3rd party billing VS. Merchant accounts
 

Okay guys I have a new programmer bud and he isn't very familiar with 3rd party billing and seems to be very skeptical and basically doesn't want anything to do with it.

I've tried to tell him though that thousands of webmasters use 3rd party billing and it is a viable solution and rarely do the processors not send checks out.

For what we're doing, it's just going to be an ebook site and we won't be throwing a TON of traffic at it. So obviously the revenue generated won't be high, but he insists that he still WANTS a merchant account because he thinks it is obsurd that we won't be able to recieve their CC information...

Is it just me or was I under the impression that when you start out with a small site, its best to just use a 3rd party processor opposed to investing money and getting a merchant account?

here is something he said:

"i could give 2 shits what their CC info is -- i just want the money in the bank -- no chargebacks, no bullshit"

well you can get chargebacks with your own merchant account.

check out paysystems.com

pretty nice set-up for mainstream 3rd party processing

i'm just wondering generally how much does it cost for a real merchant account, and how much "upkeep" is involved when it comes to having to deal with the transactions yourself.. would it really be worth all of the trouble if the site isn't even making all that much money anyhow? and are there any credit requirements or any other requemrents for that matter when trying to get your own merchant account?

from what i've seen, most people just use a damn 3rd party processor and make out fine with $$

fire him, he knows nothing and HE wants to tell YOU how to do shit?

nothing but trouble in the future.

no no we're goin in on this together so its an equal thing. i just want someone here who is knowledgable about this stuff to make a reply so we can get some more clarification on it.

but hes basically saying that he WANTS to be able to track the information about the signups, he doesn't want it to be something where we redirect the traffic to their signup page... but as far as i know, that is how all 3rd party processors are correct? i imagine none of them allow you to record the credit card info and such... here is what he said:

t: it can't just be something that we redirect traffic to their site
t: it has to be controlled
t: we have to be able to capture the information, forward it and process the result without the customer feeling like they've left our site -- that means REALLY not leaving our site -- i know how to do that

sorry but he thinks like an idiot and you act like your some bitch.

You know your shit lay it down like it is or FUCK him, if you dont you will be here in 3 months asking for partnership attornies and bullshit.

Back to the question, a mainstream Merchant account should run ya about 25 a month plus some small setup fee, check out enbs.com

for stuff like ebooks if you can, get your own merchant...
that is if its non-adult..

less fee's, less scrubbing etc..

it can be a hassle to obtain though.. i'll message you and tell you how i got mine.

if your after affiliates thou your better off going with a network like clickbank if your non adult

Here's the deal with 3rd party billing and merchant accounts.

It used to be that you had to have a programmer to work with a gateway to take money for a merchant account. So everybody did 3rd party billing. The 3rd party billing company setup everything for you and you went and got the customers. Now with
netbilling.com
plugnpay.com
you don't need some programmer to get a merchant running with your site. The only reason to use a 3rd party biller now days is to have them take care of your customers (even netbilling.com will do that for you though).

If the merchant account is for adult (or other high-risk), your going to have to dish out some money at first to get it. If it's for non-adult (non-high risk), you can almost (or will) get the merchant for nothing except the monthly fees.

You can normally get a merchant account, even with bad credit. The only time you definitely won't get one, is if you have been blacklisted. Which is usually from abusing a previous merchant account. It doesn't hurt to apply for a merchant account. They'll either approve you or deny you.

You have more control with your own merchant account compared to using a 3rd party billers merchant account. You also don't have to worry about 3rd party biller rules or if they will be in business a year from now and keep your money. If you lose your gateway, you just take that credit card info and move your merchant account to another gateway.

Charge.com - free to setup

galleryseek... give me a call or simply icq me I would be more than happy to talk to you and clarify all your questions.

Isabel :)

right!