Posted by MissyNV on 7/13/05 4:06pm
Msg #51745

anyone accept credit cards?

When I did MaryKay they had a way for us to take credit cards and then they would send us a check. Is there a service out there like this that would let someone in a very small business take credit cards? The need for this is so rare, but it does come up.

Reply by IrisWA on 7/13/05 4:21pm
Msg #51757

I don't know about credit cards per se, but PayPal will permit someone to sign up and use a credit card to make payment to you. You will have to establish a business account with PayPal, if you don't already have one, at a slight percentage (don't know what it is -- possibly 10% of the cost of the transaction).

??

Reply by pikalu on 7/13/05 5:04pm
Msg #51780

I do not have one but I have seen them. I know that there is this attachment that goes to your cell phone, it has a swipe slot and it is the size of your cell phone. You can accept cards like this. I actually saw this at a home show, a vendor was using it and I asked him about it. He said it was provided by the visa company. It is very small, could fit in your purse. I do not know were to go to inquire more, but I know that this is possible.

Reply by Charles_CA on 7/13/05 5:37pm
Msg #51785

You go to your bank. You need an account to have the deposits made to. I don't think that a vendor (taking credit cards) account would work for most in this business. The charges are expensive to the vendor and each credit card has it's own so if you take Mastercard and Visa you get additional charges for American Express or Discover etc. PayPal is great and very simple to use. I don't think they take anywhere near 10%, in fact I suspect that because of the volume they do they offer the service cheapre than the card services. I use Paypal and one of the things I like about it is that they get a charge when it is used but I had a night club and still have an Inn and I have to pay the credit card charges every month whether I use it or not. Credit cards sytems take a monthly charge and then a %.

Reply by Melody on 7/13/05 6:14pm
Msg #51796

Charles - how do you use PayPal to take in-person CCs?

Can someone give you their card number, expiration date, code on back
and then
you can enter it into PayPal?

Or can people only use PayPal online?

For anyone else who is reading: Charles is right about the monthly and % fees on bank cards. The fees add up fast. Our low profit margins don't allow for the high costs of accepting cards.

Reply by droman on 7/13/05 6:53pm
Msg #51813

Re: Charles - how do you use PayPal to take in-person CCs?

I love when someone wants to pay by credit card because I get paid upfront! When I get calls and the customer wants to pay by credit card, BEFORE I go to the appointment, I send them my (pre-made) link which takes them to my Paypal "Buy" button and they click on the link and pay through Paypal. I receive an instant notification that I was paid, THEN I go to perform the service. It's awesome! You have to have a webpage to create the "Buy" button, but I don't post the page to the internet, it just sits on my web server. You can click on the following link for an example. I have different 'BUY' buttons because sometimes the services require a higher fee.

http://desireeroman.tripod.com/romaninnovations/notarypayment.html

Reply by Charles_CA on 7/13/05 7:14pm
Msg #51818

Re: Charles - Right On Droman, and also...

I have been a PayPal member since the late 90's. You can send a PayPal invoice and then the invoice can be paid by credit card or direct debit from someon'e bank account if they so wish back through PayPal. The only drawback to PayPal is that both the remitter and remitee must belong to PayPal, actually a minor thing but there are those out there who are uncomfortable even with the secure encrypted sites because of all of the horror stories they have heard. I guess they are true but I've been online since 1984 and have never had a problem. I believe that it is the types of sites one visits, I guess I'm (just ask my 17 year old)

Reply by Margaret/Florida on 7/13/05 9:06pm
Msg #51850

Re: Charles - Right On Droman, and also...

I had a merchant account before Paypal, I had a website and also sold on Ebay. Back then you had to have a merchant account. It was a pain to wait on checks in the mail,they had to clear before you could ship unless they sent a money order. I took the credit cards through my website and Ebay. Then Paypal came along and I also sold on Amazon.com and they started doing the CC charging for you for a small fee.
Well I had signed a contract for 3 years with the CC company. I had to pay the monthly fees and the minimum for 2 years.