who processes u?

[NikKay]

Web designers/ content providers... who do you use to process credit cards? I need a merchant account, and my bank said they dont work with adult business and another merchant who does wants to charge me astronomical fees to process for adult business! Do I lie? Is there anyone good to use to process my billing for my leased content? Help! I hate these assholes!

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NikKayyy
http://www.HotWiredNet.com

[Wizzo]

15% is the going rate...There's lots of good 3rd party proccessors.

[GiggleBerries]

Check out this page. There should be something to help you here.
http://adultchamber.com/merchant.htm



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[NikKay]

I have an account for my websites with CCBill... we pay 11%. I need an account to process YOUR payments to us for content, Wizzo. lol. Everyones getting sick of sending checks, I guess. Theyve been asking for credit card acceptance, so Im looking around.

[Kimmykim]

Nik,
Terry and I talked about it in Miami a bit -- one of you guys drop me an email

[Speedy26]

I-Bill all the way, or ccbill would be good if they offered a 900# hint..hint..

[Kimmykim]

No 900 from us, sorry -- the age issue is just way to risky on it --

[Jer]

paypal.com ?

[Dirty F]

Globill-systems.com is the very best.
Ibill and CCbill are not even close to what they offer.

[Phil21]

Guys.. this guy wants a merchant account it seems, not a credit card processor that rapes you from behind for taking charges from people you semi-trust (i.e. chargebacks are not an issue)

15% is astronomically high. I do hosting, and that's well more than my margin! I'd be losing money.

I don't see why you have to say you're an "adult" company, as long as you're not selling memberships and such. If you're a photographer, say that. If you do design work, say that. If your local bank is on a morality trip, check out any national bank. Expect to pay a bit in setup costs, and perhaps a deposit if your credit is not the greatest. The good part is that it's only about 1.5-3.5% depending on volume (plus a $50/mo charge or so).

Wells Fargo may be a good place to start.

-Phil

[TFCash]

PAYPAL.COM <<<<< -------

[AWC]

Take a look at CCNow.com
Much lower fees and they will work with content sites.

[deluxe]

Most content providers use ccnow in combination with paypall. So that must work pretty good...

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[NikKay]

Thanks everyone... Ive gotten one decent quote and I do use PayPal already. KimmyKim I dont have your email addy! Send me email [email protected] ... and we will party in Vegas baby!

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NikKayyy
http://www.HotWiredNet.com

[Kimmykim]

Gee Phil21 I didn't realize YOU made visa and mc's rules now.

Try that little stunt with lying about what you do and see if they don't ban you for life from having ANY merchant acct.

[Phil21]

Uh, how is that lying? Did you even read what he does? He fucking shoots models and does webdesign. Unless they flat out ask you "Do you take pictures of naked women" it's not lying at all.

And since it sounds like he's not processing random people (i.e. what ccbill is GOOD at), it would be fairly stupid for him to pay fees for something he's not going to use.

When we got our merchant account the bank didn't ask WHAT we hosted (we're not just a porn host, just happens quite a few clients happen to be in the adult business, word of mouth works like that), just asked what we did. I told them straight up "We host websites and do custom programming", which is WHAT WE DO. Along your line of reasoning I should get nailed with 15% or whatnot just because some of my clients happen to push porn. Gimme a break. I have yet to have a single chargeback, and that's what the banks are worried about.

Now, if this guy were to start a site up where you could buy on-line via a credit card, I would totally push him towards the ccbill/ibill/whatever route. This is where you lay out the extra cash because this is what you guys are good at doing. It's an extra risk.

There is no "fit all" solution to CC processing, everyone has a different need. From what I know what this guy is doing, a straight merchant account sounds like the best route, of course I could be wrong about what he's doing.

So stop trying to infer that I'm telling him to be dishonest, I'm not. I could very well be mistaken about his objectives, but it sounds more along the lines of "I have a few clients I trust that want to be billed via CC" other than "I want to have a site that lets random people order shit from me off the internet". If it were the latter, than of course it's being dishonest to not disclose that, but if it's the former just saying what you do (photography) is enough as long as you are not asked to go into detail.

Yeesh.

-Phil

[Kimmykim]

Well first you'd be mistaken about 'his' gender.

Nikkay is female.

Wanna keep going?

[Phil21]

Well, see if I ever offer advice for people around here again.

And no, I don't. You know far more than I ever will about credit card processing, and I never stated otherwise. I just don't like things insinuated about me that I did not mean.

-Phil

[Kimmykim]

"... not a credit card processor that rapes you from behind for taking charges from people you semi-trust "

nice advice.

[EricH]

Originally posted by Phil21:
15% is astronomically high. I do hosting...

It's not high when you consider most 3rd party processors include (at no charge) advanced fraud scrubbing controls, membership management, 24/7 end-user customer service.. just to name a few. Try getting any of those features with a 1.5% - 3.5% discount rate from your merchant account.

That being said, considering the services you're billing for.. I suspect many processors would be willing to work with you on the transaction fee.

If you'd rather have your merchant account, try shopping around among smaller banks around the area -- I personally think they'd be more willing to bend any rules they might have regarding adult merchants. Just explain to them what you're business model is.. and that chargebacks most likely will not be an issue.
Even with your own merchant account, you'll probably want to use a 3rd party gateway provider, to handle the recurring billing. Expect to pay around $0.50 per transaction for that (in addition to whatever your merchant bank charges).

Nikkay - drop me an email if there's anything I can do for ya

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Eric Happel
Client Services

WebsiteBilling.com