Main Merchant is online

I just curious to know, if not, how should I move the bed into my home? How much do I need to pay? (Bay Area)

Applying for a credit card? Planning to buy a home or a car and making a mortgage or loan? Starting a business and you need a free merchant account? Then one requirement you have to provide (whether you like it or not) is a credit report.

What is a credit report? A credit report lists your credit history, as well as information on your residence history (where you’ve lived), buying history (your bills and how you pay), judgments against you (have you been sued, imprisoned, arrested for financial reasons) and whether you’ve been bankrupt or not. All financial details are in this report.

How important it is? A credit report determines whether a financial firm (a bank, credit card company etc) will process or grant whatever it is that you requested. A credit report is unbiased – it will just list details but it will never make a judgment whether it’s “bad” or “good”

A Bad Credit report is usually deemed “bad” because:

you have an outstanding debt
you’ve declared bankruptcy once in your life
you’ve been imprisoned for a while
you don’t have enough assets

Pertinent information your credit report holds:
ID Information- Who are you? This section includes your full name, nicknames, aliases you go by, current address (as well as previous addresses), your social security number, birthday, employers (both current and previous), and civil status. May also include information about your spouse.
Credit Information – How many credit cards do you have? All financial accounts you have with financial firms including but not limited to banks, credit card companies, and lenders (whether it be a mortgage, student loan, recurring loan). This section includes when and where you opened the account, credit limit, and for loans, includes amount of the loan, co-signers, and payment behavior.
Public Record Information – have you ever declared bankruptcy? This section includes declared bankruptcies, monetary judgments, and “everything financial” that is made public or declared.
Recent Inquiries – who has been reading your credit report? This section lists down all inquiries made over the past two years.

Who makes the credit report. Consumer Reporting Agency (CRA) or a credit bureau collects the information and charges a fee every time an inquiry is made.

Needless to say, whether you’re applying for a loan, credit card or a free merchant account, you’ll be needing a credit report. Here are some tips to make your credit report look dashing:
Get a copy of your credit report every two years (every year if you prefer) so you can assure all information is correct and recent, as well as note all inaccuracies and take immediate actions. This also secures you against identity theft.
Late payments of your bills can cramp your credit report. Pay all bills on time because your payment history will show up on your credit report.
Did you know that when you declare bankruptcy, it stays on your credit report for 10 years!? So as much as possible, AVOID at all costs. Pun intended.
Longevity in anything – a home and job – shows sign of steadiness which lenders look forward to seeing in your credit report. House hopping is perceived negatively.
Businessmen who apply for merchant accounts are free from rejection when a credit report is adjudged as good and worthy. Although not all merchant account providers ask for it, high risk merchants need a good report for credit worthiness.
Don’t take more debt than you can handle.

Maintaining a good credit report is difficult, but with discipline, a bit of scrimping, and common sense all be worth it in the end when you finally get that loan, or that card, or that merchant account free of any hassles.

Not everyone has a golden heart like you do – you who have built your life around pushing for causes other than yourself. You have unselfishly devoted your life towards making this world a better place – be it a non-profit organization in the environment or humanitarian field.

Whether you’re an advocate for Greenpeace, trying to raise funds for housing groups in third world countries or locating owners for abandoned pets, your charitable/non-profit organization can be better with a free merchant account.

For everyone’s benefit, a Non-Profit Organization is an organization whose main purpose is to push an issue, a cause, which could be a matter of private or public concern. The purpose of such organization is non-commercial in nature. There is no profit to be derived from joining an NPO – in kind perhaps but never cash.

Normally, NPOs push for causes such as the environment, social/economic issues, humanitarian, politics, health, religion, sports, etc.

Where’s free merchant account in the picture?

A Free merchant account can help in various ways to fund your NPO. Due to its non-commercial nature, money is hard to come by for NPOs, therefore the need to ask from generous people – often philanthropists – for funding. Aside from them, NPOs tap funding channels such as events both online and offline.

Recently, bloggers from around the world blogged for one whole day – each with time niches – as a fund raising event for a charitable institution. But you don’t have to start events everyday just to tap the Internet users of the world.

By just having a free merchant account – you can.

Online donations

If your NPO has a website, you can easily put call to action buttons on the landing page with directions for donations online. By having a free merchant account, one can ask the visitors on your site for donations whether by credit cards or checking accounts.

Recurring Billing

Your visitors don’t have to donate large amounts in just one instance – they can opt to donate every month, or quarterly if they prefer, with recurring billing. Patrons can simply enroll their accounts under the recurring billing option and they no longer have to worry if they’ve given to their chosen NPO. Money is deducted from their accounts to be credited to your NPO. In addition, most visitors will appreciate the flexibility you offer when it comes to making donations. A little goes a long way.

No Time Constraints

If you have a physical office, donations can be made during regular working hours – however, if you have a website and a free merchant account, your patrons can make donations in the comfort of their own homes as well as their preferred time. The ungodly hours can be kind to you when you see the numerous donations made during those times.

Wider Network

You don’t have to worry about patrons who are out of town – they just have to visit your site and they can make donations from anywhere in the world. As an added bonus, your free merchant account can accept donations from other people you wouldn’t otherwise reach with just your physical office. Exposure of your cause can be heightened with your website, and donations can be greater with your free merchant account.

No currency restrictions

If you have patrons from other countries, your free merchant account can accept their donations. Even if the currency is different from yours. There is no currency restriction to speak of.

Look at Free Merchant Account as your friend – a patron of sorts for your Non-Profit Organization. Providing ways to make donations can increase the funding required for your NPO. Take advantage of the Internet and make it easier for your patrons and constituents to continue supporting your causes.

It’s such a delight to see more and more merchants on the receiving end of the highly debated free merchant account. From the increased cash flow, the additional security measures, to the ring of customers around the world – despite the fact that it’s not a totally free merchant account and security being a central issue on the net, the list of benefits goes on and on for merchants.

Ladeedaaa, it’s a wonderful world….

Just a second though – so you think it’s only the merchants leveraging free merchant accounts eh?

Guess again! Customers around the world are all “props to credit cards, props to Internet merchant accounts, we can shop till the break of dawn – in fact, we can go online and when the price is right – shop whenever, wherever (thanks to recurring billing too!) whoopee!!” – although there are more females rejoicing in this fact, it’s undeniable – accepting credit cards has changed the way consumers do their shopping.

Shop 24/7/365

Customers around the globe are spending more time in front of the computers – happily blogging away, surfing the latest celebrity tattle, and you guessed it – shopping online. Given any holiday, shoppers are more than willing to ditch the malls and shop for their gifts and personal knick-knacks. Free merchant accounts allow merchants to sleep the night away and still make money off their online shops.

Increased Customer Confidence

Credit card giants are gearing up their security features to further cash in on the current ecommerce revolution. MasterCard has MasterCard SecureCode, while Visa has Verified by Visa. Studies of both camps claim the security of transactions determine the future of ecommerce – that is, the more secure transactions are, the more secure customers are that their financial information doesn’t fall into the hands of Internet toads – the more likely they are to shop, shop, shop. Benefits merchants too!

The matrix look is OUT!

The veil of secrecy has been lifted. No longer shall customers have to disguise themselves with dark glasses or the blackest of trenchcoats when going into shops guaranteed to make their loved ones cringe. Adult Entertainment & paraphernalia is one of the largest customers of free merchant account, freeing customers from bad fashion, and maintaining their anonymity online. Other businesses to benefit from free merchant account are in the field of pharmacy, online gaming, and travel. Couples who wish to travel without the hassle of going to physical travel agencies to book will be amazed at the wealth of travel agency online stores at the tip of their fingers – or their mouse more specifically.

Pay. Lite.

Everything’s “lite” these days – sandwiches are fat free, sodas and beers have lite varieties. Now would merchants tell us how customers can benefit from all this ‘liteness’? Simple – with recurring billing! This service lets customers shop and pay staggered amounts (set by merchants of course – or sometimes by customers) at their convenience. Large purchases can be made easily(cha-ching! cha-ching!), thus leveraging impulse buying (for merchants).

Yes yes yes. Unbelievable indeed. Seeing it from the eyes of customers, you’d never know that your free merchant account – the one you had set up in 24 hours, charged you no application fees, no monthly fees, and provided the friendliest of customer support despite your unfriendly call – can benefit your customers in ways you never thought before. There are still so many unexplored ways for your customers to benefit, and this can only mean one thing for you: money. Lots of it.

Nobody’s perfect.

And in the world of business, mistakes are made on the way to success that can either hinder or delay the “planned success” of a business and never has this been truer than for an ecommerce business. Merchants are too quick sign contracts or agreements from ecommerce “helpers” such as free merchant accounts.

Free merchant accounts are not the culprit here. And this wasn’t meant to point a finger on who’s to blame.

Before entering into any business – whether retail, MOTO, or Internet – agreements & contracts are always present. Some merchants who see free on the paper don’t account the fine print on the contract. That’s one of the downfall of merchants. After a month or two, they go running back to their providers with contracts in hand, only to admit defeat that they have no escape from the dreaded contract.

So what are the common mistakes merchants make when getting a free merchant account? Educate yourself on some you can easily avoid:

They don’t look out for hidden charges/fees

As long as summer days are long, and nights are short, so will anybody who’s ever been in business has to make money – and free merchant accounts providers are no exception. It’s sooo cliche, but there is seriously no such thing as free lunch. Merchants can avoid committing this mistake by asking for all charges and fees they might incur when they start processing. This includes but isn’t limited to the discount rate, transaction fees, and monthly processing fees.

They don’t poke around the FINE print.

Our rates are FREE! Often, just a mention of the word free and anyone in the FREE world will scurry to see what they can get without giving. Unfortunately in business, this isn’t the case. Some can give you free coupons but you have to buy the whole newspaper, or get a free lunch but pay for dinner – the point being merchants easily see the word free but they don’t poke around the FINE print. If there’s another word starting with F that merchants should be wary of – it should be Fine with the word PRINT to follow.

They don’t ask when they can access funds

Your merchant account provider should free you of restrictions when it comes to having access to your funds/revenue 24/7/365. Start scouting fast for a new one if they impose restrictions.

They don’t make a background check of the company

Everywhere there’s a thief. It’s up to you to make the necessary precautions. Whether it’s a credit card processing provider, a payment gateway, or a shopping cart, always make background checks. The features of Web 2.0 has made the world a smaller place, as well as placed consumer information within reach. Easily you can get free reviews of merchant accounts, payment gateways, the latest news on celebrities, and what-nots within seconds!

They don’t look for freebies

Although there is no such thing as free lunch, there is such a thing as appetizer! Consider the freebies offered by free merchant account providers as appetizers – free setup, application fees, monthly fees, etc, depending on your provider, can be tasty and make you want to get ahead with the whole meal – or service. Of course, as a merchant you should always be on the look out for providers who normally change their freebie offerings from time to time and take the best deal out there.

When you get an offer sheet, it helps to be a bit skeptical. Don’t look at it with doe eyes – innocent and believing every word spouted by the agent. Knowledge is also powerful – with it, you can attack the agent with a barrage of questions. If you feel they haven’t successfully answered your questions, then start shouting… NEXT PLEASE!

It’s your business after all.

Search for free merchant account in your favorite search engine & most probably, the numbers will come up to more than just a million. In fact, Google alone has 41 million sites for those keywords & half of them are actual free merchant account providers.

If you’re a small start up merchant, you might want to get a free merchant account – however with those numbers looming on your screens, how do you separate the ones that are effective from the ones that are just plain scams?

Free merchant account providers offer a lot of “freebies”, hence the term free. It could either be a free terminal, free set up, or free application fees. Despite the dizzying amount of freebies, one has to stop & see what else they can offer to make merchants’ businesses more productive & cost-effective – how about security tools?

Security measures used by free merchant account providers protects merchants from fraudulent transactions. Billions of dollars are lost every year to these ecommerce criminals, & more often than not, small merchants are the ones feeling the pinch.

How do merchant account providers secure online transactions? Here are the top 3 ways to secure on line transactions:

1. AVS (Address Verification Service)

This pretty nifty security measure is helpful to Internet merchants. For card-not-present transactions, customers are asked for their billing address & this is verified against the address on the file of the card issuer. In case they don’t match, the merchant receives a response code & it’s up to the merchant whether to continue or stop the transaction.

2. CVV2 (Card Security Number Confirmation)

Developed by Mastercard, CVV2 or Card Validation Code 2 is a three digit code you can see printed on the signature panel of MasterCard cards. Merchants can verify in real time whether the customer has an actual card in possession for card-not-present transactions. These codes are never stored by merchants, so customers are assured of their protection as well.

3. 3-D Secure Code

This XML (Extensible Markup Language) protocol was developed by Visa, & later on adopted by MasterCard. Each card has its own password & card-holders can only continue with the transactions if they provide the passwords for their cards. Free merchant account providers display proudly on their sites “Verified by Visa & MasterCard SecureCode”, as a selling point to merchants.

Merchants can also reduce the risk of fraud with a few common-sense tips:

Call the customer to verify the order first before any shipping occurs. Fraudsters order numerous items that they can’t keep track of what they purchased online or even remember the information they provided for the transaction.
Customers will develop a purchasing pattern over time; be on guard for sudden changes.
Take note of merchandise prone to fraud – priority shipments of these items is a tell-tale sign of fraud.
Receipts. Receipts. Receipts. Always keep them safely stored.

By making a conscious effort to secure transactions, & with the help of the security measures used by free merchant account providers, merchants can avoid fraud. When choosing a provider, don’t just rely on what’s free for the taking – make sure what you’re getting is not only economical, but something to enhance productivity & revenue – & in the ecommerce market, security can make or break your business.

No beating around the bush, here. There’s no such thing as a free lunch, and that applies to the merchant industry as well…

Everything has a price, whether it’s in cash, time, and/or effort. Common sense tells you that no one in business to make a profit truly gives a product or service away for free. So it is important to find out exactly how the so-called “free merchant account” companies get your money…

This article is meant to educate you about the fees that the “free merchant accounts” actually charge. I hope that this will help you make an informed decision that’s right for your business.

The Basics:

All credit card transactions are governed by what are called the Interchange rates. These are the fees that companies like Visa, Master Card and others impose on payments processed by a merchant. There are a number of tiers or levels in the interchange rate and each credit card will be charged according to the tier or level it qualifies for.

For example:

1. Qualified rate – This is the rate charged when the card is present physically at the point of sale.

2. Mid-qualified rate – This is the rate charged when the card is not present at the point of sale; rather, the merchant takes an imprint of the card.

3. Non-qualified rate – This is the rate charged for “MOTO” transactions (mail, Internet or telephone order).

Furthermore, there are a number of fees that are attached to the merchant accounts upfront or as back-end fees.

The following are the most common fees you might encounter:

1. Transaction Fees – this is charged each time a transaction is completed. This is a flat rate, usually ranging from $0.10 to $0.25

2. Discount Rate – this is a flat-rate percentage that is taken out of each sale processed through the merchant account. Discount rates range from 0.95% to 7% or more, depending on the merchant service and its intended use.

3. Authorization Fees – this fee is charged as soon as the transaction is processed. Even if the transaction is denied, the fee is charged.

4. Statement Fees – this is a fee that is charged routinely for the generation of a monthly transaction record.

5. Monthly Minimum Fees – there is always a minimum fee charged when the total fees of that month for a given merchant account do not equal the minimum required business transaction level. For example, if the minimum fee is $15 and the fees incurred from using the service are only $10, then an additional $5 will be charged for that month.

6. Termination Fees – this is a penalty that can range from $150 – $275 if the merchant (potentially one like you) terminates their account before the term expires, which is usually around 2 or 3 years.

7. Free Equipment – the terminals, machines and other equipment that you’re “given” practically always need to be returned to the merchant account provider at the end of the term in perfect condition. It costs approximately $295 – $475 to replace (or pay for) a damaged “free” terminal.

8. Batch Fees – when a merchant settles their terminal a fee is charged. This is usually a flat-rate charge each time the terminal is settled.

As you can see, there are a number of expenses that will be incurred for any standard merchant account. There is absolutely no way anyone can provide you with a free merchant account, because the fees set in place by the issuing card companies have to be paid by someone, and someone else will certainly not be willing to pay for you to use their service at their own cost.

The truth is, these fees would be extracted in another manner, most of which would be indirect and “hidden”. And in that light, it’s always better to choose a company that clearly discloses its fee structure up-front, instead of being “lured in” under the premise of getting something for “free” – only to find yourself the victim of an endless barrage of hidden charges…

Though they’re hard to find, there are a few merchant services that provide a great pricing plan with a low-cost fee structure. You’ll be far better off looking into those types of offers, instead of chasing after the “free offers”.

Bottom Line: Free merchant accounts don’t exist.

It will cost you money to process credit card payments, one way or another. Always read the fine print (the terms and conditions), and realize that most merchant service providers that advertise something as being “free” will make their money by locking you into a steep contract of some kind – most of which are enforced with a steep cancellation charge.

So do your due diligence, and look for reasonable, realistic merchant account fees that make sense for your business needs.

Because an unusually “cheap” merchant account will almost certainly end up being an incredibly expensive mistake…

Seasons change. Snakes shed their old skins. Businesses come and go. New Products get old in a blink of an eye. Merchants used to sell in the streets, now they sell on what some call the Internet highway.

However, one thing remains unchanged – for merchants all over the planet – free merchant accounts are not free. Ever. No matter where you look, there is no such thing as a free merchant account. This shouldn’t faze merchants from applying for a free merchant account though. Discover the 5 reasons why you should choose a free merchant account for your merchant account needs.

1. Affordable Set up

Start up businesses are always striving to save money. Most can’t even cough up the money needed to get their own merchant account – they might even get rejected if they try. A free merchant account is the easy solution to processing payments online at prices you can afford – in fact, some providers free merchants from set up fees! That’s one freebie for you!

2. Open to all businesses

Do you have a business in the area of pharmacy, travel, online gaming, or adult entertainment and wish to do business online? Because of the nature of your business – classified as high risk due to the higher risk of fraud – applying for your own merchant account will be next to impossible unless you apply for a free merchant account. A free merchant account sets more relaxed rules for businesses, and some in fact specialize in high risk businesses. Paper work is minimal with free merchant accounts – not free but definitely easy.

3. 24 hours

Ever heard of businesses applying for a merchant account at 9 in the morning and selling before the day has ended? No, that’s not a rumor. It’s true for free merchant account. Due to less paperwork and more lenient rules, approvals are done in less than 24 hours.

Global Products,Global Manufacturers,Global Suppliers,Global Exporters,Global Importers

4. International market

Selling to the international market has both its pros and cons. However, one cannot discount the fact that it improves cashflow, and with millions of shoppers out there, one can easily ignore the cons. If you’ve ever wanted to sell to Australia? UK? Or any country in the planet no matter how large or a small a dot in the world, a free merchant account affords you the ability to sell securely to a bigger market. Beats building a store in the middle of nowhere.

5. Monthly fees = Zero

Yes. You’re reading it right. To attract more merchants to sign up with them, a lot of free merchant account providers slash their rates and the first that falls are the monthly fees.

There are still a lot of reasons why one should consider a free merchant account. From the reliable service(given that the provider is a legitimate one), the freebies involved and the affordable rates, the facts remain: free merchant account are easy to acquire and easy to set up. Whether you’re making a killing in your business or earning as small as $10 a week, cashing in on the ecommerce onslaught is pretty fuss-free when you have a free merchant account.