e-commerce merchants: any reason not to use authorize.net?

[Dexter Rutecki]

Seems to be the standard. Go with it, or no?

[iggyskier]

No issues so far. Infinitely better than dealing with paypal's bs.

Good support when I've needed it, easy refunds, easy controls, etc.

[wfinley]

The only 2 scenarios where I wouldn't recommend it are:
1. if you can't meet your minimum monthly sales amount (some plans will charge you extra if you can't meet X amount)
2. if you process a lot of overseas payments (setting up fraud filters for overseas payments is a PITA)

[Dexter Rutecki]

Thanks to you two.

Now about the merchant account fees: our bank wants 2.4% on CC's, and 3.26% for debit. $.23/transaction, $100 application fee, and $10 monthly. Plus authorize.net charging $99 to set up and $15/monthly.

Can I do significantly better than that with a reliable bank? Any reason to use our bank for this just because that's where our account is?

This e-commerce CC stuff is a pretty good scam for the banks...

[RShea]

The credit card merchant fees are all over the place. Some will not reasonably handle on line (no card present to swipe through the machines) and others will but at a higher rate than a local merchant that has the cards present.

I have always read good things about Costco's merchant credit card offering. Not sure who they go through but the normal seems to be around 3 % and either a min. monthly volume or a monthly fee for the account. Shop around you can probably do better- but get the offer in writing (and read the contract closely) as they can promise the world and deliver something different completely. Heck, Paypal will handle the stuff for you too without the monthly fee. Scam artists everywhere.

[Dexter Rutecki]

We're not using Paypal, but I was always told that Paypal was the worst of them all.

Too complicated...

[sfotex]

We use Cybersource for CC processing and
Paypal for paypal processing. The nice thing about paypal is people don't have to
have a CC to buy stuff, which might or might not be a big deal depending on what your customer base is.

[Dexter Rutecki]

Yeah, from what we can tell there will be little to no demand for paypal among our customers. I suppose we could add it down the road if it looks like it would matter, but our research indicates it's not an issue.

Really just trying to make sure we're not getting shafted on these rates (which seem to mainly come from the bank, which uses authorize.net).

[Baconzoo]

2 years using them with NO issues whatsoever.

[JoeStrummer]

Thanks to you two.

Now about the merchant account fees: our bank wants 2.4% on CC's, and 3.26% for debit. $.23/transaction, $100 application fee, and $10 monthly. Plus authorize.net charging $99 to set up and $15/monthly.

Can I do significantly better than that with a reliable bank? Any reason to use our bank for this just because that's where our account is?

This e-commerce CC stuff is a pretty good scam for the banks...

Auth.net is pretty much standard anymore.

2.4% and 23 cents is reasonable. Debit should be the same or less, since there is less risk for the processor on the transactions. The auth net fees for setup and monthly are standard, the $100 app fee is horseshit. Watch what they will charge you for what is called "non-qualified" transactions. In other words, they promise you 2.4% and then charge you more if you take a rewards card or a commercial card.

I would ask about funding timeframes if cashflow is important. This is sometimes a reason to use your local bank.

[Downbound Train]

Has anyone had experience with or heard about Intuit's E-Commerce products?