A merchant may only be a “yahoo” click away from finding a rather easy and relatively inexpensive solution to set up an e-commerce enterprise.  Yahoo Merchant Solutions offers a “paint by the numbers” program but one may look outside Yahoo to obtain their merchant account.

You’ve finally realized the stone-age ended long ago and have now started living in the high-tech computer era. You’ve read and heard all about the fantastic things you can accomplish by running your own business and how rich you can become. Well, obviously nothing is guaranteed in life, of course the old line about death and taxes being excluded. But if you want go get a good start in the world of business or continue being successful, there are a few ways of saving money on necessary expenses.

In this day and age, you really need a good e-commerce and merchant account solution to survive in the dog-eat-dog life of competitive business. While there are many fine companies to choose from, it seems that Yahoo Merchant Solutions is one of the most popular.

This could be because Yahoo Merchant Solutions can help you create your custom online business from scratch, starting with its professional online store designs and web hosting packages. The company also has programs to help take care of your email, promotion, marketing, inventory, product catalogue, security, order and payment processing, shipping and taxes, and customer service. There are also discounts available on various marketing services. If there’s anything you need creating and/or maintaining your business, you can bet they have it covered somewhere in one of their plans.

If you’re new to online business, are a little confused and aren’t really sure of how to set things up and finish them off, you’ll be glad to hear that Yahoo Merchant Solutions is one of the simplest programs to create, use, and maintain. If you encounter any difficulties with your website, help is just a phone call away as you can always dial up Yahoo’s 24-hour toll-free support line.

Everything about Yahoo Merchant Solutions may sound pretty attractive, but you still need to get down to the nitty gritty and have a good look at the specifics.

At present, the company offers three different plans: the starter plan, standard plan, and professional option. These plans are designed for merchants with different volumes of sales, from the guy selling merchandise from his basement to those moving thousands of products a week.

One important fact here is to know that with any plan you can only sell up to 50,000 units with Yahoo. This is quite a few and is sure to satisfy most businesses needs, but if you dream big, you need to take this into consideration. All plans allow you to create websites in easy to use programs such as Dreamweaver and Frontpage, and other HTML editors. 

You'll need a merchant account if you choose to use Yahoo Merchant Solutions and even though they recommend one, you’re free to choose any merchant account provider you like, so make sure you check a few others out. It’s important to note that the merchant account provider be compatible with Yahoo stores.  Yahoo Merchant Solutions offers First Data Merchant Services (FDMS) both as their gateway and payment processor/platform.  In essence, the merchant account provider that you select must run on the FDMS network.    

Credit card verification and validation tools are in place as is offline credit card processing. You can also take payment through Paypal as well as checks, money orders, pay orders and good old cash on delivery.

The one-time setup cost is $50 for all three plans and per transaction fees are less with the professional version. The transaction fee is 1.5% for the starter plan, 1% for the standard and .75% for the professional.  These costs do not include the merchant account. 

The monthly fees also vary from low (starter) to higher (professional).  The starter plan costs less, but beware that it doesn’t offer all the features of the standard and professional versions.  While the professional plan may cost you more on a monthly basis, it could work out less expensive, depending on how many transactions you’re processing per month. You’re never stuck with a plan as you can always upgrade.

The company hosts more top 500 Internet retailers than any other e-commerce provider and there’s obviously a good reason for this. They also offer many pricing specials on their plans, and provide the merchant with an easy to set up and maintain online business site. 

Yahoo Merchant Solutions enables the user to exercise flexibility in establishing an Internet presence, reflective of the latitude that the merchant has in selecting a merchant account provider.  (If you’ve already got a merchant account with somebody else, don’t sweat it as you can also switch over to Yahoo Merchant Solutions’ credit card processing partner with relative ease.)

If you opt to purchase Yahoo Merchant Solutions and find the ideal merchant account provider of your choice, you may already be half way towards your destination: business success.  

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To learn more about our merchant services, please visit http://www.intell-collect.com   

Once a mobile merchant decides to obtain credit card processing capability, he/she must become more aware of the various alternatives that exist to accept credit cards.

A plumber recently performed a repair job at our house (why does home maintenance have to cost so much?), and reported the amount due.  As I reached in my wallet for my credit card, he announced that he only accepts checks or cash.  “Accepting credit cards can only help to expand your business and many of your customers would prefer to pay with a credit card,” I declared.  He politely countered that credit card processing fees are exorbitant and that a wireless terminal is “too much money.”

I encouraged the plumber to conduct further investigation because mobile credit card processing need not be so expensive.  (Although tempted, I did not tell him that I’m in the merchant account field.)  Moreover, there are a couple of other ways in which to accept your customers’ plastic if you’re an on-the-go business owner.

Increasing in popularity is the utilization of touch tone or dial pay processing.  Here, the handy-dandy touch tone phone serves as a conduit to transfer funds from customer to merchant.  The business owner calls a toll free number, and following voice prompts, inputs the customer’s payment information.  The transaction takes about 2 - 3 minutes to facilitate, and the merchant receives a confirmation number when the transaction has been captured.

Many merchant account providers waive many fees when accessing rates for touch tone / dial pay processing, including startup, batch, AVS, monthly minimum, and termination fees.  The monthly expense averages about $10 - $15 in the merchant account field, and the processing cost is typically between 2% - 3.5%, depending on the type of credit card you receive from your customer.  A transaction fee (approximately 20 cents – 50 cents) should be factored in as well.

Some providers include the use of a virtual terminal with their touch tone / dial pay program.  (Other vendors offer the virtual terminal as a standalone item.)  The virtual terminal is a secure Internet-based interface that enables merchants to input payment information on behalf of their customers.  Merchants log on a secure payment site, type in their username and password, and begin inputting the customer’s credit card information in self-explanatory fields.

Mobile merchants may use a laptop to access their virtual terminal or can call the credit card information on to someone who may be at the home office.  The credit card processing rates for the virtual terminal mirror those assessed for the touch tone / dial pay program.  Please note that because the customer’s card is called or keyed in, it is considered “not present” which necessitates a higher credit card processing fee than a “card present” transaction”  (i.e., when a credit card is swiped).

Merchants who need mobile credit card processing may want to take advantage of the lower swiped per transaction processing costs by purchasing a wireless terminal.  Wireless machines (even refurbished models) may run anywhere from $200 up to $1,000 so it is an investment in capital to obtain one.  If you opt to buy a wireless device, make sure that you also obtain a printer and a pin pad, if necessary, to accept pin-based debit cards.  The Nurit 8000 and the Way Systems MTT 1581 are two dependable wireless units.

The caveat of using a wireless terminal is that it generally necessitates a higher monthly cost (as high as $30).  In the scenario that this monthly cost is prohibitive, mobile merchants may still accrue the benefits of a lower swiped rate by buying a gateway, such as Authorize.net, and using a virtual point of sale system.  A Magtek card reader may be used to swipe the customer’s card, and the payment information populates the gateway’s fields.  The sales amount is registered, and the transaction is soon captured and eventually settled.

All merchant account providers offer variations of the aforementioned programs.  Indeed, there are several options when it comes to mobile credit card processing so merchants must evaluate their business’s individual needs, the ease of use for each system, and the associated costs for each option.  Every mobile merchant should be able to find his/her own ideal credit card processing solution! 

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To learn more about our merchant services, please visit http://www.intell-collect.com   

If you are a business owner, you have probably felt the pinch – if not a full smack down – from today’s faltering economy. Even more distressing, the situation may become worse before we turn the economic corner.

In a recent Washingtonpost.com article Retailers Report a Crisis in All Aisles, it was noted that retailers posted the worst November sales in 30 years according to the International Council of Shopping Centers. In fact, retail sales dropped 2.7% as compared to November of last year.

What is the impetus behind lagging sales? Simply, consumers are scaling back on their credit card spending. This is due primarily to:

• Tightening of credit card lending (causing a 5% drop in consumer spending)
• Recent increases in credit card interest rates and reduced credit limits
• Consumers maxed on their credit cards or buried under credit card debt 
• Future economic uncertainty causing consumer frugality

In its 2004 – 2006 heyday, credit card spending enjoyed double-digit growth. However, as the saying goes, “what comes up must come down” and in 2007, annual growth dropped considerably to 8%. 2009 is not expected to fair any better with credit card spending estimated to rise a meager 3.3%. 

The Domino Effect

Decreased consumer spending is causing a disastrous domino effect that is causing a tremendous strain on some retailers. In Retailers Report a Crisis in All Aisles, it was noted that retailers who have relied on consumers’ easy access to credit to purchase high-end merchandise such as flat screen TVs are faltering under the weight of decreased credit card spending.

The plight of Circuit City was placed under the spotlight to magnify the problem caused by consumers foregoing credit card use. When viewing the domino effect, the first domino to fall was consumer sales, followed by decreased inventory, as vendors tightened lending out of fear the company would not have enough incoming revenue to make payments. Decreased inventory further dissuaded shoppers from pulling out their plastic. This factor decreased sales even more, toppling yet another domino.

The New York Stock Exchange stopped listing Circuit City shares Dec. 15^th as they nose-dived to an abysmal 19 cents. This is unfortunately a distressing “sign of the times” and could be in store (no pun intended) for other well known retailers.

On a brighter note, the Federal Reserve is in the process of instituting a program, which may assist retailers reeling from the current credit card crunch. It is in the process of buying an estimated $200 billion in securities backed by credit card, automobile and student loans in an effort to fuel markets running on empty. 

Business Survival Training 101

Regardless if you head a large, medium, small or home-based business, your primary concern no doubt is to ensure your company survives and hopefully thrives during today’s economic downturn.

Instead of becoming discouraged, try to view the current credit card crunch in a more positive light. It has been estimated that the average credit card debt per household is $6,528 – an increase of an astounding 138% over the last 20 years!

Can a mountain of credit card debt and the financial, emotional and physical strain that goes along with it be considered healthy? Many consumers are now forced to live within their means, which consumer advocates believe to be a good thing.

You are probably wondering how this can possibly benefit your business. Although there will be challenges, it essentially boils down to learning how to adjust to the new reality of decreased consumer spending.   

Although consumers are currently using credit cards less, it is still imperative to allow for this option. Credit cards remain the preferred mode of payment for most individuals and accepting plastic is absolutely essential when selling your goods or services online or offline.

If you are not currently accepting credit cards, but wish to do so, make certain to do your homework before choosing a merchant account provider (MAP), necessary when accepting plastic for purchases. Make certain to compare and contrast fee structures offered by numberous MAPs to locate one most compatible with your business needs and offers the best “bang for your buck”.

If you already have a merchant account, go over your statements with a fine toothcomb to pinpoint areas where you could potentially save money. Speak with your MAP to see if your account is still in step with your business. Are there areas where certain fees could be decreased?

There is also no harm in shopping around. Think about how many times you have done just that when looking for a better deal with your car insurance for example. Is there a MAP offering better terms than what you currently receive?  Even if your present merchant account has an early termination fee, you may discover that switching to another MAP will save you money in the long run.  

In today’s stunted economy, it is more important than ever to be creative and devise methods to increase the value of your goods or services. One sure fire way to do so is to reduce your overall operational expenses. The money you save could then be passed onto your customers/clients in the form of buyer-friendly prices – sure to give you a leading edge over your competitors. 

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To learn more about our merchant services, please visit http://www.intell-collect.com