Credit Cards: To Accept or Not To Accept...

[Oly's Stump]

Do you ever have problems transferring the money from your paypal account, to your bank account ?

what about the waiting period? does that ever bother you ?

i think my paypal account only lets me run a $500 per month limit

Once the customer does the transaction with PayPal, it will show up on your account and you can immediately make the transferr request to your checking or bank account minus their fee. It takes a day to clear with your bank.

 

[hrmanagement]

most of us aren't born knowing how to use credit cards.... Still, it’s important to learn the rules of the CC game... if u want to do online purchases with ur CC then be careful about frauds it is better to have a credit card of very low Cr. limit so that min. damage id caused if misused. also remember not to default on the payment whatever the amount since this data is fed to a secret database and is made available or sold to banks and loan companies as your credit record and you may be denied a future loan based on this info... thank you

 

[StephanieD]

If the credit/debit card charges are a concern, check out Costco. My coupon flyer from them had some information about their merchant services.

It says their rate is 1.48% plus $.20 per transaction for cards swiped and 1.99% and $.27 per transaction for mail, phone, internet orders.

Also says when you open a new account you recieve the 12month of processing fees free(upto $300). Call 1-800-616-4249 Promo Code: 83446
deal available July 15th through August 8th, 2010

Not sure if this is available in all areas. I'm in Western Washington.

 

[outonalimbts]

Seven years with paypal

We have been processing cc orders for years- there are pluses and minuses to everything- on the positive side we usually are released funds within minutes- on the other hand if a client pays using their debit card it can take a week to clear the bank-.

If people are going to utilize their credit card, it processes in minutes unless they pay with a buy it now button- the buttons tend to go through increased security scrutiny- People often get an email that says "payment under review"
This process can take up to 24 hours.

Paypal.com is considered the safest manner to pay online- This is good for our business- I don't want to be exposed to anyones credit card info, as this could allow for abuse, or even to be accused of abuse if the number were ever to be compromised, and fraudulently used. I am protected by accepting cc orders through Paypal.

As far as the fee, 2.9% isn't too bad, considering I don't pay for equipment, there aren't any service fees, they provide me with a Master Card that is linked with my account, and I have a daily limit of 3 K. A cash machine limit of $400 a day as well.

Credit card processing is a great thing for our business! Credit Cards are used 35% of the time. Which accounts for around $15 K a month.

Emergency tree work is the number one reason to accept credit cards as there is a paper trail that is left for proof to the insurance companies that the payment was made and processed.

:chainsawguy:

 

[outonalimbts]

follow up posting...

Today- I did 2 smallish projects- both paid via credit cards- for a total of $2100.

If I didn't accept CC's I wouldn't have gotten paid with immediateness as I did.

FYI

 

[BuddhaKat]

If the credit/debit card charges are a concern, check out Costco. My coupon flyer from them had some information about their merchant services.

It says their rate is 1.48% plus $.20 per transaction for cards swiped and 1.99% and $.27 per transaction for mail, phone, internet orders.

Also says when you open a new account you recieve the 12month of processing fees free(upto $300). Call 1-800-616-4249 Promo Code: 83446
deal available July 15th through August 8th, 2010

Not sure if this is available in all areas. I'm in Western Washington.

Read the fine print on that deal. They're not giving you that rate for a credit card transaction. It's for debit card transactions. That rate is below interchange and there is no company in the world that gets anything off of interchange. It flat out does not happen. The company represent does over $4 billion a year in CC processing and we don't get a break. We're the largest in the nation too.

You want to know how credit cards work, send me a PM. I'll be happy to explain it. In most cases, most merchant service companies are about as trustworthy as a used car salesman.

 

[BuddhaKat]

Today- I did 2 smallish projects- both paid via credit cards- for a total of $2100.

If I didn't accept CC's I wouldn't have gotten paid with immediateness as I did.

FYI

We now have a free program in our merchant services product lineup that runs off your smartphone that lets you swipe a credit card and run the transaction over your cell at much better rates than punching in the numbers by hand. For transactions like that it would save you quite a bit. PM me if you want info.

 

[D]

Here is where I think I can save you some money. For the most part nobody has to take a credit card. This is what I do and it has worked for me for years. I pay my bills at the end of the month with credit card to my suppliers. I used to be a supplier and I know this isn't the coolest thing to do to one but on the other side, they are just happy to have a customer that actually pays their bills on time. I get a credit card authorization form and tell the client that I can bill their credit card out at the supply house as I don't have a machine. The credit card just goes against what I owe for the month and I don't get charged credit card fees!!!! They were expecting a credit card payment at the end of the month anyway from me so it doesn't bother them. I am not saying all will do it, but I have major suppliers in my area that give me no problems doing it. I bet I have ran over $200,000 worth of other peoples credit cards just this year. I also tell them it protects them anyway cause they can prove the supplies were paid for at the supplier and it protects their lien rights. I know not all of you have a $500 bill at the supplier, but if you do spraying or have a large number of repairs/parts for the month, this could be an easy way to pay your bill and take a credit card when you need to. Like most say, the majority of the time you don't need to, but sometimes it's the only way you are getting your $$$. Just an idea, it works great for me.

 

[randalicious]

Accepting Credit Cards

I'll take 30 seconds and tell you all I learned from accepting Credit Cards 10 years ago. I used a company with the word "First" in it, but I don't remember if it was First American, though.

They will act like you HAVE to have one of those electronic credit card terminals, which are expensive if you buy them from them, but you can also just use a Touchtone phone to input your credit card sales. It's like using a phone to check your bank balance--it's a hassle. The drawback is that you have to give the customer a receipt, so that would probably be manual.

The sign-up fee and the percentage they take out of your sales aren't too bad, but they make you sign up for a certain period, similar to how the cell phone companies make you sign up for 2 years if they give you a free phone. If you decide that taking credit cards isn't for you after signing up, they bill you for the amount it would take to finish your contract with them, or an early withdrawal penalty, whichever is greater.

Somebody here might have some more up to date info or a company that offers a better deal, though.

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

Seriously, 2 words:

...

The people who hire arborists to enhance properties as a "luxury" rather than an emergency removal type, ...

... I only run into a very small number of customers per year that ask,

...I think it is the type of customer you are looking for or the volume of business you wish to achieve.:greenchainsaw:

Bingo.


Two words: TARGET MARKET.


If you are targeting people with money, you are crazy if you do not take credit cards. You WILL lose business.


If you are targeting lower income people, you can probably do just fine without taking CCs.


But then, WHY would you NOT target the people with money????

Remember what the man said when he was asked why he kept robbing banks?


"That's where the money is."

 

[cassandrasdaddy]

paypal

since 2004
lots of absentee landlords in the military i get my money right away and never have access to their number. i can run it through from my house and transfer the money literally within mins. or withdraw cash. no monthly fees and i just factor in 3 % and offer a 3 % discount for cash

 

[sgreanbeans]

I take them thru Quick Books, however, super expensive, canceling and switching to my bank.
Plus QB is slow in depositing, took a week on time, don't use it!

 

[sgreanbeans]

since 2004
lots of absentee landlords in the military i get my money right away and never have access to their number. i can run it through from my house and transfer the money literally within mins. or withdraw cash. no monthly fees and i just factor in 3 % and offer a 3 % discount for cash

Good ol Fredricksburg, Have bunch of Jarheads living there, I lived in Stafford by the back gate of Quan-tic-o. Very nice place to live in, many retire there.

 

[cassandrasdaddy]

no joke

i joke about the number of marines in the hood. we call the area behind me the federal ghetto

 

[TreeClimber57]

We offer it.. not a huge cost.. about $10 a month I think.. plus the surchage when used.

We do not use their machines, as there is a $30/mth fee (or somewhere thereabouts for machines). We use a web portal only.

It is a nice offering, although we likely only put around $15K or so through it in a year.

 

[DeAvilaTree]

I take them I ad a processing fee to cover the cost, most of the companies around here take them and I was losing business because I didn't , best thing I've done. And mine is set up to call right from the front seat of my truck.

 

[TreeClimber57]

I take them thru Quick Books, however, super expensive, canceling and switching to my bank.
Plus QB is slow in depositing, took a week on time, don't use it!

When you say super expensive; what do you mean for pricing? They are advertising in Canada for something like $10/mth. And they say they have in bank in 2 business days maximum here. I know a couple of guys using, and they seem to have no issues here, so was trying to figure out what differences were.

 

[surfspc]

Yes....

Yes I think it is a must to have a cc processor. It is a little expensive but how much money are you loosing ffrom people who do not have cash? I never carry cash on me