Payment module option- ideas

[Soul39]

Hi,
you all out there, how can anyone make a profit when these payment gateways are so expensive?
I have been working on a zc for my wife and now i am looking at payment options, Paypal express checkout i must have (from Ebay shop), but she wants to take phone orders from the dears that do not have internet access.
What do i do? charge them a huge handling fee for doing so, or tell them that phone orders must be above £50 to £100.
Most of them only want to spend £20.
I did not want to go with PayPal website pro because of the Monthly fee. Turnover is only between £2000 and £3000 a year. Don't know about prifit.
Help! what is the solution? Does anyone have a work around?
Please share!


Soul39

[worldmaker]

PayPal have a telephone solution too, to take details online or by telephone and process them yourself through an online control panel.

Can't remember the exact details, but the questions are:-

Do they offer this to you (I know I can get it and I'm only up the street in Manchester)?
What's the cost?
Is it cost-effective for you, and safe for your customers, to do this?

[ronpeled]

Get a merchant account that is connected to Authorize.net. It cost about $10/month and they charge minimal fees. Authorize.net have virtual terminal where you can put in the client's CC info and charge as if it was done through the cart.

[worldmaker]

That's what I was trying to remember last night - "Virtual Terminal" - check out your PayPal one first to assess it's costs.

[Soul39]

Hi, guys, Thank you for your replies.
It just seems to me that every way you turned, you had to shell out lots of cash to payment gateway owners.
PayPal wants £20 a month for a virtural terminal. It seems like £20 a month is like a standard fee for that sort of thing.
Barclays Bank wants £150 to set up a merchant account plus £20 a month. How do you keep the cost down and claw back those charges?



Once again, thank you

Soul39

[worldmaker]

Hi, guys, Thank you for your replies.
.... How do you keep the cost down and claw back those charges?

Once again, thank you

Soul39

In your case I'd suggest asking of yourself and your wife whether it's critical at this stage in your business. If you can live without it then get offline customers to either send a cheque or perform a bank transfer (standing order) to your business account. This is far the simpler and cheaper method.

It depends entirely on how much business you expect to handle through offline sales.

Have fun!

[ronpeled]

Well, my source offers $10/month for the merchant account and $10/month for Authorize.net services. Also, the percentage on each transaction is very low. I cannot get into your business model or what makes sense - you will have to do it yourself. But as worldmaker says, it depends on the amount of sales you do. I have seen cases where businesses saved a ton of money just by leaving pay-pal and working with a sane merchant account. PayPal is the low hanging fruit that lets you sign up without any issues but charges an arm and a leg when you start doing serious business.

[worldmaker]

...PayPal is the low hanging fruit that lets you sign up without any issues but charges an arm and a leg when you start doing serious business.

Yes,

I was told by one banking contact that Yorkshire Bank have the cheapest merchant account facility if you can justify the expenditure. PayPal is a good place to begin, then build up from there.

[Soul39]

Hi , Ron and Worlmaker,
Thank you both for the suggestions, i will definetly look into all of them. I had not thought of the idea of direct bank transfers, it's an avenue that is worth looking at further.


many thanks

Soul39

[worldmaker]

Hi , Ron and Worlmaker,
Thank you both for the suggestions, i will definetly look into all of them. I had not thought of the idea of direct bank transfers, it's an avenue that is worth looking at further.

many thanks

Soul39

My other company (www.sterling-bond.com) uses only this method, no cheques, no cards, cash or nothing; but then it does specialize in secure transactions.