Who know Web Credit Card Processing?

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Q. Who know Web Credit Card Processing? Is there an FAQ or one-stop shopping web site for a small business looking to get credit card processing terminal? When I tried to research this topic on the web, I found too many web sites touting this kind of service. Some claim to have no monthly fee, no transaction fee, etc. But I have the feeling there is a catch somewhere. What I need is an unbiased comparison of services and prices, or a starting point. Some of the questions I have: Dedicated terminal versus PC software + card reader? Can Paypal be used with a dedicated credit card terminal? Is PayPal cost competitive if used this way? One company recommended an Omni 3750. Is this a good choice? Why the memory option, what can adding more memory do for me? Are all the credit card processing terminals compatible with all the merchant account services? Why do some processing company require I send them the machine to reprogram? Why can't they send me programming instructions? If special equipments are needed to reprogram (say, omni 3750), is there a comparable machine that can be program without special equipments, or via a PC? Anything to watch out for before committing to a processing company? There are terminals and services for sale on ebay itself. Some of these merchant have amateur-looking web site and non toll free numbers, has anyone used them?

A. - The first place I would go is to your bank where you have your business accounts and ask them what they have to offer. Chances are they won't be able to offer you a competitive package for internet sales as they are more apt to discourage you from them since there is less aggravation and risk for POS for everyone involved. If you have a physical storefront you will do really well with your bank. You won't be the first person traveling down this road so they should be able to recommend a few alternative services that are reasonably priced for internet sales. I would be very careful searching on the internet for this, as there are many hidden costs and pitfalls. Talk to some of your business associates and ask them what works for them. As for PayPal, my feeling is it is a great tool for eBay sales only. Only offering PayPal on an off eBay website looks very tacky and unprofessional while giving off the aura of a "bargain basement" or " boiler room" operation. I would only offer PayPal in conjunction with your merchants account. - I've got a gently used one I'll sell you for $20, shipping included. Email me, or read down the thread to see if another seller here wants to undercut me. (Note that my email has an extra g in it.) They're worth practically nothing second-hand. > When I tried to research this topic on the web, I found too many web sites > touting this kind of service. Some claim to have no monthly fee, no > transaction fee, etc. But I have the feeling there is a catch somewhere. > What I need is an unbiased comparison of services and prices, or a starting > point. Do you have a bank? When we had our B&M site we did business with www.oldnational.com . They were a local bank for us - we didn't pick them from the internet. They had a third party processor, but we got a good deal from them through our bank. Most of the internet deals are very overpriced, high pressure, long time committment scams. > Some of the questions I have: > Dedicated terminal versus PC software + card reader? Depends on how you picture your set up. Our PC wasn't tied to our register, and our PC was way in the back toom. We just had a cheap Wal-Mart register and a stand-alone machine. Worked fine, but we didn't get a lot of info from our cash register as far as things like inventory movement went. Not yet, but they have announced plans ..... I don't know, but it looks really expensive. We bought our CC machine at an auction for $20 or something. I don't ever remember wishing it had anything except a longer phone card. (We fixed that.) This just screams of "scam!" to me. Ours was just essentially a plug-n-play set up. DH would know this better than me, but I think they programmed it over the phone line. Really, I think you're better off going to your banker for this than you are getting info from a bunch of people off the internet. Even if you have the whole conversation by email, I think you're much safer with a local bank than an unknown internet service provider. Again, I don't remember the specifics, but our banker got us a great deal. I looked all over the internet and coulcn't beat it. Plus I knew that if I had a problem I could call my bank.

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