The last time I wrote on Hot Blog Tips, I wrote about, “Tried and True Tips for Blog Content.” Since that time, my blogging has morphed into an area that is new to me, but I’ve accepted the challenge.
When I first started out online I sold private label pet products. I lasted about a year before I became overwhelmed with customer complaints and questions. The stress of dealing with customers was zapping my creativity in other ways. As such, I started learning everything I could about affiliate marketing. However, just recently my mom asked me to help her create a blog to sell her own products. This is great, although, I, personally shudder at the thought.
To complicate matters, she doesn’t want to use PayPal to process her payments because she encountered issues with them when she was selling items on eBay. This led to researching other options to process credit cards. I love my mom with all my heart; that goes without saying… But can anyone else see where this is going? It’s a headache to say the least but I’m gonna hope and pray she never sees this post. My dad likes DeSoto Land and that’s about it, aside from Solitaire. You might say that’s gained him brownie points. I kid. It’s great that she wants to do something and get involved most days anyway…
Back to the issue at hand, how to process credit cards on your blog. Below are some tips I learned that I hope will help spare you when your mom/sister/aunt/cousin or grandma wants you to build them a blog. That’s another issue entirely, when everyone you know wants to do what you do but, they don’t want to learn.
Processing Demands & Questions
First and foremost is obviously figuring out what you need. Keeping with my mom as an example she wants to sell crafts, quilts and fabric etc. Along with selling on her blog and accepting online payments, she wanted the flexibility to accept payments offline if she was participating in a craft show. But the real concern is your processing needs.
- Do you have to sign a contract?
- Is there an application fee?
- Is the system easy to integrate?
- Are the fees reasonable?
- Is the interface user friendly and do you need any further software and/or hardware?
- Does the company have a mobile card reader to use when accepting payments offline? Many companies now offer readers that can be used right with their mobile device.
As an aside, do research PayPal as an option. If you’re processing needs are under, say, $1000.00 it may be a viable option as the fees are nominal. But if you don’t want to use PayPal, keep reading.
What is a Payment Gateway?
In the simplest of terms a payment gateway is a company that processes all credit card transactions. All transaction online, that purchase using a credit card, must go through such a gateway.
Rates and Fees
- What are the initial costs to get up and running?
- What are the monthly minimums?
- Make sure you ask about per transaction fees AND monthly fees.
- re payments deposited to your bank account?
Make sure you are not being charged for services that you aren’t using. For instance if you only want to accept credit cards online – which are keyed in- you don’t want to be charged for swiping.
The credit card industry is known for shady practices, make sure to read all terms and conditions and that you understand them. If something doesn’t make sense or seems off, speak up and ask questions. Don’t be afraid to negotiate! Credit card companies are in steep competition use it to your benefit.
This is by no means meant to be an exhaustive list of concerns but it’s aimed at bloggers that want to start accepting credit card/debit payments and important items to consider.
If I missed anything, I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Related Blogging Tips :
Latest posts by Chrissie Cole (see all)
- Going Beyond PayPal – Accepting Credit Cards On Your Blog - November 6, 2012
- Tried and True Tips For New Blog Content - August 2, 2012
Thanks for sharing these tips Chrissie, with PayPal’s recent security issues, high fees and lack of access in certain parts of the World, finding other options is an important consideration for bloggers that have products to offer.
Thanks, Brian! I enjoyed writing it for your site and being able to share my experiences so far
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Chrissie Cole recently posted..Tax Tip for the Self-employed!
Hi Chrissie
Paypal is annoying a lot of people these days. I have been using 2co since last year. Though their fees are almost crazy, they are the best choice for International vendors. Hope you get the most suitable option for your mum
Thanks for sharing the tips
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Thanks, Enstine! Sorry to hear the fees are crazy but glad you found something that is working for your business. It can be quite overwhelming! Good luck to you
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Chrissie Cole recently posted..Tax Tip for the Self-employed!
Paypal cannot be used in India for money transfer and thats the reason I have been looking for an alternative but its been difficult for me to make a decision. The questions have list will greatly help make my final decision…thanks….
My pleasure, Amanda! I’m glad you found it useful. Good luck!
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Chrissie Cole recently posted..Tax Tip for the Self-employed!
Then what about the Payza in India. Is this secure way to receive donations on my blog
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saikrishna recently posted..Nikon 1 V1 Review With Specifications,Features and Price
Paypal is not always a safe option now a days.
Thanks for the article that has opened my eyes some more
Agreed! Thanks for taking the time to read the post and to comment
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Chrissie Cole recently posted..Tax Tip for the Self-employed!
Hi Chrisse,
I’d love to accept credit card on blog but for a new blog if we don’t use PayPal as our payment method. People might not going to use and eventually ask to pay via PayPal.
However, it’d be good to accept both on our blog and as a well known blog, it’s absolutely great to only accept credit card.
Thank you – Ferb
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It’s not bad to use PayPal by any means if that is what works. But it is good to have some other options so that should a problem arise you have a backup and hopefully not too much downtime. People are becoming more and more upset with PP from what I’ve been reading. Good luck!
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Chrissie Cole recently posted..Tax Tip for the Self-employed!
It would become easier for a person to use their credit cards over paypall for online blogs if credit card payments are accepted. Making a payball account is a bit confusing and complicated for people like me. Hence, credit card is the best option.
I agree, Peter! My own brother gets very annoyed with the whole PayPal thing, he doesn’t want to be bothered. He prefers to just use his credit card.
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Chrissie Cole recently posted..Tax Tip for the Self-employed!
I prefer MoneyBooker and Google Wallet. I think Wallet is best, easy and more secure.
Thanks for offering some feddback, Sajid! You gave me more to research, can never have too much information or options!
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Chrissie Cole recently posted..Tax Tip for the Self-employed!
Hi Chrisse,
First thing which i wanted to say is i’m from India so unfortunately i don’t use paypal for selling products as we can’t transfer funds from paypal to paypal. So the only thing which i can use is credit cards, basically we are using ccavenue for payment gateaway, which is awesome fast and secure too.
And the next thing is we get awesome support for any problems occurred with payment gateaway.
Thanks for sharing your experience.
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Hi Tushar, I’m glad you found something that works! I’ve not heard of that payment gateway but I’ve learned a lot from all the great comments here. Have a good night!
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Chrissie Cole recently posted..Tax Tip for the Self-employed!
PayPal has been a nightmare for many internet marketers, seizing and holding large amounts of money that isn’t theirs because they cannot understand the difference between fraud, money laundering and selling large ticket items. Finding another option is a great idea and thanks for the tips.
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I am sure not all can prefer to pay through paypall when buying or conducting a transaction online. Payments via credit cards can make it convenient for the internet users. There are so many other websites that accept money through credit and debit cards. Yes we should have these options as well.
Chrissie, I love Paypal. It is so convenient A lot of people have not got on board yet. I do not know why.
Maybe your tips will make it easier for people to understand. I wish some members of my family would get it, it would make it easier to send money.
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Thanks for commenting, Michael! PayPal is wonderful and has really been there for me over the years. But after a few incidents and reading some horrifying stories that I didn’t know about, it’s good to have other options. That’s really the main point I was trying to make.
There are always other options than PayPal, like Neteller, that offers people a way to pay for stuff online. PayPal is the most popular one though. You can always become a merchant of one of the banks that will allow you to accept certain credit cards. I remember when I was running my BBS I accepted Visa card payments directly as payment for joining.
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I recently set up my blog and have incorporated Amazon as well as Paypal. I realize paypal has given some people issues when large sums of money are used but I wasn’t aware of any security issues mentioned in the comment posted above. Do you mean like financial information falling in the wrong hands due to paypal’s lack of secure payment methods????
Thanks for the article, the idea of credit cards helps me better than paypal, i have been using paypal since four years, but the tax got increased and within india transfers cant be done.
Through these cards there is no such problem as every blog accepts cards.
Awesome tips. I love using Paypal but sometime many people in india wont have paypal they love to use credit card option or buying products or for shopping. Thanks for your great contents and tips.
I learned that a good rule of thumb when choosing a credit card company is to determine what you want from your business. Some have the capability of give you descriptive sales reports that may be beneficial to your marketing.
Good point, Paul! Reports are always helpful. I must be honest and admit that I’m getting better at studying my reports and analyzing them in all aspects of my sites. A task that most days gives me a headache
But it’s necessary.
Excellent tips about paypal. I have a paypal account and handle pretty hard with it. Everything seems a little more clear now.
A couple questions. Would be great if someone can answer.
1. Isn’t there a minimum time limit before we can get approved by these credit card companies. I heard they require the site to be up for at least one year?
2. Why did the author not even bother to talk about other services similar to Paypal? Say Amazon payments? Are they not worth considering?
Mahesh,
I didn’t mention others because I don’t have any first hand experience with other services aside from PayPal. That being said, I’ve been doing more research and will try and do a follow up post in the future about my trials etc.
I have read a lot of complaints from people doing biz online and using paypal as their money processor. Most of the complaints stemmed from having their accounts limited. I have had the experience of getting an account limited and it’s not good at all. It’s a total headache. I just hope paypal would be loosen up a bit and be more considerate to their users.
Hi
I believe wallet technique is greatest, simple better.Thanks for this.
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Thanks for the post!It is good to go for other option than using pay pal as payment method.Pay pal limits the account without any reason.In my view,Money bookers is one of the good alternative for paypal.
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If I missed commenting to anyone, I apologize! But thank you for all the feedback, suggests and questions
Sharing experiences makes it that much easier 
Thank you Chrissie, You’re an awesome writer and I really appreciate how you handle the comments. You could give classes on guest posting.
Thanks, Brian! I enjoy writing and commenting on your blog a lot
Happy Thanksgiving!
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Chrissie Cole recently posted..Tax Tip for the Self-employed!
I’m definitely considering this as an option to accept payments from my customers and it’s true that it can be risky. It’s a must to go over all the policies and regulations involved before giving this a go. Thanks for the informative share!
My pleasure, Joy! I’m glad you find the post helpful
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Chrissie Cole recently posted..Tax Tip for the Self-employed!
I’m still using Paypal and I must say that quite unreliable to some extent. I think that having several payment options spells out the difference; our customers deserve the convenience this provides. Thanks!
Thanks, Christine! Researching other options has at times been frustrating like anything else but it really is good to always have other options! So many people only know about PayPal and while they can indeed be helpful, a lot of horror stories exist.
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Chrissie Cole recently posted..Tax Tip for the Self-employed!
The competition for your business has caused the payment processors to be more lenient than they used to be. It used to be PayPal or go through a long process just to get approved. Now there are a lot of alternatives to PayPal.
Very true! I hope small business owners and bloggers are paying attention! I admit, it took me a while. PayPal was always my first choice until recently.
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Chrissie Cole recently posted..Tax Tip for the Self-employed!
Making this option available for our customers to take advantage of will definitely be a lot more convenient for them. Paypal can be frustrating and they must initiate concrete measures to address the concerns raised by those who are complaining about their services. Thanks!
The major issue I have with Paypal is their not able to process payment for certain countries which automatically cuts off your potential customers from such countries. Outside that their fee per transaction is are something that you can almost forget
Very informative and useful. I actually linked my Paypal account to a local Visa because i don;t own credit cards, but this article made me think otherwise.
I have had the experience of getting an account limited and it’s not good at all. It’s a total headache. I just hope paypal would be loosen up a bit and be more considerate to their users. Your tips seems very useful, thanks for sharing.
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It’s good idea to use something else rather than using paypal. But you have only mentioned your situation , you didn’t show the solution. I thought you are going to tell how to integrate payment gateway in blogs. Due to lack of this knowledge only we are forced to use paypal, I would appreciate if you make a post on how to integrate payment gateway on blogs, some examples that would be better. Any ways your post was interesting to read …
Anurag, This post was about choosing a provider but I hope to write a future post about integrating the system to your blog. It was simply too much information for one post
Thanks for reading!
You are welcome Chrissie ! I think I gave you troubles to write another post in future
all points are good abt online payment, but Paypal is best option to online payment. its secure and safe instead of credit card.
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In case you’re not selling many products constantly and just have a few sales per month, you’ll probably also want to find a payment processor that doesn’t include any monthly fees, but rather a single fee per transaction. On the other hand, you might want to go for a monthly fee if you’re selling a ton of products every day.
CCAvenue is one of those gateways which gives a more secured form of transactions. One can get payment processors from CCAvenue.
can any one here say me what about the payza for making online payments. If this is not good one can any one say which is best service to make online payments