Probably a stupid questions, but hey we are quite new to this, only our 2nd year, and we are currently reviewing our strategies for 2009, of which marketing and customer service is a pretty large chunk. We are getting pretty constant bookings now and feel that although we can't break out on this as a standalone business (I also work FT) we need to inject some "spark" to get things moving a bit quicker. We are planning to review our pricing structure in the new year as obviously new kid on the block cannot charge above the market. Anyway getting a bit sidetracked here.

Reason for the credit card thing, we tend to deal with a few wedding planners and they are constantly asking, of which we reply sorry not currently. Seems to be an inconvenience for them, even though direct deposit is almost as easy these days, any bad experiences, things to look out for??

Regards
Darren

Well all I can suggest is maybe set up a Paypal business account but otherwise I have never done CC payment yet by a client so can't speak out of experience.

(btw double post here)

I've started using Paypal if a client requests payment by credit card. So far it's worked rather well, and it seems awfully easy to just have money "show up" in the account! Keep in mind you get charged about a 3% premium by doing this, which you can either absorb or pass on to the client as a paypal fee...err, service fee.

Good luck, just be prepared for some Paypal identity checks and what not when you get some big payments going though.

If you use QuickBooks, I recommend using their built-in credit card processing option. It used to run through Wells Fargo, but Intuit became their own gateway a few years ago. It's a good deal - I think it's $14.95/mo. flat standard rate for Visa and MasterCard. Then, tack on a small (smaller than Paypal) percentage of each transaction. It works great, since you are already processing the invoice and payment through QuickBooks, just changing the payment method from check to credit card.

Great topic! As I am getting ready to take my first Wedding Event payment via PayPal. I seem to remember once that PayPal limits the amount you can withdraw (transfer from Paypal account to actual Banking account)- is this true? I was searching PayPal's website today to no avail.

Please clarify, is this thread referring to accepting credit card payments using paypal as a merchant account, and paying the 30 dollar a month service fee, or do you make your customers use a paypal account to pay?

I like using paypal. there is no limit to bank transfers that I have seen, those take about two days.

If you choose to get a paypal debit card, you have instant access to your funds that way, but a daily limit on ATM withdrawals.

We use paypal as it has NO monthly fee and they dont need a PP account to pay. Just a card. there is a 3% charge but this is factored into our costs.

Danny is correct, there is no monthly fee.

PayPal allows you to take CC without any monthly cost - there's a volume of business where this becomes less economical than a merchant account with a monthly fee + a lower percentage (than PP). You'll have to do the math to see which is best for you. For me, I can do without another "monthly" bill.

PP is pretty fast and easy to set up, they do have an account version that limits your withdrawals until you prove you are who you are via additional accounts linked to PP... IIRC it's a $500/mo. limit, but it's easy enough to upgrade the account to remove the restriction.

They are instituting some anti-fraud measures that can delay withdrawals under some circumstances for new accounts, at least as relates to eBay transactions, but I don't know if they are doing anything for other transactions - they should be able to tell you.

Overall PP is a relatively painless way to take CC pmts, just keep your account info secure and don't fall for those stupid phishing e-mails trying to steal your user/PWD info! Follow safe online practices and you should be fine!

I have a Paypal merchant account that costs $30/month. I've probably lost a little money on it but I have used it several times, more so for our still photography than for video. Usually I get paid by check, but I like having the option there for the customer in case they want to use it.

I use PayPal's virtual terminal service. You can take credit card info over the phone and process any transaction directly without the client having to have a Paypal account and do it themselves. VT service is $30 a month, but you can turn it off when you don't use it. They take the standard 4% cut. I only use it for large transactions, say over $500.

You can also use Google Checkout, but again, the client must have an account with them and process the transaction themselves using an online button you create for them (and you must create a custom button for each transaction).

The only other way to take credit cards is to get a merchant account with your bank and an account with an authorization gateway. I believe Authorize Net (a gateway) has an online terminal similar to Paypal's VT. Otherwise you'd also need a card swipe machine or some other way to input and process cards.

In my opinion, Paypal Virtual Terminal, while not perfect, is the best compromise between cost and convenience.

ok, Thanks for the clarification. The thread was making it sound like there was a way for the customer to pay via credit card without a paypal account, and without having the virtual terminal and a monthly fee.

What I did was got approved for the Virtual Terminal (there is a verification process that takes a few days), then turn it on and pay the $30 whenever I got a large order to run through a CC transaction. If I had more than one transaction in a month, I kept VT service on. If I didn't need it after a month, I turned VT off. Then just reactivated it again for another 30 bucks whenever I got another large order that wanted to pay via credit card. That way I'm not constantly paying 30 a month if I'm not using it. There are no reactivation fees which makes it possible to do this.

My payments are mostly invoice/check, but occasionally a client wants to give me a credit card number over the phone. I don't want to make them sign up for Paypal or Google checkout, that's too much of a hassle for them and not very professional.

I have learned, however, to first ask if the client already has a Paypal account. A lot of companies do nowadays! That way they can pay via Paypal without me having to reactivate VT.

You can always contact your bank and find out how much to setup a credit card account. There are also independent providers as well. We have met with an independent rep and was given a price of 1.5% per transaction. This price was good as long as we aren't doing over a certain amount of transactions. We haven't gone this route yet as most people bring their cheque books however most people live on credit these days which is why our economy is the way it is. People might be going back to cheques or cash.

Dan, thank you. that is precisely the information I was looking for :)

Great topic! As I am getting ready to take my first Wedding Event payment via PayPal. I seem to remember once that PayPal limits the amount you can withdraw (transfer from Paypal account to actual Banking account)- is this true? I was searching PayPal's website today to no avail.

Glen also checkout google checkout. Very simple and I believe it's 2.?% I'll check later. Easy process and they transfer full amount to your bank account automatically the 2nd business day after the charge is made.

Here I was thinking it was a silly question!

In the meantime I did contact my bank that we currently have our business account with and there are 2 basic options for us, first option is called batch advantage, it allows me to take credit card details over the phone and process them with my online merchant account, only $11/month admin + 1.4% transaction fee, there was however a minimum charge of $22/mnth so if I don't use process $1500/month I'm still up for the minimum charge, so effectively minimum monthly commitment was $33 + $0.11 per transaction for SSL encryption.

Other option was to get a mobile terminal (eftpos) that was minimum spend $70/mnth all inclusive, but then added benefit of a mobile eftpos to take to client meetings, planners etc, allowing normal savings or cheque transactions.

Only drawback of either of these was a contract period of 3 years, but hey I'm not planning on getting any smaller in the next 3 years, I also do the odd bit of commercial work, and voiceover work so can really see the advantages of the mobile eftpos facility - and really just need to factor the cost into our pricing structure of which we are currently reviewing.

Thanks again for discussion generated here.

Cheers
Darren

To go down the paypal route (the merchant account without the virtual terminal) the client doesnt need a paypal account. They just enter their CC details like buying on any other website. If they have a PP account they can just sign in and pay easily, if not, enter the details and away they go.

Ive just looked at the google checkout thanks to you guys and its half the cost of PP, just 1.5%!!!!

We have a pay now button for paying the deposit when they book and then send them a paypal invoice to pay the rest. Our entire process is online but we can go manual if they dont have a computer, but that does mean they have to pay via cheque. That reminds me, need to re-jig the booking form.

I enjoyed reading this thread and have started a new one to address my particular circumstances. I would appreciate if you guys could take time to weigh in. Thanks!

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/taking-care-business/477574-merchant-accounts-credit-card-processing-other-fun-stuff.html#post1519276

Thanks for the good info in this thread.

I use a simple strategy to limit the transaction fees.

For deposits, I accept whatever they are willing to pay with. Check, money order, credit card.

For final payments (much larger) I encourage they not be paid by credit card. I let them know that I have to pay a transaction fee and encourage payment by check. Most people are sympathetic. For those that have no alternative, I bite the bullet and take the cc payment.

I just signed up on google checkout, and send out invoices to two of my clients. So far, I have accepted their payments but it will take 10 days to reflect on my bank account. Ill update you about this

We use to use Paypal, but Google Checkout seemed to offer more for less.

However, for weddings, I think in 10 years we only took maybe 1 or 2 credit card payments. The rest was cash or check.

We only used paypal for online orders at marching band competitions and dance recitals, never like actually at the event... except for Vanderbilt, where they handled all the transactions and paid us.

We take Paypal, but we discourage people from paying w/ credit card, and are considering passing on the fees to the customer. Passing on the fee makes even more sense considering that the customer could decide they don't like our artistic style (or something like that) and do a charge-back. We would win the dispute, but even then it would be time lost.

I agree about passing on the fees...after all our computer store and other shops charge us if we use the card, so in fairness, as long as a client is aware of the charges and are prepared to pay them, it should be fine.

I also believe that with Paypal, there are no fees if payment is made from one paypal account(client) to another (your own). Fees are then applicable upon withdrawal - perhaps someone can clarify?

Ooh! That would be huge!!