I can give you what some our partner companies use. One is e-onlinedata at e-onlinedata.com/webbyshop. Another is Elavon at elavon.com. Based on personal experience, Elavon gave a better discount rate but had more non- qualified transactions on one of our product lines. So for this product line we use e-onlinedata. So look at both discount rates and non qualified transaction criteria when choosing. You can use the Authorize.net gateway to get up and running quckly. Then look into the merchant processor's own gateway since they might get you better gateway fees. I have no experience with physical terminals for live events, but I don't think that will be a problem with most merchant processors. Just discuss it with them before signing up. I've also seen mobile apps that can charge credit cards. -- Admins, I tried to unlink my post but it keeps linking it automatically? I removed the www and that did the trick. Is there another way?

teamextension - thanks for those helpful tips AND for being mindful of the Community linking rules :) From what we can see, you correctly disabled the links. The moderators appreciate it! To avoid automatic linking, you can type the web address as 'XXXX.com' (no www or http) in the rich text editor.

y really is paramount with CC transactions - I can speak from experience when I say that getting your card details hacked is the best way to destroy faith in a vendor,

You can also go to your bank directly. Bank of America, Citibank, HSBC, etc. They have great rates and can help you setup everything (merchant gateway, merchant processor and bank account).

Have you tried PayPal Merchant Services? They also have a virtual terminal option. From my experience they are strict on their approval process but potentially a viable option if you get approved.

One thing you definitely want to achieve is trying to get your processing rates as close to interchange as possible. That way you know exactly what you are paying above the true cost from Visa, MasterCard etc... A great program for a small business is an Interchange Pass Through program. Here is a brief description in case you are unfamiliar with that pricing methodology: Interchange Pass ThroughA merchant account that uses an Interchange Pass Through pricing method applies processing fees by adding a small percentage to the actual interchange (Wholesale) rate for every transaction and all dues and assessments are passed through directly at cost. This ensures that a merchant only pays the wholesale rate in addition to a small mark-up that goes to their merchant service provider. Merchant Services ---This post was edited to remove a commercial link. Read our discussion policies for more Community best practices.

even as a very small business with no real credentials I have found the paypal merchant services too be fantastic. Many people these days know and trust the Paypal brand and so by using them you can give solid trust to your customer base when they are divulgingsensitivedetails such astheircredit card numbers. The only issue ive read about (never personally experienced) is with people reversing the charges but if you offer a good product or service at a reasonable price you ought to be able to prevent people from doing that. In my opinion those that berate paypal for refunding customers too easily are most likely not providing good customer service which is what results in the customer initiating a chargeback. A happy customer doesnt go to such lengths to get a refund :)

I have the following suggestions: PayPal, 2checkout and Authorize. These payment processors seem to have a good reputation among enterpreneurs doing online business.