I am looking to find a way to allow people to pay with a credit card. Do any of you use anything that you like?

We have a CC terminal and use a processing co from a local bank. Works very well. Probably a little more pricey than most people want. We can accept credit cards at events without needing to write down numbers. Just a swipe of the card.

I love it and our customers like getting a "real" CC receipt.

PGP and paypal.
~Alisha

We have leased a credit card machine... very convenient....

I use Paypal for wedding deposits and print sales go through Photoreflect's site. All get 13%-19% taken out of it- ouch!

Does anyone use MYOB's service? Anyone use an online solution other than paypal?

I've looked at Costco.. something to check into.. they have a online system where you can enter in the credit card numbers... I think some of the local banks have it as well. I would check into it.. I think the % taken out is a little higher because it is a higher risk, but you won't have to lease a terminal... this is mostly if you want to run credit cards out of your home.

I use a merchant service that I am not happy with. I will be cancelling them when my contract expires.

I suggest calling Charlie Creamer at Mid-West Transaction Group and letting him know that you are a photographer. I am sure that you will like what he has to say! I am planning on going with MTG. They have some great rates!

Quickbooks Pro (their CC service is waaay cheap!) and also Paypal

I recently stopped advertising that I accept cc payments due to it getting a bit out of control (but not enough to justify paying for a service). Now I've only gotten one request this year. It was fantastic! I've been using Paypal. And that one person even offered to pay a little more to cover the fees for convenience. But I nicely declined since they were so nice about it

paypal merchant services (& virtual terminal)

ditto - it's so easy and about 2-3% on the fees.

PayPal. Quick, easy and you can customize your invoice to them.

I've found it has helped me to get the wedding deposit in - they dont have to make a trip back out. I can email the contract, have them sign and bring by in a day or so, l but get the $$ down to reserve the date. Especially when Dad is paying they can send him the link to pay.

I use Pictage's P3 service and let them carry the merchant fee.

paypal...easy as pie

I can verify this. I use Charlie and Mid-West Transaction Group. It is very inexpensive and convenient.

PayPal Pro - they take payments from my site and the reason I'm staying with them is for the shipping labels feature. saves me 5min per parcel probably.

Discover Network, allows you to enter your charges by phone if you don't want to go the terminal route. However, we're looking at the Quickbooks Pro system. Entries are made through QuickBooks Pro.

Funds take about 4 days to hit the acocunt through DiscoverNetwork. Not sure about QuickBooks Pro.
The merchant account through our bank put funds into the account the night of the transaction, but DiscoverNetwork saved us over 2% per transaction, and we'll see what QuickBooks Pro has to offer.

Mark

Personal opinion here, and it will get you a cup of coffee only at our place ;-) so don't take this the wrong way, or get offended, but let me add this:

I've never been a fan of PayPal. Too many negatives associated with it.
In the early days, it was viewed only as a way for E-bay enthusiasts to be able to accept credit cards.
It is viewed by some (maybe many) as a "less than professional level" method of accepting credit cards. In other words PayPal doesn't carry the highest level of professional credibility. Certainly not if you have to send the client a link, and they have to 'sign up' to be able to use it. If they are in the office, we just pull out the card imprinter and run it through and let them sign the slip and give them a copy. If it is by phone or off the website, we imprint the slip, write in the numbers and sned them the receipt with the orders. It also shows up on their statement as being a charge from our company name.

Almost anyone can set up a payPal account to accept payments. The guy next door (literally) has a PayPal account for his e-bay and flea market "sales."

Personally, I will not use it to pay a bill, much less accept it for payment.
In the back of my mind, if PayPal is my only option to pay, I always wonder if I am dealing with an established business, so I look elsewhere.

The opinion stated is that of the poster, and does not necessarily reflect the views of this board, its owners, or sponsors. This opinion not valid where prohibited by law. Your mileage may vary.

Mark

I just signed up for a machine from Advanta credit card. i think the vendor they use is Mechant services or something like that.
200.00 for the machine and 5.00 monthly. 2.05% and .25cent transaction.

I have had a great success with Pictage P3 deal. No fees! That also re-inforces "Pictage" name and site for when I upload all of their wedding images. Keeps them familiar with everything.
The one drawback that I have found is not to be in a rush for your money from Pictage. It takes a month for them to cut me a check and get it in the mail. It's usually ok, but I would like to get the green a lot sooner! I wish that Pictage had some sort of direct deposit to you. I think that would speed things up. That, or it would screw up the works even more with their accounting! ha ha! Can't get much worse!

www.propay.com

A few years ago I would have agreed with you. Things have obviously changed since the last time you used it though. There are now an absolute ton of major, well respected merchants who use (or at least offer) PayPal checkouts (I just spent a small fortune at ZipZoomFly.com upgrading my PC and they use PayPal checkout).

You no longer have to sign up to use PayPal to pay an invoice to through an online checkout. It gives you the option of logging in, if you have an account, or just allows you to check out as any other shopping cart would if you don't.

PayPal works for me. It works with my EZPhotosales online shopping cart, I can send invoices to clients via email, I can use the virtual terminal to take credit card payments over the phone. I don't have to pay to buy or lease a terminal, I pay 3% period... no hidden fees, no "peak season" fees (a lot of people I know have been getting those from their CC companies lately)... and I can deposit the money straight in to my bank account at any time - no waiting for a check to be mailed.

I think that a distinction should be made between the different services that Paypal offers. As far as people just paying with credit cards, you can either:

1) send them an invoice/requests for money. They don't necessarily have to have an account, but in order to charge more than a certain amount, they have to go through the process of validating their card, open an account, etc. This option costs nothing on a monthly basis, but if you have a business paypal account, you will get charged around 3% on every payment that you receive.

2) virtual terminal/website payments. You basically open a merchant account and either gather the client's info yourself and process it through the virtual terminal or you can have it integrated into your website like an online store (not what most photographers are looking for as far as package payments). This option costs $20 per month plus the 3%.

I used to do just option #1, but then ran into an issue when a client's father wanted to pay the entire $3000 up front (yeah!), but Paypal wouldn't allow him to do it without registering the card, etc. So, I opened the virtual terminal and input it directly. The amount was directly put into my paypal account where I had access to it.

Did you consider Sam's Club or Costco? We don't use them for that but they do have good rates for merchant processing.

+1

same here. It's a huge incentive for working with Pictage!

me too. (you will noticed I went this route after signing up with Advanta.)
WAY easier and convenient.

This is the guy I have been talkin to in the last month great cs. so far.
Miguel

Well, I used PayPal to purchase my website from BluDomain and to pay my WPJA dues a couple of months ago. They seem professionally credible to me

Everyone loves that I take PayPal payments - more than I love it. I'd much rather have a check. Oh, well ... convenience always wins!

Is PMS what people are complaining about when they say that folks have to register their cards, or are they referring to the PayPal service I use to buy stuff on eBay.

What's the difference between PMS and the other merchant services out there?

-TM

PayPal Merchant Services do not require the customer to sign up with PayPal. From the customer's end, they don't see PayPal at all. The Merchant Services account carries different fees, as well. This is definitely an upgrade from the PayPal account you use on eBay. I've been using it for about 2 months now and so far, so good!

FYI: Google Checkout is free until the end of the year.

What's the difference between PMS and the other merchant services out there?

-TM

You really are at the mercy of Paypal Merchant Services. I've heard horror stories from businesses (who used them) that Paypal would lock their account and they'd be unable to get ahold of their funds for months. You have very little protection when people use credit cards. And there are some pretty big class action lawsuits going on against them.

Look at this website: http://www.paypalsucks.com/ It explains A LOT.

I, personally, would never trust my business and money with this company. While many people may have had good luck with them, there are plenty of other people who will curse Paypal till they die.

Good luck,
Aaron

I just started using Midwest transaction group and their customer service has been great. Signed up through PPA. Better rates than my previous provider.