDG Commerce has a very good reputation so I'm more inclined to trust them. There's probably a catch there somewhere, though.

Certainly, a Free payment gateway or say a free merchant account is something what is very hard to believe and as far as I know, there are no free payment professors (if there are, I wouldn't recommend choosing them ). The charges of payment processors per transaction may vary

Well, when it comes to setup fee for merchant accounts, I don't think they should ask for setup fee as they will earn something from each transaction Also, you should check if the payment processors keep some amount of transactions for security reasons as most of the payment processors do this in order to make sure that they have something if there are some cases of refunds etc.

[carl owen]

Originally Posted by surreality

Anyway, I checked out Authorize.net and it seems like the prices for the setup fee, monthly fee, and the transaction fee aren't listed. They want me to contact them for that information, apparently. >_>

I checked CDG Commerce again and I just noticed that they're a free payment gateway. While I'll normally be leery of such things, CDG Commerce has a very good reputation so I'm more inclined to trust them. There's probably a catch there somewhere, though.

Well, if the charges of setup fee, monthly fee and the transaction fee are not given and they have asked you to contact them to know the prices, I think there is a scope of negotiation in the prices and if this is the case then you should be well aware of their policies, otherwise, it may cause problems for you in future

Authorize dot net has a good reputation (as I have heard about it ) however, you should be well aware of everything before you choose them as you certainly wouldn't want to face problems in future

If the merchant account is a free one, as said by Martin and Joseph, I think one shouldn't choose it. However, if you are sure about the kind of service it offers and it's policies, you can go for it. An experienced person who has already used the service would be able to give you an idea about the company and hence you can try and find out someone who has already used the services