[hackerspaces] Merchant Service Account Reccomendations

[Michel Gallant]

Another disadvantage to Google Checkout, which I don't see mentioned here,
is that merchant accounts are only available in the US and UK. This
recently forced me to use the evil PayPal to run an event through
EventBrite. Since this list is international, I figured it would be worth
noting.

M

On Tuesday, November 1, 2011, Carlyn maw <carlynorama at gmail.com> wrote:
> Google Checkout's Recurring payments seem to *still* only be in beta,
sadly, nor do they have a ZenCart plugin that works, but for single payment
stuff we're using them. Anyone already using the beta recurring stuff?
>
> Amazon's payments does support recurring already - and works with Zen
Cart (where we are), doesn't work with Drupal Commerce yet (where we are
likely going, but I could try to help with that I guess), does work with
Drupal Ubercart (still an option).  I guess maybe, but for some reason I'm
skeptical of it.  Not sure why. Think it will make more of our member balk
than google checkout or just a merchant account. I guess I'll just ask at
the meeting tonight. Thoughts?
> Yeah, If I'm gonna trail-blaze, I'm not sure why, but I'd rather use
Google Commerce than Amazon Payments but that may not be based on any
actual facts.  Anyone have any. I'm prepared to be wrong.
> I was honestly looking for something where what vendor we are using to
process our payments was one where they didn't have to have an account with
someone other than just us, mostly because once we get the paypal thing
resolved, we'll probably still use them, pathetic I know.
> Best,
> -- Carlyn
>
> On Tue, Nov 1, 2011 at 8:23 AM, Will Bradley <will at heatsynclabs.org>
wrote:
>
> Alternatives to PayPal include Google Checkout and Amazon Payments btw,
you can check those out too for something quick.
>
> On Nov 1, 2011 4:24 AM, "Neil" <hackspc at narwani.org> wrote:
>
> Hi all,
>
> New to this list and still lurking, until I get around to an intro.
 However, some quick notes re: merchant accounts...
>
> Beware: there are 2 general rates you get charged at -- the base rate and
the corp/rewards/int'l rate.  The latter is higher and applies to any
international CC, corporate CC, and any CC where the card-holder gets any
form or reward (cash back, miles, points, etc).  And the catchy low rate is
if you physically swipe the card vs. keying it in via a virtual terminal
(website such as authorize.net).
>
> In theory, I was supposed to be paying 2.9% base rate and a bit higher
for the corp/int'l/rewards cards, but in practice (from bank statements) it
seems that in the past year over 95% of my transactions are charged at the
higher rate, and that works out to be ~5.9% (!!!).  Remember there's a flat
per-transaction charge also.
>
> Most will accept MC/Visa/Disc, and Amex is usually separate/higher.
>
> Don't forget to ask about monthly fees, annual fees (yes, some have
both), chargeback fees, refund fees (yes, some charge a percentage to issue
a refund), statement fees, batch fees (daily for sending the money to you
account), and minimums.
>
> I've been shopping for a new processor again, and so far Chase seems to
be one of the better ones, at 2.25% + $0.20 for either base or
corp/int'l/rewards cards.  I have a list of different rates/fees/etc from a
handful of other companies and can get it for you when I get back.
>
> Cheers,
> -Neil.
>
>
>
> Quoting Chris Hardee <shazzner at gmail.com>:
>
> We use our bank's merchant services along with Auth.net to process
> payments, which in turn we use freshbooks to handle reoccuring billing and
> keep track of accounts.
>
> On Mon, Oct 31, 2011 at 9:27 PM, Carlyn maw <carlynorama at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> So CRASH Space just tried to get a merchant services account via
> dharmamerchantservices.com and they were cool, but their under writing
> bank (Moneris) was freaked out by the fact that we, gasp, taught lock
> picking and associated with "hackers." I think it is kinda funny.
>
> They are going to put us in touch with someone else, although it is likely
> we'll just go with our bank and sign up with authorize.net directly, but
> anyone have a credit card processing group they like? Anyone know anything
> about http://beanstream.com/ ? I'm probably going to call them tomorrow
> just to get a feel for them.
>
> Happy Halloween...
> Best,
> -- Carlyn
>
>
>
>
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>
>
> --
> Chris Hardee
> 10BitWorks
> San Antonio Hackerspace
> 10bitworks at gmail.com
> http://10bitworks.com/
>
>
>
>
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