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Questions About Payments

by Mark Singletary
10 replies
I'm making some changes and am going to do more "local" marketing but a significant part of it will be remote clients (meaning not in my home town).

Since in many cases there won't be an in person meeting, how do you get paid? If by credit card, for example by paying through your website, how would you do it without a merchant account?

I understand that PayPal may have a problem with big dollar amounts coming in out of the blue for services so I'm a little leery.

Thanks.
Mark
#payments #questions
  • Profile picture of the author rondo
    If you don't want to use Paypal, consider getting an account with Stripe.com and then hook it up with a suitable invoicing/billing integrated service.


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  • Profile picture of the author Mark Singletary
    Thanks. I know about most of the commonly mentioned alternative payment processors.

    I guess my worry, which I didn't explain clearly, is all the sudden getting $1,000+ payments out of the blue. That's a good thing, of course, but the processor may not see it that way with a new account no matter if it's a "real" merchant account or just a payment processor. I'm thinking it wouldn't take long for them to start wondering about all these big payments for "services rendered" versus a physical good.

    Mark
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    • Profile picture of the author Samuel Adams
      Originally Posted by Mark Singletary View Post

      Thanks. I know about most of the commonly mentioned alternative payment processors.

      I guess my worry, which I didn't explain clearly, is all the sudden getting $1,000+ payments out of the blue. That's a good thing, of course, but the processor may not see it that way with a new account no matter if it's a "real" merchant account or just a payment processor. I'm thinking it wouldn't take long for them to start wondering about all these big payments for "services rendered" versus a physical good.

      Mark
      Could you possibly call Paypal or your payment processor and explain the situation with your business and ask for their advice or at least let them know ahead of time that you could be receiving a large payment. This might cushion the shock when a large payment comes through and there would be a note on your account so that red flags would not be raised.
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  • Profile picture of the author rondo
    I've never had a problem receiving large one-off amounts through Paypal. I used to get 5k-10k payments regularly. (I won't use PP for long-term subscriptions however).
    I don't see why you'd have problems with Stripe or similar, but charging 50% upfront and the rest on completion might reduce risk.


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  • Profile picture of the author walterthegaul
    I think it depends a bit on your target market. When it comes down to online payment, i would not leave out Paypal and credit cards. They are the major players and most commonly used. However i would look at the competition and see what kind of payment options they offer. I have noticed that a lot of platforms now integrate prepaid cards (visa, paysafecard, ...) and some of them have solutions for bigger amounts as well. But then again it really depends on what the nature of your business is. If you only deal with high amounts, i would do a little research by taking a peek at the competition.
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  • Profile picture of the author Aaron Doud
    There are many options, Paypal, Square (manual entry), and etc. But the issue of what you are worried about is founded. Paypal in particular (maybe due to their size) has horror stories of holds. Holds are simply a part of the payment processor world and you need to be aware of the risk.

    Honestly unless you take a check (IamNameless has mentioned a few times how to do it over the phone without their check) you could be subject to a hold. You must make sure your business can survive a delay in cash flow. That's one reason why so many of us say when starting out make sure whatever you offer you can do yourself so you have little costs besides your time.

    On a side note why wouldn't you start local? It is far easier to sell local and in person.
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    • Profile picture of the author Mark Singletary
      Originally Posted by Aaron Doud View Post

      On a side note why wouldn't you start local? It is far easier to sell local and in person.
      I'm sure it is. The reason is that my current hometown is in a place that I can't write the language and still am learning to read it. Building websites, doing SEO, managing social media, etc. would be extremely difficult.

      Mark
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      • Profile picture of the author Aaron Doud
        Originally Posted by Mark Singletary View Post

        I'm sure it is. The reason is that my current hometown is in a place that I can't write the language and still am learning to read it. Building websites, doing SEO, managing social media, etc. would be extremely difficult.

        Mark
        I want to thank you for finally giving me an awesome answer to that question.

        That is 100% a reason not to do local.

        Can you use your location as a selling advantage in your pitches?
        • My prices are cheaper due to.....
        • We work during the night so you see results every morning.
        • etc, etc
        I am assuming different nation from where you will be selling so an online payment service where they can use a credit card and have that protection would be best in that situation. Personally I think I would use Paypal since there is name recognition. You could really promote all the protection they have. Turn the whole you are in another nation and it's a distance transaction into a positive before they bring it up as a negative.


        But be aware that you are more likely then most to face Paypal holds. Can you handle a delay in cash flow?
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  • Profile picture of the author Mark Singletary
    Thanks for the input.

    Even though this will be an addition to existing business, I think I need to do some more figuring on this payment thing because I wouldn't want this to affect my current incoming payments and I'm almost certain it will without some changes to the plan.

    Mark
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  • Profile picture of the author BillyParadise
    call PayPal. That's funny.
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