Building a Web Site For Dummies®, 3rd Edition

Getting a Merchant Account

You know that old line of Groucho Marx’s? The one that went something like, “I wouldn’t want to join any club that would have someone like me as a member.” Well, if you’re just getting started and don’t have any kind of business or financial track record, you may have to settle for a credit card merchant account — giving you the ability to accept credit cards — that doesn’t necessarily give you the best deal.

Even if you’re really good at what you do and you’re going into all this with your eyes wide open, the odds are pretty good that a financial analyst will classify you right alongside the starry-eyed dreamers who don’t have a chance — unless you have a solid business plan, a proven staff, and some serious money behind your operation. That doesn’t necessarily mean that you can’t get a merchant account; after all, some credit card companies will give merchant accounts to businesses that they consider high-risk clients, just as there are loan companies that give a loan to someone with poor credit. But it probably means that you’ll end up paying more for the privilege than a well-established firm would. Maybe lots more.

So what do you need to do to get established? And what are the pitfalls you have to guard against?

Choosing which acquirers to sign up with

If you think that you have a good relationship with your local bank, going into e-commerce might make you think again. Bankers are notoriously conservative. This is a good trait, of course, in people ...