HI James, Nowadays, it relatively easy to get yourself a merchant account. However this entails a lot of 'stuff' to get squared away.
1) You must first register as a merchant via your bank. You can also do this with First Data (albeit I'm not sure if they handle overseas - you'll have to check) or other well known Pay Processors in your country. 2) Set up an AuthorizeNet account. (First Data can do this for you) If you contact your bank, they will be able to put you in touch with who handles merchant accounts. They should also be able to provide you with contacts to the Pay Processor. Once you sign up with a Pay Processor, they (usually) can get you squared away with AuthorizeNet too. 3) Set up the *backend* on your website, so that you can now accept credit card payments. Once you have gotten this set up, it's relatively easy for (3). Please contact me off list for some nice options. Hope this helps in some way! Ray Barber CEO / Director of Operations MacScripter, LLC | macscripter.net Notes: Not unlike anything else, your money 'costs' money - for example, some pay processors have two tiers, qualified, and non-qualified. Qualified tiers are cards accepted in your locale. Conversely, non-qualified rates are those outside your country, and are generally higher because of higher risk. For first time Merchants, expect to pay higher premiums on your money, simply because you're "new" and sell services (ie: software) over the internet. Over time, once you have proven yourself and that you're not going anyway any time soon, you can negotiate those rates down considerably. Avoid the company iPayment of Valencia like the Black Plague. They'll nickel and dime you to death, and rip you off. > Thanks Daniel. Unfortunately Website Payments Pro is only available in the US, > UK and Canada; not here in Australia. There is only one bank here that offers > multi-currency payment options and it's extremely expensive. We are way behind > in this area. > > James > > > On 22/05/2010, at 10:28 AM, Daniel Jalkut wrote: > >> If you're just considering it and worried about taking an expensive leap, >> just upgrade to PayPal's "Website Payments Pro", which will let you add a >> virtual (to the consumer) merchant's account look and feel to your site. They >> will be able to use a Visa/MC/Amex without knowing that they are actually >> being processed through PayPal. >> >> It's $30/month, and there are some hoops to setting up and getting going, but >> there are with a merchant's account as well. >> >> Daniel >> >> On May 21, 2010, at 4:59am, James Bishop wrote: >> >>> I have a very high abandonment rate, with purchasers leaving after they >>> click my PayPal button and before they reach the thank you page. In other >>> words there is a high drop-out on the PayPal site. >>> >>> I'm considering adding a merchant account to the PayPal option, rather than >>> the other way around. Does anyone have experience with how a merchant >>> facility compares with PayPal for checkout completions? >>> >>> Thanks. >> >> > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > ------------------------------------ > > MacSB email guidelines: http://tinyurl.com/2g55d6 > Use MacSB-Talk for off topic messages: > http://groups.google.com/group/macsb-talk > Yahoo! Groups Links > > >
