Credit Cards

[noodle654]

I run my sisters website business on Yahoo Merchant Solutions and we use PayPal Express Pay to accept Credit Cards. I have no problems with it, the fee is low and there is no monthly fee. My sister is going to a fair and we would like to accept credit cards, but we don't want to open a terminal. I know that PayPal offers a Virtual Terminal for $30 a month, but I rather not do that.

Now, my question is this. Could I use my website to process payments? Lets say somebody wants to buy something, could I just setup a checkout like they are buying online? I would simply put in their CC info and shipping address and be done? Could this work? Or, is there an easier solution? I would love to somehow use my iPhone for this, if it's possible.

 

[Darth.Titan]

It very well may be possible, but you'll still need a merchant account from someone.

However, speaking for myself as a customer, there's no way I'm handing my card to a merchant to let them key all my info (including card #, expiration date, and/or CID#) into a computer. For all I know they're saving the info for use later. Also, how would you manage receipts?

Just doesn't seem professional enough for me to be comfortable.

 

[kylemg]

I tried the method you are thinking of a few years ago. It worked a few times, but the number of transactions that returned with error were pretty high. You have to make sure all the information you get from the client is correct, including billing address, phone number, and email. It's just a lot of work if you're looking to do it on volume payments.

I started using the virtual terminal from paypal. It's really easy. All you need is the number and expiration date. The CID is optional along with the address and everything else. It's a lot faster especially when taking orders over the phone.

Virtual Terminal can be cancelled/paused at anytime. It works well for me as a seasonal operation. I think the bill it pro-rated too from the time you cancel or pause.

 

[noodle654]

I tried the method you are thinking of a few years ago. It worked a few times, but the number of transactions that returned with error were pretty high. You have to make sure all the information you get from the client is correct, including billing address, phone number, and email. It's just a lot of work if you're looking to do it on volume payments.

I started using the virtual terminal from paypal. It's really easy. All you need is the number and expiration date. The CID is optional along with the address and everything else. It's a lot faster especially when taking orders over the phone.

Virtual Terminal can be cancelled/paused at anytime. It works well for me as a seasonal operation. I think the bill it pro-rated too from the time you cancel or pause.

So I could use it for a month, cancel it, then start it up again when I need it?

 

[kylemg]

So I could use it for a month, cancel it, then start it up again when I need it?

Yes. I asked a rep about that when I signed up. In theory, you could use it for one day and only pay for only that day. I don't think that was the the design of the service, so there might be some minimum number of days you must use the service.

I thought I would cancel after one month, but the convenience of offering CCs to my clients has covered the cost of the service.

 

[noodle654]

Yes. I asked a rep about that when I signed up. In theory, you could use it for one day and only pay for only that day. I don't think that was the the design of the service, so there might be some minimum number of days you must use the service.

I thought I would cancel after one month, but the convenience of offering CCs to my clients has covered the cost of the service.

Well...if I was to use it for one day only, I would pay $1? My sister only needs this when she is not ordering through her website and is on the go. I think the only negative is the rate, 2.9% to 3.1%, not a big deal, but would rather it be lower.

 

[notjustjay]

My concern with processing payments over my own website is the amount of security that is involved to make it a "safe" transaction. SSL, security certificate, encryption... and if I don't get it exactly right, I'm held liable if something happens.

If you were saving card numbers for "later" processing, I'd just as soon type it into a Word document on a non-networked laptop, or even by hand onto a notebook, but even that has security implications (if that info was stolen).