With the dizzying array of merchant account processors on the Internet today, it can be a daunting, if not outright frustrating task to determine which provider you should entrust the handling of your sales. But the process of deciding which provider is right for your business might not be as difficult as you might have imagined.
In fact, veteran business owners know that there are several options you should look for before you settle on any given merchant account provider. It might seem obvious, but the choice you make upfront in your decision-making process could literally mean the loss or gain of thousands of dollars in revenue. In fact, it could mean the very survival of your business altogether.
Here then, are two-dozen options you'll want to consider when determining whether a particular merchant account provider is right for you. You might not find all these options in one particular merchant account provider. But this list is certainly worth consulting before you take the plunge.
Ask yourself whether the merchant account provider you are considering:
- Allows you to set up an account for free
- Allows you to get paid instantly
- Allows you to offer 95% affiliate commissions
- Allows you to sell digital products
- Allows you to sell material products
- Allows you to sell subscription based services
- Allows you to set ANY price for you product - no price maximum
- Allows you to NOT offer a money back guarantee if you don't want
- Allows you to protect your products from unauthorized access
- Allows you to easily test different advertising campaigns
- Allows you to easily determine products actual conversion rates
- Allows you to set custom affiliate commission percentages
- Allows you to accept affiliates automatically or by manual approval
- Allows you to customize your checkout page
- Allows you to get additional information from customers
- Allows you to set automatic product price increase or decrease
- Allows you to show or not show your product's conversion rates in the marketplace
- Allows you to track product conversion rates by different traffic source
- Allows you to track product conversion rates by search engine
- Allows you to track product's popularity between affiliates
- Allows you to track percentage of sales made by affiliates
- Allows you to track the number of active affiliates and their performance
- Allows you to Track unique visitors to your product's website and their behavior
- Protects affiliates so they are paid commissions due
So there you have it. As noted previously. Most business providers will not offer all the options above. But we know of one merchant account provider that does offer all these services and 54 others that you might want to consider. And you can get the details here...
Many merchant account providers insist that you lock into a lengthy contract regardless of whether you end up liking the service. As you do not want to be paying for a service you do not want at the same time as having to pay for the replacement, this must be a matter that is researched in depth.
There are several helpful tips to take into consideration when researching merchant account providers. Depending on the size and type of business you have, you may have varying needs in regards to providing e commerce choices to your customers.
If you are a relatively new business or a small business with limited funds you may want to consider using PayPal or 2Checkout as your merchant account provider thus enabling the use of credit card processing.
Many small business owners who process up to $1000 per month in credit card payments find the low fees charged by PayPal and 2Checkout are extremely reasonable. If you are considering processing more than $1000 per month in credit card payments, you may want to look into other vendors. When you are doing so, be sure to check each vendors discount rate and the per transaction fees involved.
Although fees vary from vendor to vendor, the discount rate refers to the actual percentage of the sale that the merchant account provider will keep. There is normally a separate rate for swiped and non-swiped transactions. Fees for every processed transaction range in price on average from 10 cents to 99 cents per sale.
If you plan to process smaller credit card payments of under $25, you may want to consider choosing a vendor who offers a higher discount fee with a lower per transaction fee, as this will most likely save you money in the end.
There are many other things to consider when looking for the right merchant account provider such as monthly statement fees, gateway fees, annual membership fees, equipment rental fees, batch fees, cancellation fees, and the length of contract required.
Merchant account services have improved over the last few years providing business owners lower fees, short-term or even no contract options as well as customizable account features. With many e commerce service providers competing in an effort to attract new clientele; the competition often results in lower fees and a better overall service.
When thoroughly researching several merchant account providers, taking the time to compare the pros and cons of each vendor will allow you to more easily come to a decision on the best one to use for your own business needs.
Both Jay Douglas & Warren Knight are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Jay Douglas has sinced written about articles on various topics from Shopping, Interior Design and Lawn Care. Jay Douglas is a video infomercial producer who researches and reports on the best ways to ensure profitable business growth using the latest cutting edge tools. Serious entrepreneurs will want to check out his latest find to determine whether it's a go. Jay Douglas's top article generates over 1300 views. Bookmark Jay Douglas to your Favourites.
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