Credit Cards - Methods to accept them

[harryn]

Paypal fees based on my expected useage:

Paypal Fees (from their web site for Business Users)

Setup fee = 0
Gateway monthly fee = 0
Monthly batch fee = 0
Monthly statement fee = 0
Monthly Transaction fee (fixed) = $ 0.30 per transaction
Transaction fee (variable) = 2.9% for transactions up to $ 3,000.
Currency conversion fee (fixed) = 0.30
Currency conversion fee (variable) = 3.9% for transactions up to $ 3,000

Example Month Transaction

No transactions = $ 0.00 per month

1 transaction for $ 3,000
- Fixed transaction fee = 0.30
- Variable transaction fee (US purchase) = 2.9% x 3,000 = $ 87.00
- Currency conversion fee if International (fixed) = 0.30
- Currency conversion fee if international (variable) = 3.9% x $ 3,000 = $ 117
- Currency conversion rate relative to market conversion rate = unknown

Estimated total fees for an International transaction of $3,000 = approx US$ 215 - almost 2.5 X the cost of a wire transfer.


Prior experience with PayPal protecting the seller from fraud = poor

Prior experience with PayPal communication and attempting to understand situation = very poor

Ease of setup and use = simple

In other words, the primary benefit is that you do not have monthly fees if there are no transactions.

One thing I highly recommend is that if you are going to accept credit cards, and especially if you are going to accept PayPal, make sure you set up a separate, independent, dedicated bank account JUST FOR THIS or they can really screw up your entire bank account.

Coming in a few days - amazon pay, google pay, costco update, microsoft money (remarkably, it is worth looking at)

[harryn]

Originally Posted by mactec54 Hi harryn I did not see anybody say to use online banking

Hi, I am only planning to accept the credit card transactions via on-line through my web site. There will not be a card reader machine at all.

So far, I have not seen a price break for "just on line" vs "credit card machine" transaction, but in any event, I don't want a machine.

BTW, very few customers will allow a person to just "add on" 5 % to a transaction in order to accept the CC or paypal. I think technically, the CC companies actually require you to agree that you will not do this. This is why you see many businesses that will not accept discover - they percentage transaction fee is nearly 2X visa.

[harryn]

One thing that I find particularly annoying is that Canada is considered an "International Transaction and subject to these fees".

I hope no one minds my thinking like this, but I grew up in N. OH and we used to routinely go fishing along the St. Claire river. We had to have the right fishing license, but you could fish anywhere and go to lunch on either side of the river and no-one thought twice about it.

Of course we knew that Canada is its own country, and we were just visiting, but I always viewed it more like visiting my Uncle's house - you knocked before entering, but everyone always smiled and let you in.

There has been extensive trade between Canada and the US for longer than there was a Canadian or US Govt - so why charge double for the transaction ?

Sorry for the ramble - I just miss the simple border crossing experiences of the past.

[Geof]

Originally Posted by harryn One thing that I find particularly annoying is that Canada is considered an "International Transaction and subject to these fees"...... ..... Sorry for the ramble - I just miss the simple border crossing experiences of the past.

We deal with customers on both sides of the border and there is no distinction between Canadian and U.S, customers with regards to credit card fees; I just confirmed this with my Financial Comptroller. (Aka, my wife )

What credit cards do you accept? We take Visa, Mastercard and (I think) American Express.

I also miss the simple border crossing experience.

[harryn]

Hi Goef, so far, we have not been set up to accept credit cards at all. I am just getting started in that aspect as one of my clients wishes to pay using a visa or mc.

This thread is my way to help make a reasonably intelligent choice based on the small number of transactions I am expecting.

The "simple choice" - paypal - charges about 2X the fee for an international transaction. In my example transaction, it would be $ 87 for domestic PLUS an additional $ 117 to sell international (currency conversion fee).