most cost effective payment system

[tomklein]

just wondered if anyone had any info on the most cost effective web payment system for use with actinic?

also is it necessary to have a shared SSL hosting on this software?

any info would be much appreciated. Thanks.

[jont]

PSP charges vary depending on volume of transactions so it is worth checking each out to see what suits you the best - ProtX and WorldPay seem to get the most mention on these forums.

You can have your own SSL certificate or there is also an inbuilt browser encryption - as well as sharing with your hosting company

[pinbrook]

Jont has given you the obvious contendors, you will need to contact all these providers yourself as costs vary from business to business depending on turnover, order value, time in business etc etc

[Darren B]

You can also look at nochex which i found to have some of the lowest charges i have found (not tried just whats on there site) also paypal but i suggest you have a look at http://www.paypalsucks.com

all i can tell you is nochex and paypal have no set up fees and nochex charge 20p + 2.6% which is very good if you have a low number of orders but as with all the more you put through the lower the % charged.

most of the other companies will charge anything from £120 to £250 setup fees + a monthly charge of aroun £20

hope this helps

Darren

[Buzby]

We have used Nochex and Paypal for around 2 years. Our customers tend to prefer Paypal although we prefer Nochex with lower charges and no charge backs.

We have just managed to get a merchant account with Bank of Scotland at a reasonable rate and process through Protx. After our first week with Protx sales are up and empty baskets are down so it may look as though customers are finding Protx more reassuring than Nochex or Paypal.

Although Protx charge £20+vat the lower fees with Bank of Scotland will offset this.

[pinbrook]

Jason

Would you mind posting how things progress in about a months time.

I would be interested to hear how your balance of transactions between the 3 providers pans out, and if you see orders increase.

For a long time a few of have been repeating how only using PSPs such as paypal and Nochex can inhibit sales, so now you've got Protx we've got a prefect example to watch - your 2 year history should give us good feedback.

[Darren B]

Jason

Having read your post i immediately started to investigate protx, having found i only have to sell about £300 of stock a month to cover the switch to protx and the benefits in sales you think you are having i have start to set up this.

So far
Bank of Scotland free business account for 12 months + 2.5% interest
£25 admin fee for setting up merchant account for use with protx
C/C 2.95%
Debit Card 52p

not the best charges but i will have to sell alot of kites to warrant spending £250 merchant set up fee with both barclays & natwest streamline.

anyone else have advice

Cheers
Darren

[Fairyglass]

When I first set up Protx I had the same rates as you- however I joined the Federation Of Small Businesses and rates went down to 1.95%. I also managed as a result of this to get a chip & pin mobile terminal with no set up fees and low rates, and good business insurance, VAT inspection cover and loads of other good services. FSB membership cost me £100/year, which I've covered just on the chip & pin machine.
I'm also a member of the Association Of Market Traders which offer similar reductions on PROTX and other benefits, and membership of this is less at £66 (sole trader) per year.
Hope this helps.

[Darren B]

Cheers Ben

I have no bricks & mortar premises at present, the kite business is a sideline to my day to day job for C & A, started as a hobby really. I registered the site about 5months ago and put it online last week. Google loves it already listed on first page for kites r us. No page rank yet though but i guess no sandbox for me (famous last words)

If my online sales really take off then i will have to seriously look at brick & mortar but thats a while down the road. Thats why the setup charges are critical to me i can always negotiate or change later.

I have achieved a few kite sales already through nochex & paypal since sunday but i hate paypal but it's what people know so a reputable company and more secure credit card transaction system should help customer confidence and thus should get a better order return.

Cheers
Darren

[Fairyglass]

Hi Darren,
I've no bricks & mortar premises either. I had to pitch quite hard to the bank, but opening a business bank account helped and my membership of FSB also added weight. Initially I got an internet only merchant number which I used for a year before requesting a full number- this way the bank had some history to judge me by.

Interesting you sell kites- I'm a kite enthusiast too!
All the best,
Ben

[pinbrook]

Kites Rock!!

[george]

Having membership of the FSB enabled Streamline to waiver the set up fee and give us a reduced rental or a PDQ machine.

[PA.com]

Hi all,

I took an interest in this thread as I'm beginning to get slightly piddled-off with PayPal and am considering adding Protx to the site. The question is which merchant account (CardNet, Barclays, Bank of Scotland etc.) to integrate Protx with.

Darren, are those the TOTAL Bank of Scotland merchant fees you quote? If so, those costs seems very competitive if there are no ongoing monthly charges and only a teeny little set-up charge. The £25 admin cost I assume is a one-off, and then the ensuing fees would be dependent on sales volume alone. Along with the £20 monthly Protx fee of course.

If anyone else could quote their Cardnet or Barclays charges I would be interested to make the comparison.

Thanks,
Paul

[Darren B]

Hi Paul

Those charges for the merchant account is all that there is £25 setup plus the card charges stated
protx £20 per month
business account free for 12 months then 60p/£100 cash banked 25p per cheque, that is all i am aware of at present - hence why i am happy to sign up with protx i have already covered 11 months costs by signing up with BOS instead of natwest streamline or barclays. Natwest did quote me 3.05% C/C & 49p for debit cards

i have noted what people say about the free sign up fee because they are members of XYZ but that still cost them in the first place. I could have about 25 letters after my name because of the qualifications i have got but i do not wish to pay fees to "old boys clubs" the question is what real business benefits do you get apart from saving a few quid which you can save if you shop around. Credit card % is negotiable, i have no history to negotiate with yet for this business

anyway enough ranting.

Barclays could not sort out my business account from the merchant account i had to go to a branch to do that. Natwest streamline are sending me information (sending it on Tuesday) still have not got it.

but BOS have been to my house, verified me, given me a key to a special box in the bank so i do not have to que, did not have the heart to tell them 95% of my business is online. all the papers are signed, and merchant account should be ready monday, all that leaves me is to finish my protx set up which is all but done just need my bank account number and merchant number.

i have to say i judge people by there actions so far so good.

Cheers
Darren

ps Ben you know where to come if you want a kite (sorry jo need to push them)

[PA.com]

Thanks very much Darren, I think I'll give BoS a call!

Paul