Why did my thread get locked???

[crimsondrac]

Is there some rule against users recommending services to other users if asked? All I was asking was a recommendation to a good payment vendor and I get a reply that says make referrals private and my thread gets closed? Is it against the rules to discuss what payment vendors may be the better vendor or does Zen Cat have a deal with their partners and other vendors are not allowed to be discused?

[Kim]

Asking for recommendations is fine. but those threads are usually closed with a "please reply via PM" so that we don't end up with advertising wars over services.

[crimsondrac]

I believe most of us are adults here. Granted I am new here and I am sure you have been watching these threads for a long time. I am sure you know better, but it just seems like an open discussion about this may help some of the newbies (like me) understand what a reasonable price is for CC transactions. What acceptable monthly charges are. What vendors interface with Zencart with the least amount of trouble.

These are very important to many of us who are on a limited budget when trying to start up an online business. Like, I know Linkpoint is kinda expensive. You can easily pay more for the monthly services from linkpoint then you make in profit, especially for a startup site that may not have much traffic yet.

So if I start another thread, can we keep it open?

[Kim]

Simple answer? No.

[DrByte]

... help some of the newbies (like me) understand what a reasonable price is for CC transactions. What acceptable monthly charges are. What vendors interface with Zencart with the least amount of trouble.

These are very important to many of us who are on a limited budget when trying to start up an online business. Like, I know Linkpoint is kinda expensive. You can easily pay more for the monthly services from linkpoint then you make in profit, especially for a startup site that may not have much traffic yet.

Actually, the prices offered for CC services by the vendors listed on our Partners page are quite competitive, and very likely much lower than you'd get if you went to your bank directly to set up a merchant account.

We have left it to each shopowner to do their own research and decide on their own which service is best for *their* own business and needs.

In your research, you will discover:
a) CC-processing is not "cheap".
b) CC-processing costs are a cost of doing business, and must be factored into your budget just like banking fees, telephone fees, supplies, etc. If your budget won't support it, you can't do it. This may mean you need to rework your budget if you intend to capture the market of customers wanting to pay via credit card. This might mean increasing your product prices slightly.
c) There are lots of vendors out there, but they all pretty much have similar fee structures, albeit their rates may vary.
d) Fees are almost always negotiable -- as long as you have some leverage with which to negotiate, such as business/banking history to demonstrate volumes, etc.
e) Most folks starting out find it hard to stomach the monthly costs. However, after searching for options, they generally discover that the monthly costs are industry-standard.

Rather than spelling things out by making partisan statements and telling you which services to use, we offer options on our Partners page. We don't put "just anyone" on our Partners page, esp when it comes to merchant services.
We have already negotiated excellent rates with these partners (and you're free to renegotiate further if you like).
We have already built-in support for their gateways ... right into Zen Cart.
One might read between the lines that there are reasons for this.
We don't offer "only one" option in this way, as we are leaving it up to you to decide what's best for you.

If we told you directly "which one to use" and you didn't research to understand the industry and your contract, you'd be coming back here saying "but that's too expensive" or "wow, I just got my first statement -- I had no idea that it would cost me that much, now I'm broke", etc.
We can't tell you that sort of thing. But we do make many options available to you as a springboard to get started.

If you checkout each of the vendors' websites, you'll find that the prices we're quoting are less than their regularly quoted prices.
You'll ALSO find lots of information about Credit Card processing in general. Or you can Google about it.
Here's one place to start:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merchant_account

[crimsondrac]

Well, I do not know what you mean by "competitive" but I have tried Linkpoint, one of your "partners" and they are not competitve. They are actually quite high compared to a few others.

I know CC processing is not cheap. I know there is always a cost of doing business. Just because I asked about CC processing does not mean I am a child and your post seemed to speak to me like I was one. You do not think I have already done a lot of research? I have looked at over 30 different carts, including ones that come packaged with CMS's. Likewise, I have done a lot of reasearch into CC proccessing companies. I have contacted every one that is listed in your downloads pages as well as others that are listed for other Shopping Carts. Anyone that starts a business without any research is bound to fail.

Either way, this is a "community" message board right? I did not expect any Zen Cart personnel to directly tell us which Vendor to use. I was hoping for an open discussion from other users, you know, what the internet is really good at?

You know, I do appreciate that there are a lot of options out there. That is one thing that attacted me to Zen Cart over the multitude of other Shopping carts out there. I also like the idea of an "open" community support forum. But more and more it seems like it is not very open at all. I better stop now before I say something that might get me banned, but I still must say that not allowing this type of discussion is, imho, stupid.

[DrByte]

... does not mean I am a child and your post seemed to speak to me like I was one.

Apologies extended. I did not intend to be condescending ... merely emphatic.

Anyone that starts a business without any research is bound to fail.

Exactly -- that was the main point I was trying to make, and one that most newcomers don't seem to get. Hence the more emphatic tone to my post.

I was hoping for an open discussion from other users, you know, what the internet is really good at?[/QUOTE]Open discussion is fine. When it degrades (as such discussions as you initiated usually do) to vendors posting ads and promoting services (often after freshly creating a forum account just for that purpose) instead of actually offering balanced meaningful and educational discussion content, it starts creating a bent we don't want in this forum: This is not a place to advertise wares. Hence the reaction to prevent the advertising, price wars, and so on.

[crimsondrac]

Well, it just seems to me that it is up to the moderators and the community to keep threads under control. There is a very active adult community here that I believe would be able to follow most of the rules. I understand that there are unscrupulous marketers out there that resort to underhanded tricks and dirty practices to get their word out. However, imho, it seems the rest of the community would recognize these people and ignore them or take action.

I did not really intend for this thread to become a debate, but I do yield to your experience on this board. It is sad that you will not give the community the benefit of the doubt, but that is the way it is.

I will limit all future posts to strictly technical questions. Obviously, discussions on opinions are not allowed here.

[Merlinpa1969]

well thats not quite true and if you look closely at the threads that getlocked here for advertising it is suggested to PM any recomendations,
this dosnt kill the discussion it just keeps it private

[crimsondrac]

well thats not quite true and if you look closely at the threads that getlocked here for advertising it is suggested to PM any recomendations,
this dosnt kill the discussion it just keeps it private

Ok, true, but you know as well as anyone that frequents message boards, if a thread drops off the first few pages, there is a chance that no one will ever see it again so saying "just PM responses" may work for like 5 minutes. Then the post falls off any no one ever gets to talk about it again.

And instead of locking a thread, can you just not ban the IP or domain of the offending user? I do it on my domain and it is generally easy enough.

And BTW, since my original thread got locked, guess how may PMs I got? 0...ZERO...nada...zilch....zip.