Starting up my first site, merchant account?
 

I'm starting up a site that will do adult downloads, and I'm trying to figure out how to get the money from the people who want to buy from me.

CCbill seems to be pretty straightforward, but their 14.5% cut makes me wince.

A merchant account seems cheaper, I don't expect many chargebacks, but since I have no idea what the volume of sales will be, can I even get one?

I wouldnt get one if I was you, if you not know that you will make at least 20 sales a day... to much hassle for the money saved if you dont make 20 sales a day i think

Its very difficult to get a merchant account for an adult online business without both a processing history of at least 3 months, and an established volume of processing per month. For a start up, I would recommend an IPSP like CCbill. Although the fees are high, it's really the only way that you can go, and will be needed in putting together a processing history as well as getting your monthly volume of transaction built up.

You can try Segpay or Standardpay.

Good luck!|thumb

Getting your own MA would require getting a company, accountant, support staff etc.. to save your less than 5-7% - so as 2mmy says you need volume and a good backend structure or it's simply not worth it. You should instead try to negotiate the processing fees at a thirdparty biller, if you can send some good sales and have very few CBs.

Don't expect to get a MA unless you're already doing 80-100K a month.

I'm with everyone else. Initially get set up with a 3rd party biller while you establish your biz. the 14%+ scares you, just raise your fees until you net the $$ you want in the end.

Thanks so much for your feedback guys. :)

CCbill is supposed to be the #1 choice because they really go over the sale (scrub?). Since I don't expect that to be much of a problem*, Standardpay sounds like the way to go.

I'm actually going into the business with two friends of mine, so we'll be creating a formal company and have gotten a small loan to get started.

At any rate, I think you're right about getting some sales history under our belts before going for that Merchant Account.



*It's a niche fetish product. Not much value for people who aren't into it.

Just please, whatever you do, if you offer an affiliate program make it so you don't have to change links if you should switch procssors. :)

Just my 2c. :)

I'd go with CCBill until you build up some volume. I've used them and they've been very good to me and very supportive to what I'm trying to do. Their sales manager Doug Wicks is a good guy. Contact him and he'll take great care of you.

Whatever route you follow, don't cut corners to save pennies here or there. Pick the best solution and build your business on a solid foundation.

Just a note on merchant accounts in general. They normally charge you something like 3% of a transaction PLUS a general 20 to 30 cent for each transaction. Plus, as mentioned they are a pain in the ass to get set up. So, I would do the math, because paying a 3rd party's processing fees might not be too bad in the long run!

CCbill is not a bad way to go, especially if you are just starting out. Some very good people over there to help you out.

Incredibledollars.com

Just starting out you should leave the billing to the experts. When you get a history and a feel for the process, then think about a merchant account but go with CC Bill or another processor that has been around a long time first.

Yeah, it's been a while since I started this thread.

No, the store hasn't opened yet.

Yes. CCbill is part of the problem. Did you know they don't accept shopping carts?

Big surprise to me. So, while I'm trying to get CCbill to actually work for me, does anyone have an alternative?

I sell downloadables. You put it in the shopping cart, and then check out. You then get an email with your download code and go download it. This blows CCBill's mind. |shocking|

I'm hoping I don't have to go with someone's turnkey system to get this working. I've already put a ton of time and money into this site already.

Please hit me up I would be happy to look into this for you.

thomasw@ccbill.com
ICQ: 478740081

we've been with ccbill for many years now, unfortunatelly they dont bill debit cards. Switched to epoch recently.
14% is a common comission for our market.

CCBill does bill debit cards - although there are some banks that limit the debit card purchases. For example, US debit card holder may have trouble getting processed on CCBill-EU (or any other foreign processor) if their bank prohibits foreign transactions. CCbill US works just fine on my and millions of other debit cards.