PayPal Merchant Account vs All Others

Which merchant account do you use?

[alexandermcgee]

I'm currently using PayPal for all my credit card processing, my merchant accounts are there. I'm really tired of the inconvenience, and the high fees.

I'm considering switching Merchant Accounts, and was wondering which ones you've all used, and liked, or not liked, and what you would recommend.

The other main one I'm looking at is B of A, because my accounts are there. Has anyone tried Bank of America Merchant Services?

So what service do you use, and would you recommend it?

Thanks.

[zulu_dude]

Not sure if they're available in your location, but I've been using Stripe.com for several different businesses (some SaaS, some ecommerce) for a while now and they are AMAZING!

API is super simple to implement, fees are reasonable and their whole setup process is light years ahead of PayPal (I use PayPal too for a different business).

The only drawback is that they keep the money for 7 days, but if your cashflow is managed properly that shouldn't be a problem really.

[DancingBayLLC]

If I had a robust, online business, selling past the break even point, then I would go back to a merchant account, for sure. However, because I don't come close to the break even point, my merchant account was costing me $25/month. It just wasn't worth it for me. When PayPal is costing me more than a merchant account, I'll be looking around again. I'd like to find a similar alternative to PayPal that charges per transaction without a contract or monthly fee. Are there any other options that run on the same model as PayPal? For in person sales, I do have a square reader which I like for the most part. I also have a PayPal reader.

As far as the PayPal MasterCard goes, one thing I really like about it is that every time I purchase something, I get an email stating the purchase amount and who the purchase was to. I wish my credit union did the same thing for my business account.

[jsinger]

"And I don't need a special debit card just to get your money if they will let you have it!"

You don't need a special debit card. We used to phone PP and they'd send a check on request. The check had to be over $500 and there was a small charge. It would take about a week for the check to arrive. That was when our only PP dealings were occasional sales on Ebay.

But now we just have the PP balance transferred automatically into our main bank account daily. We do much more business with PP now and not just on Ebay. No extra charge and we get the funds right away. I really don't see much disadvantage to pp other than a learning curve in getting up to speed with it.