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Should I Cancel my Merchant Account?

by ProfitwithAdam
9 replies
Hello Fellow Warriors,

I must admit that I am an extreme newbie when it comes to Internet Marketing, at least the ways this Forum suggests. My background is from MLM and I am tired of dealing with that stress. I had a successful website selling products that I shipped out personally. The FDA recently banned the product due to its nature and new regulations that were just passed. This leaves me with a Merchant Account all set-up that I am not using.

Anyway, I am learning about everything that is not MLM. Which is like speaking Chinese when English is my native language. I mean no disrespect, its just that everything is foreign to me at this point.

I guess what I'm asking my fellow warriors is is there a reason to have a Merchant Account? If so, what can it be used for? And lastly, is there a benefit to having a Merchant Account other than Pay-Pal or Google Checkout?

I know I can sell my own products, but I can also do that thru Clickbank for example too or even use Pay-Pal. I just don't want to continue to pay for something if theres really no point in keeping it.

Thank you in advance for your comments!

Adam
#account #cancel #merchant
  • Profile picture of the author Brad Gosse
    Adam

    in my experience a merchant account is invaluable in business.

    I usually put all my large transactions say over $10,000 through my own merchant account. I pay less fees and I would with other processors not to mention rolling reserves and other headaches third-party processors provide.

    It really depends on what your business is going to be in the future and whether you think you'll be doing a lot of credit card transactions. For instance an affiliate marketer does not need a merchant account.

    You should never take closing a merchant account lightly. It seems like every year they get harder and harder to obtain.

    Good luck with your transition!
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  • Profile picture of the author HomeComputerGames
    Hi Adam,
    I agree with what Brad has advised.
    I started off with just PayPal (way back when) and after I got a Merchant account and started taking credit card payments from the store something strange happened, My PayPal purchases more than tripled!!
    I knew conversions would increase but I never considered PayPal customers to increase.
    I believe it has to do with consumer trust.

    One thing that is not well known is that many places allow you to suspend your Account for several months if it is not being utilized. Doing this may give you some time to decide on your next venture and if it will be needed.
    You will have to contact your provider to see if they allow this.

    The Best of Luck!

    Ken
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    • Profile picture of the author WD Mino
      Hi Adam,

      welcome to the world of Internet Marketing!

      I don't suggest closing your merchant account for the following reason.
      your sending and receiving limit is drastically affected.

      you don't gain much credibility with customers if it is a personal account and not a verified paypal merchant account. so people may cancel transactions instead of complete them. (my opinion)

      paypal requires you to have a merchant account to receive payments via ipn etc which is very handy if running a membersite or dealing with a lot of transactions.
      i too ran an online business before switching to IM in febuary sending out old toys etc the shipping sucked ! but there were times i had payments pretty nice in size and i would have not been allowed to accept them without that account.

      if you don't want to use paypal then by all means but millions of people use them and it will affect your sales. you could however leave your paypal account open a different account at 2 co or paydotcom or some place but i don't advise closing an existing merchant account as brad said it is getting harder to obtain for simple fact people abuse things there are more measures taken now etc.

      just a few thoughts.
      -WD
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  • Profile picture of the author David Hooper
    Had one for many years and recently closed it out, with the exception of American Express, because there are so many other great options for taking money these days.
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    • Profile picture of the author cypionate
      If you have a Merchant ID (MID) with a bank then I would definitely leave it open. A merchant account can play an important role in whatever you do online - especially if you want to sell things.

      One thing to keep in mind is that if you have a merchant account (not a third party biller) your conversions will be a lot better if you can host the actual payment form and POST back to the gateway via API. Sometimes people get a little turned off when they are "sent to" a third party billers website to complete the transaction.

      I guess I am kinda going off on a tangent. My suggestion is to keep the merchant account. No reason to close it.

      Cyp
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  • Profile picture of the author DoubleYourWay
    I have owned a merchant account when I was marketing Coastal Vacations. It's virtually useless. You're better off accepting credit cards through a payment processor like 2 Check Out or Paypal.
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  • Profile picture of the author ahlexis
    Don't forget, starting next year Paypal has changes coming (at least in the USA). And they have to report transactions to FinCEN just like a bank if you go over certain dollar amounts.

    So if you should decide to pursue offline marketing it would be very wise to have that merchant account up and running, as (depending on your clients and the amounts you charge) it could make your life a lot easier when it comes to receiving payment for your services.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jack Duncan
    Adam,
    Great question...

    I have a separate merchant account as well...and so far I have kept it, even though I don't run too many transactions through it...

    The reason for that is because PayPal brings back a much higher conversion rate...

    I think you should try testing your offer with the Merchant against PayPal and Google and see what delivers the overall best conversion rate (- refunds and abandoned carts)

    Cheers,
    Jack Duncan
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  • Profile picture of the author ProfitwithAdam
    Thank you all very much for your posts! I appreciate it very much. I am going to keep it open, especially since i still don't know the direction I want to take right now with Internet Marketing. Its so different than MLM and I don't want to close the account and then need one later and not be able to get one. Thank you all, you have help make my mind up on keeping the account.

    Thank you,

    Adam
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