I run a small low volume high dollar business - - I handle 100 new customers per year at an average retail cost of $4,000 per customer. All business is currently done by personal checks.

I would like to put the business online but will NOT pay $8,000 per year in Merchant Account fees!!!

Does anyone know a way that I can put this type of business online by paying a flat monthly fee (even a large monthly fee) instead of a 'percentage of my dollars sold' fee??

Thanks

JohnJ

Nope, the banks and paypal really have it set up in a manner to screw the little guy.

Although, if you were to use paypal you can not pay more than what you bring in. I believe it's .30 per transaction plus 2.5) (or perhaps 2.75%) of the total.

Also, when thinking of moving your business to the web, what is your motivation? More customers I am guessing. So you have to ask yourself, if I am able to survive on 100 x $4000 a year, would I be able to handle that fee if I doubled my customers to 200 or even trippled them to 300 per year.

Unfortunatly all payment processors including merchant account and non-merchant account providers have to charge per sale or else they would go out of business.

However flat rates are available, but only to merchants that have at least 3 to 6 months of previous credit card processing statements.

Everything is negotiable. Talk to your bank and see if you can get a lower rate. Then check some of the online merchant banks. They can only say no.

In my opinion, paying 2% for the processing and ability to get business I cannot now access is reasonable. I don't like it when I see the bills, but I concentrate on how much I am making now that I could not make before. It seems foolish to cry about 2% while throwing away 98%.

Just my tuppence

Cant you use some sort of Echecks? or even ask your customers to Wire you money or send Checks by mail? if they where interested they would, afterall ? Google Adwords uses Bank transfer and check by mail they succeed in this !

What about going digital while still processing checks offline. Offer everything a normal ecommerce site would but inform your customers your only acceptable form of payment is a mailed check. Another option would be to increase your prices 3-5% but offer a 3-5% discount if the customer mails in payment. On a $4,000 bill 3% off would sound great.

The best thing to do is use PayPal merchant interface, it allows you to accept credit cards without having the monthly minimums as merchant accounts do. With high dollar tickets you might be able to negotiate with a merchant account provider for no monthly minimum. That is just a few possibilities but that is what I would look into first.

Thank you all for your responses.

My business volume is restricted by what one person can deliver in one year and is completely sold out for the next two years. Therefore an ebusiness solution is not required to increase my sales or my penetration. I simply wanted to accept credit cards as a convenience for my customers (so they can get miles).

I have already created the full ebusiness solution but still require that they mail me checks.

It still seems like a huge rip-off that a merchant account will charge me 2% (or $8,000 per year) to handle something just under 200 credit card transactions per year but I guess I'm stuck with handling checks until I can open my own bank.

JohnJ

It's the Credit Card companies who make the most money (Visa, MasterCard, AmEx, etc). They charge the bank for every transaction you process. The bank simply passes on the charges, and adds in their own fees to try to make the service profitable.

Because of this, you're not going to find a bank that can operate without a percentage. It's possible that they could loose money.

Can't afford, don't play.

Hi,

Online merchant accounts are different than merchant accounts from your bank that are used to process transactions in brick n mortar store. Fees are quite a bit less. I guess you know this. We do offer online billing by credit card and PalPal. Our business nearly doubled when we first started offering credit cards payment options. So if you think having the ability to offer your customers payment via Visa or MasterCard will bring in more business, try one of the online merchant banks who offer fairly low rates. We suggest Paymerica and if you use them, I'd appreciate it if you'd use our referral link at: http://www.paymerica.com/splash/DMC.html

• EZ Online & Fax Back Application
• Fast Approval - usually within 24 hours!
• NO Set-Up or Reprogram Fee
• NO Application or Annual Fee
• 24/7 Customer Service
• 2.35% VISA/MC Qualified Discount Rate
• $0.30 Authorization Fee per transaction
• $10.00 Monthly Statement Fee
• No Monthly Minimum
Discover and American Express also available

Let me know what you think.