accepting credit cards

[trophybirds.com]

what has been your experience in accepting credit/debit cards from clients? has it been worth the effort? do you believe that you have been able to get more clients and or are they willing to spend more ect based on the cards? i am looking at starting to take them as i have had some clients request it but didnt want to get into something that was more trouble than its worth., thanks

[AndyO]

This has been covered in great depth in the old forum. I would first do a search there. http://taxidermy.net/forums/

Type in "accepting credit cards"

[Dean]

A lot will depend on the volume of work going through the shop each week.

[Bill Dishman]

people like to have the convienience of using thier cards.  If you dont accept them, you may be waiting around for that absent minded customer to mail a check, then when it doesnt come your on the phone leaving a message to "send your deposit", then waiting some more. so in the long run its convenience for you as well.

[gab]

be sure to use your large average sale amount to negotiate a better percentage of charge.2  1/2 to 3% is pretty good.But some banks have a low % and a per transaction charge.You cna save a lot of money shopping around.That is the most frustrating part.It's alot like dealing with used car salesmen.Overall its a major step towards growing your business and is a good investment.

[DB taxidermy]

How do you get started. I mean taking credit cards.

[clifftax]

I started this year accepting them through Paypal. If your customer has internet access then you send them an invoice via e-mail and they pay. Your customer does not in no way need a paypal account to pay you. All they do is submit their credit card # online via paypal SSH. Now for the people who do not have internet access, it becomes a little tricky. You will have to open a business account with paypal, get verified and possibly open a merchant account. The you will be able to use what is called Virtual Terminal ($20.00 per month)and have the money directly deposited into your account. Virtual Terminal is like the credit card swipe machine, but you do it online instead.

[trophybirds.com]

thanks folks. cliff, what are the fees associated with paypal?

[James Parrish]

Get a cheap credit card machine and talk to your bank.  They have people that handle what is called "merchant accounts".    My wife had a machine that she was no longer using.  The bank programmed it for free and gave me all the supplies I need (credit slips, etc.).  I pay about 2.5-3% per transaction.  There is no monthly fee.  Some months, I don't use it at all and some months, I use it alot (mainly for deposits). 

[clifftax]

thanks folks. cliff, what are the fees associated with paypal?

$20.00 per month fee plus the following per transaction.

2.9% +$.30 if you do under $3,000.00 per month
2.5% +$.30 if you do over $3,000.00

No cancellation or sign up fee's.

Here is the link for more info.

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_display-vt-fees

[Tim McLagan]

I have used a couple different companies, I suggest using your bank, that way if you have any problems, or questions you can talk to somebody face to face.  Tim  Ü

[Tony Johnson]

If you get a business phone number, the people will find you, don't worry!

[mount it]

Can you still use the old type slide machine that you put the card in and inprint the # on the paper? What do the new swipe machines cost? Thanks. Randall

[James Parrish]

The swipe machines are not necessary, but you get a better rate if you swipe the card instead of calling it in.  The sliders (imprinters) really serve no purpose other than making a receipt.  I have a swipe machine that doesn't have a printer.  I swipe the card and enter the $ amount.  It dials a number and gives me an authorization number.  I then imprint the card and write down the authorization number.  The customer signs the slip and gets a copy.  I file the other copy for my records and transmit all the dyas transactions on my machine at the end of the day.  The money shows up in my bank acct. in 24-48hrs.  The machines aren't terribly expensive.  You can get them on ebay.

[Mark V.]

Absolutely the best investment we ever made was getting a credit card machine. It will increase sales if advertised and customers are willing to spend more for extras and such. 85% of our sales are by credit. We only take checks for deposits and get a 50% deposit on all mounts. We have a better pickup rate than we had previously. If someone wants to do payments you can set it up to take so much out per month/week. I can't say enough about it. Like others have said you can get a reasonable price on a machine used refurbished on ebay or others places. Good luck,Mark V.