Which is the cheapest? 2

[qwert85103]

Hi,

From the following choices, which one is the most economical and user friendly:-
1.) paypal
2.) setting up your own merchant account
2.) using other systems such as oscommerce etc.

Thanks.

 

[sleipnir214]

You're comparing apples to oranges.

Opening a merchant account deals with accepting credit-cards. You will with OSCommerce, for example, still have to have a merchant account.



Want the best answers? Ask the best questions!

TANSTAAFL!!

 

[foxdev]

What is the expected (or hoped-for) volume?

For a very light user, PayPal or one of the other third-party solutions might be advisable, at least to start with. You can always get a merchant account later.

If you know you'll be handling more than, say, 50 orders a month, then a merchant account might make better sense. Especially true if you'll also be taking phone/fax orders and handling returns, which I'm guessing gets tricky with some of the canned solutions.

A word of warning: many merchant account sellers require a 1-3 year contract, with penalties for early cancellation.

--------------
art prints

http://www.artlot.com

 

[qwert85103]

thanks for the info!

say my orders would be anywhere from 50-100 a month, then
which company/service would you advice to open merchant account for a starter.

Thanks.

 

[foxdev]

I hate to plug any company specifically, but one that has the lowest start-up costs I've seen (and with whom we have an account for one of our stores) is: freeauthnet.com

--------------
art prints

http://www.artlot.com

 

[CoreyBryant]

It all depends on what country you are in. Authorizenet.com is only a gateway & only is available to merchants in the US at this time. Currently, there is no merchant processor using their gateway outisde the US. BUt this does not mean you cannot accept international orders.

If you are going to be processing more than $1,000 a month, get a merchant account, otherwise you should consider a third party processor in conjunction with paypal.

__________________________
Corey

http://www.merchantaccounts4less.com/

 

[qwert85103]

thank you all for the valuable information.

 

[mbdw6708]

It has been a couple of years since I have posted here. Just wanted to say this has got to be one of the best forums on the net. Great advice, great participation in the forums. I am opening my own commerce site so this has helped me tremendously. Anyone have any experience with oscommerce.

thanks,
dave

http://www.azconsignment.com

 

[CoreyBryant]

mbdw6708 - you might want to check out:

http://oscommerce.snappyserver.com/

- we have referred a number of people over to him for oscommerce. Also

http://www.tek-tips.com/threadminder.cfm?spid=909

__________________________
Corey

http://www.merchantaccounts4less.com/

 

[RayCruzer]

Regarding the original question:

From the following choices, which one is the most economical and user friendly:-
1.) paypal
2.) setting up your own merchant account
2.) using other systems such as oscommerce etc.

As stated above, you need a merchant account for oscommerce code. Between PayPal and merchant accounts the general consensus is that you will be better off using a merchant account if your income is over $1000.

However, my calculations, using the Maculator that I designed, indicate that PayPal may be cheaper even with sales volumes much larger than $1000 a month. Even at $5,000 a month PayPal could be cheaper than a merchant account with a discount rate of 2.39%, for example.

You can visit the Maculator at

http://www.mgoldmine.com

and enter any monthly volume to compare PayPal and many other 3rd party processors against a number of merchant account offers.

Your decision should also take into consideration other factors in addition to price. Once you determine the actual cost factors, you can evaluate the pros and cons of each option based on what is best for your business, even though the processing costs may be higher.



RayCruzer
Compare monthly costs of merchant accounts and 3rd party processors with the Maculator:

http://www.mgoldmine.com

 

[mbdw6708]

Corey,
Thanks for the tip. Checking it out now, and it looks good.

thanx,
dave

http://www.azconsignment.com

 

[CoreyBryant]

Anytime good luck with it.


__________________________
Corey

http://www.merchantaccounts4less.com/

 

[RayCruzer]

PayPal rates are effectively increasing with their new 4-tier rates starting 8/6/04. To get the 2.2% merchant rate under the new structure you need a monthly sales volume of $10,000 or more! Under the old structure you could qualify for this rate with only $1,000 in monthly sales.

I believe PayPal has been enjoying a great deal of popularity and loyalty to the extent that they have lost any incentive to keep their rates in check!

Although Yahoo! PayDirect has lowered their rates effective June 1 of this year, they have also added a $5.00 monthly fee for professional accounts (not personal accounts). For most sellers it looks like the PayDirect monthly costs will still be lower than the PayPal costs depending on the monthly sales dollars and numbers.

The main point here is that there needs to be more competition to keep the rates low for all the credit card processor alternatives. We in the technical realm should help to promote the competition based on the lowest prices and the best value for each dollar!

RayCruzer
Compare monthly costs of merchant accounts and 3rd party processors with the Maculator:

http://www.mgoldmine.com