Things to Consider When Shopping Around for Merchant Accounts

If you're shopping around for an affordable home business merchant account, you should know that there are several things you should compare before settling on one. Here are a couple of things to look at:

1. Setup Fees
   
   Different companies charge different setup fees. I've seen them around $99 and also $700 before, so you'll definitely want to pay attention to this one. Sometimes companies will run promotions for no setup fees, so watch for those as well.
   
   
2. Monthly Fees
   
   Sometimes these are referred to as 'statement fees.' These fees can also range all over the place. Some companies only charge $10 a month, others charge around $30 or $40 a month. There are even some companies that only charge this if you actually use them, but most are going to charge this fee whether you process a transaction or not.
   
   
3. Per Transaction Fee
   
   Anytime you process a credit card you are going to have to pay a small fee. This is how the merchant account company makes money. Usually it is broken down to a flat rate and percentage, like $0.30 + 2.5% per transaction. This is another great way to compare companies.
   
   
4. Other Considerations
   
   Not all home business merchant account fees are set up the same way. Some of them will charge a yearly fee rather than a monthly fee, etc. So if you run into things that are different, try to find a way to make it a fair comparison.

Other Resources:

• Merchant Account Comparison Chart
• 100 Best Merchant Accounts
  

Checks Are So Old Fashioned

Here's a little tip for your home based business. If you're still taking all of your payments by checks, or at least if that's what you're planning to do, you need to know that checks are a very old fashioned way of having people make payments!

Look at your own life. Honestly, outside of mailing a bill, when was the last time you really wrote a check? Or maybe a better question would be how many things do you really write checks for? If you're like most Americans, you probably use your credit or debit card a lot more than you use checks!

So what does this mean for your home business? Well, it means that you're going to need to get with the times. If most people are paying these days with credit cards, then you need to be able to take them! This is all done with a merchant account.

A home business merchant account is something you'll definitely need in your business. I heard a statistic once that 80% of phone and mail order are done with credit or debit cards. We just don't use checks like we used to!

If you're just running an online business you may not even need to get a machine. You can probably just get an online gateway and run things that way.

Either way, if you're really going to run a home business it's a good idea to accept credit cards. So just remember that you'll need a home business merchant account to do it!