eBay Hacks, 2nd Edition

Use an Off-eBay Checkout System

Use this system to integrate payments with shipping and accounting.

In the old days, any seller who wanted to accept credit cards had to get a credit card merchant account. Now, payment services like PayPal [Hack #85] have made merchant accounts largely unnecessary for everyone but the largest sellers, but there are still reasons to get a merchant account. For instance, sellers who do a lot of business may be able to get a better discount rate as a credit card merchant than they could through PayPal, which essentially means they keep a larger percentage of the payments they receive. And anyone who sells merchandise outside of eBay will not want to limit their transactions only to PayPal.

Tip

If you use an off-eBay checkout system, you may wish to disable eBay’s own checkout [Hack #64] to keep bidders on-track. Better yet, use a payment-collection system that integrates with eBay, such as Marketworks (www.marketworks.com).

But if there’s any single truth when it comes to accepting payments on eBay, it’s this: the more types of payment you accept, the more bids you’ll get.

Getting a Merchant Account

This is one thing eBay won’t do for you, and one thing that requires more than spending five minutes filling out a form on a web site. The best way to start is by contacting your bank and asking them to recommend a merchant account provider with which they’re affiliated.

A representative will then talk to you and request lots of information about you and your ...