credit cards

[roger_in_oly]

Could someone advise me on the best way (and cheapest) to set up accepting credit cards in my office.  I have a lot of clients who have requested and feel that it would benefit me $$$  Some of my client use the debit cards that are visa adn don't carry cash around.  Any help/advise would be greatly appreciated

 

[The_Living_End]

credit cards

Hi, lovelace:I just took the plunge and am in the process of getting set up to accept credit cards. To be honest, I didn't shop around a lot, but I called my bank and they're going to do it for me. Seems pretty reasonable. I'm going in with 3 other people; the machine we're getting can send transactions to 4 different accounts, and with 4 of us going in on the cost of the machine, it's keeping the cost down. (The total cost is $500, so that makes it a one-time cost of $125 for each of us). Plus the transaction fees and small monthly charges. They take the fees out of our accounts all at once at the end of the month.You might call a few of the banks in your area; there was a thread on this group a while ago about CCs, and it mentioned some other companies to go through, but I coudn't find it....Good luck!Andrea

 

[Above Normal]

Wish I could help.  After I filed a DBA with the state I was flooded for months with junk mail for credit card machines and postal meters and......         Did notice the prices and charges varied quite a bit.  Would the SBA or chamber of commerce be able to help out the info?

 

[Old Fat Bald Guy]

credit cards

One more thing on the credit card experience...I just got my Discover card merchant info, and the 'business type' that they use for massage therapists is "Massage Parlors"!! Yuk! I called Discover to see if that could be changed, but that is the only description they have that has "massage" in it; the lady I spoke to said those descriptions come from the gov't and they've been around for a long time.... I contacted ABMP and they put me in touch with a guy who works with them on CC processing and he informed me that that is more or less the way Discover does things; that there are government codes that all the CC companies use, but that Discover is just a little "broader" in their descriptions than Visa, MasterCard, and AmEx. So, I'm thinking about cancelling my merchant status with Discover just based on that.... I don't want to end up on any list anywhere as a massage parlor! Just an FYI.Have a great day --Andrea

 

[Wally West]

credit cards

I just accept Mastercard and Visa in my practice.  I use Merchant Warehouse ( http://www.merchantwarehouse.com ) for the processing.  Their rates are competitive and they on't have a monthly minimum, which is nice.  One thing I really like about them is that they've been pretty accurate and fast with processing the payments.  My previous processing company was always overcharging me and I had to call EVERY month when I got my statement to have some of the discount refunded to me.

I also bought my machine from them and got it BRAND NEW for about $300 which is a great price...a lot of places have REFURBISHED machines selling for more than I paid.

If you've never been a merchant, you should know that processing generally costs a perceneforum.xxxe of the sale, called discount, (somewhere between 1.4%-2%) plus a transaction fee ( generally $.18=$.28 ) plus a monthly statement fee (usually $10) and sometimes a monthly minimum to guarantee that they will make no less than a set amount which you have to pay regardless of whether or not you had any sales.  By the time you add all of the fees together, expect to pay around 3-4% of your total credit sales for processing.  Discover and American Express charge a higher discount rate than Mastercard and Visa and accepting debit cards (Visa check card) tends to be cheaper as you are just charged a flat rate per transaction rather than a %.

BTW, there are a couple of companies that don't require you to have a machine (you call your transactions in) and they just charge you a flat 4% (I think) for each transaction with no other fees/minimums to worry about.  You can search the web for more info.

Hope that info helps you!  

PJ

 

[brennanc]

My friend takes credit cards. آ She pays about $84 per month for the machine (this is a lease, not a purchase), but then has to pay a % of each sale as well. آ Because of this, I never did get set up to take credit cards. آ I would have to do 2 hours of massage a month just to pay for it, and I've never had a situation where someone didn't come in because I wouldn't take VISA. آ There is an ATM in my building, so I let them know that, and offer to give them a receipt if they intended to report it as an expense.  This has worked every time.I am seeing that many of you have given low cost alternantives, so perhaps I will once agian look into it. آ It could have been that my friend simply didn't shop around, but she committed to 4 years with this company.

 

[Pompal 09.]

YIKES...too bad your friend is committed to a 4 year contract with them.  LEASES ARE RIP OFFS!  You end up paying at least 2x as much for the machine than you could have purchased it for if you paid the HIGHEST price you could find.Traci, you may not have ever had someone not book because you don't take credit cards, however I'm sure you've lost gift certificate sales which you might not even know you've lost.  One thing I forgot to mention about the company who processes mine...they don't have any contract or set up fees.  I'm free to cancel them at any time!

 

[missB]

I use cellcharge thru chargeamerica.com....$99 start up , no machine. 3.95% per transaction and $10 a month fee.  I have had no problems and can take credit cards on out calls using my cellphone. the money is in my account in about 2 days.good luck gwin

 

[hugsandkisses2120]

I have found that the two best places to look for deals on credit cards is either your bank.  Ask the manager for the best deal they can find.  They shop around all the time and are willing to work with you.  Second, if you are a costco member, look into their program.  They are usually fair with their members and give fairly good deals.  One thing to remember, you don't get the good deal unless you are willing to ask for it.  Ask the bank and they will usually work with you.  They want to keep as much of your money as they can.

 

[Pompal 09.]

credit cards

For those of you with low volume for credit cards, or a cheap easy way to start out, you might want to try Propay.

http://www.propay.com

Its $35 a year (for $10 more a year you can do phone charges too). Their rate is 3.5% + $0.35 per transaction.

I worked it out that if you had a rate of 2.2% including monthly fees you'd have to be doing more than $400 a month for it to make a difference between a traditional merchant account and propay. They do not have a reserve if you are doing $1000 or less. They do require a reserve after this amount.

While its probably not a permanant solution, it is a great way to start, and a cheap way to introduce visa/mc into your practice.

 

[David V]

I'm with Talenyn on this one....I use http://www.propay.com for another business I have and I use it if people want to use a credit card to pay for a package, and what's nice about it is that you don't have to rent/buy a machine, so you save money that way, and it's all done online.  However, the customers may not like getting the credit card receipt, but I just give them a regular receipt and they're happy.  Definetely worth the $35 if you're just getting started and not using it often like me.

 

[Empress Jan]

Hi this is my first time reply.  I just recently started taking credit cards and am very happy that I have.  The company I use is North American Bancard, and the phone number is 800-228-2273.  The man who set me up is Ron Cameron, and he was very nice, and helpful.  His extention for the above phone number is 1837, and email address is rcameron@nabancard.com .  I personaly could not promise that I was going to receive a certian amount in credit card sales each month.  With that said, I couldn't see spending the big amount on buying or leasing the terminal.  I use the over the phone method.  I take down all the clients cc info on one of the "old school" cc forms, they sign and leave a tip if they want, they receive the hard copy, and leave a happy client.  You can either call it in right then, that evening, or wait until the end of the week and do all your cc transactions at once.  Then this company takes their 3.75% (which is higher because your not using their equiptment that they want to charge you for) , and the rest gets deposited into your bank account.  This company also says that their price beats everyone elses, or they will give you $500.  There is no minimum that I have to make, no extra cost if I make a lot of sales, and no set up fee.  Only a $10 monthly fee.  Being able to accept credit cards has proven benefical to me, as your client is more apt to spend a little more on products or may want to purchase a series from you.  I just sold a series to one of my clients last Tuesday, if I would not have had the cc option I would have missed out on a $250 purchase, because this client only pays by cc.  I hope this proves helpful to you as well!  And don't forget to advertise that you do accept credit cards!                                             Jas

 

[Mz. Lovely Maddie]

credit cards

I was confused by the in my face marketing of all the credit card merchant companies. I work next door to a chiropractor and he told me of the nightmare he had gone through with another company (they regularly forgot to deposit his charges into his checking acct). He said he called a fellow DC and asked what company he used. NPC (800) 592-1591. Neither DC has reported any problems with NPC. http://www.npc.net - they have the most professional (ie: stable) looking website of any of the merchant account companies I looked at.I looked into cellcharge and phone verification but those didn't seem very professional. What if you went into your favorite dept store and the checkout clerk had to call in your info. Seems kinda cheesey, no offense intended to those who use it.I just signed up with them and here's their deal:*I have my own machine that a friend lent me, no printer, I will use the old-skool imprinter which I bought from NPC for $25. A printer for my model would be $200, maybe I can find a cheaper one down the road.*I can accept Visa/MC at 1.73% with a $0.25 per-transaction fee, Visa Debit (no PIN required) at 1.33% same trans fee and Discover at 1.8% $0.15 trans fee. If I ever choose to do a non-swiped charge (such as during an occasional outcall), the rate is higher, 3.?%, but I won't be doing much of that.* $9.95 to receive my monthly statement online (or $11.95 for a paper one)*$18.00 monthly minimumI spoke with Sharon Snedeker at NPC, she was very helpful and seemed like she has delt with LMT's before.Costco also has a pretty good deal something like $4.95/mo + 1.61% + $0.21 trans fee.-Jason

 

[American Guitarist]

lovelace,Looks like you have a lot of good info here, so I'll just tell you what we've done.I opened and leased my machine back in 1996.  Payed it off after a number of years, and now I own it.  *hehe*I didn't know at that time of these other things you can use to get started "over the phone" minus the machine, but if I were to go back, I think I'd look into that as a possibility.I can say my CC machine has held up since '96 without any problems and I originally used USB - Universal Savings Bank as my Merchant. (Not sure why, must have been a referral to them from a friend, as it is usually the only way I do things.)I have since switched to an actual bank as my merchant and have been quite pleased.  I was against CC's in the beginning, but to be real honest, about 85% of our practice is CC.  People use their CC's to pay, before they want to write a check, or so it seems.  So, I'd say think about it heavily.  You may loose a dollar here and there, but it sure makes the clients happy. And happy clients keep referring!!

 

[Amanda Y]

credit cards

I think you can do credit card transactions through paypal. I hear it is all the rave with life coaches. Not sure how it works though but you can probably find more info at paypal.comChyllia

 

[Meems]

I love paypal, BUT.....all the transactions are done online.  You need online access at your office, your clients need some internet pay savvy, and they used to make everyone paying open a paypal account, which not every client wanted.  They may have changed.  I use them to send clients an invoice they can pay with credit card.