Merchant Accounts Information For Ebook Sellers

If you sell ebooks online, then you probably already know you need a merchant accounts provider so you can accept credit cards from your website. The mere addition of credit card acceptance to your website will increase your sales. This is because you can't accept cash online and few people will go through the hassle of printing out an order form and mailing it to you with a check. In addition, people associate credit cards with speed and usually figure their order will take a very long time to arrive if they have to wait through mailing an order form, wait for their check to clear, and possibly wait even more before the ebook finally arrives. This is why it is crucial for every ebook seller to have a merchant accounts provider.

What Credit Cards To Accept

Most people charge purchases with MasterCard and Visa, so you definitely need a merchant accounts provider that allows you to accept these credit cards. The other two major credit cards are Discover and American Express. While they aren't used as often as MasterCard and Visa, it makes sense to also choose a merchant accounts provider that allows you accept these credit cards as well.

Compare Rates And Fees

Every merchant accounts provider is different and they all charge different fees, so take the time to compare so you find the best rates for your business. Stay away from any merchant accounts provider who gives you vague information about their rates and fees. If you walk away from a merchant accounts provider confused, move on to the next provider and don't look back. A merchant accounts provider should offer you clear, understandable information on the rates and fees you will pay before signing up.

24-7 Customer Service Is Worth Paying For

The lowest cost merchant accounts provider may not be the best provider for your business, especially when those lower fees don't garner you 24-7 customer service. You probably won't think too much about 24-7 customer service until you need it, but when you do you'll praise yourself if you've chosen a merchant accounts company that provides it.

Choose Merchant Accounts Providers With Features That Grow With You

Many ebook sellers only need the basic features of a merchant accounts provider, but if you plan to grow your business into more than selling one ebook, choose a merchant accounts provider that offers plans that grow with you. For example, you might only have one ebook for sale today, but maybe a year from now you'd like to offer ten ebooks and a coaching service people can sign up for. Your customers wouldn't want to pay for each ebook separately, so to best grow your business you need the ability to add a shopping cart to your website where your customers can add the ebooks they want and maybe even your coaching service and then pay for everything all at once.

If you take the time to find the right merchants accounts provider for your ebook website, your business with thrive with sales and will grow into a profitable future.

General Articles

Merchant Accounts Tips

You are absolutely not allowed to only process transactions above a certain minimum or below a certain maximum value. Per regulations, if you are going to accept credit cards, you must accept them for any transaction.

You must truncate account numbers on your receipts. Each state has its own laws governing what can and can not be on the receipt. For both the Merchant’s and cardholder’s protection, the general rule of thumb is to print no more than the last four digits of the card number on the receipt.

Examine the card! There have been many cases of an expired card being presented for payment that gets a valid authorization from the processor. However, in the end the transaction is not paid to the Merchant. The Merchant is responsible for examining the card and verifying the information present on the card.

Take every measure possible to prevent duplicate transactions. Duplicate transactions will result in a credit, dispute or chargeback and all of these can add up to losing your Merchant Account.

Always get an authorization for every credit card transaction you are going to settle. Not doing so will only create headaches and lost revenue for you.

Merchants are not allowed to charge any sort of usage fee for credit card transactions to offset the cost of accepting credit cards. This was done many years ago, but has since been outlawed by the card networks. Your Discount Rate and other associated fess are simply a cost of business that you accept when you decide to accept credit cards.