e-commerce / merchant accounts

Re: I am very interested in getting a merchant account

Is that including the price of the dust?

Re: I am very interested in getting a merchant account

I thought 4% looked ok. Maybe cos I have recently realised that retailers charge between 35 and 50% just to put your product in their catalogue or on a dusty shelf.

I am very interested in getting a merchant account

Anyone here direct experience of getting a merchant account from the likes of Barclays, HSBC, CoOp, Lloyds etc?

I don't mind a big setup fee but 4% commision on WorldPay seems steep.

Ideally I'd like to accept credit cards offline first at low per transaction cost.

Re: Others

JS / anyone else

Does anyone else have any merchant stories to share?

As I mentioned, Protx looks interesting:

20.00 GBP per month
No transaction charges
No annual fee
No setup fee

But they link themselves with various merchant account schemes from various banks - has anyone had experience of getting a merchant account from these?

Banks: Lloyds, Barclaycard, HSBC, Streamline, BoS, American Express, Diners Club

Re: www.swreg.org

Vetran / Sysman

swreg look interesting - and could be relevant as they support selling of virtual products and the release of an electronic key afterwards.

I'll have to look further through their detailed example sites.

I must admit - I visted two of the sites "buying" a product from each which I left lying around in my shopping trolley. When visiting checkout I had a product from each supplier - I'm not sure whether they should have emptied the swreg shopping trolley at the start of each shopping session. As I didn't complete the purchase, I'll never know what would have happened to their invoicing program. But as both products were digitally-deliverable it maybe wouldn't have mattered too much (apart from making messy invoicing!).

WorldPay

Xog / Debbie

I must admit I got a little confused before when I looked at Worldpay. I assumed that WorldPay was the RBoS company that did the PSP bit and that RBoS did the merchant account. Apparently not.
Pricing chart

It would seem that WorldPay do the PSP whilst some entity called WorldDirect do the merchant bit.

I would assume that the 100.00 GBP setup plus 160.00 GBP annual charge goes to pay WorldDirct and that the 4.5 percent (credit card) or 50p (debit card) skim goes to WorldDirect. But I could be wrong - there could be further skim from WorldDirect. I need to put my glasses on and start reading the small print !! 8o

www.swreg.org

I looked at them a few years ago and they seemed sound.

Dunno how broadband has affected them since. They have a full history and accounts for 2001 and 2002 at www.atlantic-coast.com.

Re: Low volume

I use Worldpay. www.worldpay.co.uk.

Used to use Worldpay too. Easy to set up. Very efficient - -payments transferred reqularly etc

Re: Low volume

Anyone use this bunch?www.swreg.org

They look good on (digital) paper.

Re: Low volume

I use Worldpay. www.worldpay.co.uk.

Commercially they do not seem to be picky at all. Fill in online form about your business, pay the dosh, and you should be approved in a few days. No credit checks or references needed.

Not extortionate in my view. Off top of my head, 370 to set up(includes credit cards over phone etc) , about 100 pa thereafter, plus about 4% of sales.

They check your website to make sure you are not selling kiddy porn etc, that your interface is working correctly and that you have complied with the various requirements on refunds policy and so on. Interface fairly easy.

PS Their site seems to be down at mo.

Re: Low volume

low volume is you problem, unless you're very high-price.

Charges and monthlies on the big4 are EXTORTIONATE unless you're doing 250k and up.

I have some links at home - I'll post them tonight. High % but low/no set-up and no monthlies.

I know that much has been said on these fora about payment service providers (eg Protx).

Does anyone have any experience of the major UK banks when it comes to setting up an online merchant account - especially for selling low volume virtual items. Can they be very picky??

Also I'd heard of Durango in the States - has anybody had any dealings with them??