Hi All,
I thought now might be a good time to join in with my first post.
I spent the better part of last week researching merchant service
providers (before seeing the post on Ganoksin) as I will be doing my
first juried art show on Sept. 6-7th.
After learning from scratch all that was involved with getting an
MSP, I put together an Excel worksheet with the following headings:
Company, Type of account (take charge slips at show, then enter sales
data later on terminal or on computer; wireless terminals; phone
verification…), Rate, Transaction fee, Gate Fee, Statement Fee, Monthly
fee (in some cases, this is the combination of the gate fee and
statement fee), Free equipment provided? (manual imprinter,
terminal…), Contract term, Cancellation fee (if any), Charge back
fees, Monthly minimums, Services (address verification, call in
authorization and their associated fees)
I chose about 15 MSP’s from Internet Searches like: who is the best
rated, names I’ve heard from Ganoksin, and other merchants… There
is a MSP site that is similar to Lending Tree where you enter in
your basic sales like avg. sale amount, avg. monthly
sales total and a few other things. Within an hour or two 5 or 6 MSP
companies call or email you with an offer. Do some comparison
shopping as MSP rates and fees vary considerably!
Compare the MSPs on the worksheet. When you find a few MSP’s that
look good to you, contact them and negotiate fees, minimums, rates,
etc. until one of them is able to meet your needs. Hopefully, the one
you choose will provide good customer service, but if not, many have
only month to month contracts and no cancellation fees so its fairly
easy to switch MSP’s if the service is not there. (Yes, if I pick the
wrong one, I’m stuck with them for my first show, but I guess that is
one of the risks of doing business.)
Hope this helps others that were in the same boat as me a week ago.
Wish me luck at my first art show,
Lynn White
Lynn White Jewelry