In the event that anyone is interested, I ended up going with a credit card outfit that offers a phone authorization program. You take the customer's credit card, run it through a manual machine on site, then call a 1-800 number for authorization from your cell phone or any land line. Once you have the authorization, you write it on the credit card receipt and you are done.
The total service costs $6.95 per month, with no other fees. You pay a little higher amount for MC and Visa (3.5%), but I figured its an easy way to get started without all of the overhead of $25 for each month, especially when there is nothing coming in to cover that initially. You also don't have to worry about carrying a credit card machine around.
Down the road, once my sales get to where they need to be, I'll get a wireless credit card system setup where the monthly fee will wash out.
The only downside is that you are taking the customers credit card info with you, but the way I figure it, we use credit cards for the safety against fraud, so it shouldn't be a big deal with most.
I think that accepting credit cards is a big plus in this business. For those that are shopping around, here is the best that we were able to negotiate for Home Inventory business owners. Feel free to take advantage of this offer which we feel is very competitive:
Plan Highlights ØFree Merchant Account SetupØFree Nurit 8000 Wireless Terminal ($750 Value)ØNo Contract (Cancel at any time & return the terminal)ØFunds available in 48 hours (Direct deposit to your business bank account)ØVery Low Processing Fees Processing Fee Summary Ø1.69% + .23 to .28 (per transaction depending on card type) for swiped card salesØDebit Cards Only .69 per transactionØ2.39% for Keyed in transactionsØ3.30% for corporate card salesØ$25 p/month monthly minimum fee (Applies towards 1.69% rate & would be washed away once sales reach approximately $1500 p/month)Ø$12 Wireless Service Fee p/monthØ$5 Statement/Customer Service Fee p/month Get Started Today! Call800-823-2712Ext. 102 You must provide the following referral info when you call to be eligible for this offer:Partner #: 999941Company: Innovative Software, LLC
Thanks for the feedback Kim. It looks like there are a few options for credit card acceptance. I have run across phone approval programs for credit cards in my searches. You call the 800 number from a cell phone, get approval for the credit card, and then manually run their card through an imprinter on site and give them a receipt.
In my searches this morning, it seems that this is the most cost effective and efficient way, despite having to use the manual imprinter.
My step father is in the cc business, and could not get me around the $25 monthly fee for typical mobile swiping machines, which has lead me to this quest so to speak.
We use Paypal invoicing and it works perfectly. You don't have to pay any monthly fees or minimums and your clients do not have to have a Paypal account. We do it a couple of different ways depending on the situation.
One way that we do it is this: We have a form that we use where we write down their number, exp. date, security code, name, address, etc. This form has a statement on there that they agree to the terms, conditions, etc, and they sign by that statement. Then we go back to our office, log in to Paypal, send the invoice to our second e-mail, enter their credit card info, and print the invoice/receipt. Then we scan/e-mail the receipt and copy of the form they signed, or send in the mail, whichever the client prefers. You have to be very careful with this option since you have critical information of your client's. I actually don't prefer to do it this way if I don't have to.
The other way we do it is this: We will e-mail the invoice ahead of time, or while we are there the day of the inventory (with our wireless internet on laptop), and have them log in to their e-mail and pay the invoice right there.
Hi Joe. Thanks for the response! Do you know how frequently your customers use credit cards versus check or cash? I'd assume its quite frequent, as I rarely use checks or cash anymore. I'm a big debit card person.
That's a great question! We explored around when we first opened our doors and realized that just about every company charges a flat monthly fee in addition to a percentage of sales. (I'm sure there are companies out there that do not charge a fee, but we haven't come across any that are credible).
We signed on to Authorize.Net through our commercial banker. It provides a 'virtual terminal', (a website through which you enter/approve transactions) without the need for any additional hardware like a credit card machine. Since we have laptops and wireless modems, we can process credit cards from anywhere.
We only accept Visa and Mastercard right now. If I remember correctly, there is an additional fee to accept American Express.
By the way, PayPal offers merchant services -- haven't looked at them in a while, but they may be a cheaper alternative.
Our service runs about $25 per month, in addition to the percentage of sales.
I haven't seen much on the forum in regard to those that accept credit cards. I've been looking around the net for some options, and it seems that many of these companies want a minimum monthly fee, even if you are not doing any or little business.
Does anyone use a company that is lenient on these types of charges for new businesses? If anyone could share their experiences, and what they use/pay, I'd greatly appreciate it.
