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Merchant Accounts

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  • 31-01-2012 10:23pm
    #1
    YouBuyLocal
    Registered Users Posts: 293 ✭✭


    Is there an expert on Merchant accounts or on line business banking about?

    I am wondering whether, if I have a a brick and mortar store and a long relationship with a local high-street bank, I would have difficulty getting an on line merchant account?

    I know it is difficult to get a merchant account, but if I were a business like a butcher or veg shop, 10 or 30 years in the same place and with the same local bank branch, would I find it as difficult?

    Thanks


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    #2
    cfeeneyinterior
    Registered Users Posts: 1,077 ✭✭✭cfeeneyinterior


    I'm no expert but from experience it isn't that hard. A pain in the ass maybe but not too difficult. Your site would have to be nearly finished so they can test it and made sure everything is safe and secure. I'm sure being an established retailer would help but get the site done first, merchant account will follow. You are talking weeks/month or two once site is almost live to get the merchant account.


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    #3
    YouBuyLocal
    Registered Users Posts: 293 ✭✭YouBuyLocal


    cfeeneyinterior wrote: »
    I'm no expert but from experience it isn't that hard. A pain in the ass maybe but not too difficult. Your site would have to be nearly finished so they can test it and made sure everything is safe and secure. I'm sure being an established retailer would help but get the site done first, merchant account will follow. You are talking weeks/month or two once site is almost live to get the merchant account.
    cfeeneyinterior wrote: »
    I'm no expert but from experience it isn't that hard. A pain in the ass maybe but not too difficult. Your site would have to be nearly finished so they can test it and made sure everything is safe and secure. I'm sure being an established retailer would help but get the site done first, merchant account will follow. You are talking weeks/month or two once site is almost live to get the merchant account.

    I can set up ecommerce for any business in ten minutes, functionality is not a problem. Marketing for a local business is also not a problem, although it takes time. Inventory is a larger problem, but solvable if the business wants to put a little more time in. Payment processing is the biggest problem. Require Paypal API for doing group deals and merchant must have specific type of Paypal account.

    Realex is cheaper but requires merchant account. To set this up for a lot of businesses I have to estimate the difficulty they will have in gaining online merchant status.


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    #4
    smcgiff
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,943 ✭✭✭smcgiff


    I just set up Paypal yesterday for two companies. It took 20 minutes.

    Paypal charge 3.5% though, which is more expensive than some merchant providers.


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    #5
    enviro
    Registered Users Posts: 1,291 ✭✭✭enviro


    What are the rates as a matter of interest?


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    #6
    YouBuyLocal
    Registered Users Posts: 293 ✭✭YouBuyLocal


    smcgiff wrote: »
    I just set up Paypal yesterday for two companies. It took 20 minutes.

    Paypal charge 3.5% though, which is more expensive than some merchant providers.

    I think the basic service Paypal also charges 35c per transaction, which is around 7% on a €10 purchase or around 5% for a €20. That is just one package though.

    Realex charge a flat €29 per month for 350 transactions, no transaction fees until you go over 350 transactions - over which it is 12c per transaction.

    So you have to sell €900 online to get the percentages down to Paypal (only counting transactions, not marketing, advertising or anything else). At 20euro per sale, thats around 10-12 online sales per week. At 500 or 600 fans for a small business I think that it is perfectly feasible to get those regular customers by offering specials on line to get people in the door.

    Hmm:confused:


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    #7
    maxer68
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,076 ✭✭✭maxer68


    YouBuyLocal wrote: »
    Is there an expert on Merchant accounts or on line business banking about?

    I am wondering whether, if I have a a brick and mortar store and a long relationship with a local high-street bank, I would have difficulty getting an on line merchant account?

    Thanks

    You'll have no difficulty whatsoever if you already have a long relationship with the bank. It will take about 2 weeks as they won't need to do as much checking as a new business setup.


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    #8
    YouBuyLocal
    Registered Users Posts: 293 ✭✭YouBuyLocal


    maxer68 wrote: »
    You'll have no difficulty whatsoever if you already have a long relationship with the bank. It will take about 2 weeks as they won't need to do as much checking as a new business setup.

    Thats the answer I wanted to hear :-)


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