[Jewelry making - Article 00407] - Re: [Orchid] Advice on accepting credit cards

[Neilthejeweler]

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    READ THE CONTRACT CAREFULLY. and the attendant merchant agreement,
    terms of service. 

    If you are leasing the equipment you most likely will have a
    contract term for the service as well as the lease itself. It can get
    expensive and supremely aggravating if the service is not up to snuff
    and you can't get out. In additon to the contract itself also
    scrutinize the merchant terms of service or merchant aggreement. Get
    someone to help you interpret these if fine print boggles your mind. 

    Look at what they call their tier system. Basically a swiped card
    carries the lowest discount rate(the amount you pay). keyed in (with
    card present, like an unreadable card) pays a little more, a phone
    sale pays even more. Cards from other countries and corporate cards
    cost you more. They may offer you teaser rates without really telling
    you they are temporary. When they say. "rates as low as 1.45%" ask
    what their regular rates are. 

    Since you need this seasonally, see if they offer something to
    offset your down months. You still pay monthly fees regardless of if
    you run transactions or not. Expect $20-40 a month, plus the lease. 

    Figure your costs both monthly and annually. That $40 a month may
    seem minor until you calculate the annual cost. Add the lease and
    you've got a significant nut there. 

    Chargebacks allow a customer to dispute a transaction. The processor
    will deduct the disputed amount from your bank account without
    question. Then begins the process of you proving the transaction is
    legit, in the meantime you are out the money. Making imprints and
    getting ink signatures for unreadable cards can help you here. Since
    you are traveling and the buyers are probably unkown to you,
    additional ID is not a bad idea. This is pretty much standard so you
    can't shop around on this point, but be aware of the existence of
    chargebacks. 

    A good idea would be to check to make sure their cell service does
    indeed have coverage in the areas you will make sales at. Get this in
    writing. 

    Some processors deposit the net amount of the sale into your
    account. The service I use now posts the entire day's sales into my
    account and then deducts the discount in a seperate transaction. I
    like this, so much easier to track. 

    Ok, enough negativity from me for now... plus side is you will make
    more sales and possibly bigger sales, especially if you take Amex.
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