Posted by Doris - Va. on June 16, 2001 at 17:12:05:
Unless you have a retail business - I don’t believe having a merchant account to accept V/MC is a practical idea.
Doris
Does anyone know - Posted by Scott
Posted by Scott on June 15, 2001 at 10:32:56:
Does anyone know how I can have someone pay me by credit card?
Has anyone accepted credit card payments?
Is there something I should know to not do this if it is possible.
Scott
Re: Does anyone know - Posted by David (OH)
Posted by David (OH) on June 18, 2001 at 06:52:21:
Don’t know if I would want the hassle of a monthly payment via credit card. It depends on how easy the process can be. I’m sure there are companies (escrow companies?) that would be willing to collect payments for you via CC for a small fee. It does seem like an interesting idea ESPECIALLY to get a higher down payment. Could solve some cash flow problems.
Re: Does anyone know - Posted by Steve
Posted by Steve on June 17, 2001 at 24:50:20:
Scott,
Learn from this and SAVE $$$
A few years ago I setup a merchant account for my business (www.infotable.com). I spent 300 for an account setup. Then I pay 12 a month for a “statment” and a $25 min. discount fee. A discount fee is what the card processing company takes off of your purchase. If you have enough charges a month, that fee gets absorbed into your processed tranactions. If you don’t use the account, they “must” charge you a min. amount of $25. (I love banks, charge me for doing nothing…) Well, 99% of my customers pay by cash/check. So, I have been paying $37 for NOTHING. I rarely used the account. I knew there had to be a better way for me to accept credit cards. I have search a few times with no luck. I heard of paypal but was not impressed. I was SICK of having $37 sucked out of my account every month. Last week, I finally found a good service called PROPAY. I signed up with them. It costs me NOTHING UNLESS I USE IT! I cancelled my other account. No more $37 a month. I just processed by first tranaction last night and it worked great. You can transfer your money to any checking account. When you first sign up they only allow you $1000 a month and $250 max per transaction. However, if you keep a small reserve in your account they will give you an increase.
If you want to sign up, go to:
https://epay.propay.com/cgi/appProcess1.exe/signup?SaaahDaKa9HUHb9e
I am looking forward to investing in real estate. I am enjoying these boards. I hope this helps you.
Steve
www.infotable.com
Re: Does anyone know - Posted by Sean
Posted by Sean on June 15, 2001 at 18:32:11:
Merchant account (I know, you’ve already heard that). Usually the place you have your merchant account with takes a percentage of the money you collect (2-3%) and you have a monthly, annual or a one-time setup fee. Usually it’s the percentage part that people dislike. Why pay setup fees to be able to collect $294 worth of rent instead of $300 and have to deal with all the hassles of charge backs, etc.?
Re: Does anyone know - Posted by Chuck (AZ)
Posted by Chuck (AZ) on June 15, 2001 at 12:02:41:
Check into payroll deduction… the money is automatically taken out of their paycheck and transferred to the specified account. Your bank should be able to steer you in the right direction in setting this up.
Note that this would be voluntary on the tentants part… they have to sign a form allowing this, and their employer has to have the means to excute it. Also note that the tentant has the right to cancel it at any time, without prior notice to you.
Another twist on this would be a “bill-payer” program offered by the tentants bank… where re-occuring bills (such as a car payment) are automatically deducted on the due date.
Re: Does anyone know - Posted by Jacque - WA
Posted by Jacque - WA on June 15, 2001 at 11:22:55:
Hi Scott,
There are a lot of varying opinions on this one.
I have a couple who use their credit card every month and pay me through my paypal account. It’s quick and easy…they pay me and it gets transferred every evening into which ever account I choose.
They understand that their is an additional charge since I have a merchant account through paypal - they charge a very small fee. They are happy to pay this since they are collecting miles on their mileage plus card. They pay the balance off at the end of every month (or so they tell me) either way it seems to work for them and I don’t mind.
They have told me that at the end of one year they will have collected enough miles to take the family to on vacation with the airlines/hotel being free via their mileage plus card…
Jacque
Credit Card Merchant - Posted by John SirJohnathon Grounds
Posted by John SirJohnathon Grounds on June 15, 2001 at 10:59:52:
Scott,
I would not have your tenants take out cash advances. Problem is, they will have high cash advance fees and high interest rates. Most tenants will do this, but I feel it is a bit in the gray ethics to ask them to take a $35 cash advance fee to pay $300 in rent.
If you want to take V/M the traditional way, you need a merchant account. This will involve an application, credit report, and a fee of a few hundred dollars. The equipment is rented, with you buying paper etc. Most of the time you can be up and running in a week. There are literally hundreds of companies that will provide you a merchant account. You can search the internet and find them quickly. If you have a good relationship with a local bank, I would ask them.
If you don’t want to do the merchant account route, you can process payments through a service like PayPal.com It is a little more cumbersome, especially if the tenants don’t have internet access, but it can be accomplished.
Also, depending on your arrangements with your park manager, you may be able to run a payment through them. You will want to pay their user fee (usually a small percentage of the amount), but it will be cheaper in the long run.
Hope this helps,
John “SirJohnathon” Grounds
Re: Does anyone know - Posted by CharlieK
Posted by CharlieK on June 15, 2001 at 10:48:14:
Is going to a bank for a cash advance against the card out of the question?
Re: Does anyone know - Posted by Paul_Pa
Posted by Paul_Pa on June 15, 2001 at 10:40:03:
Unless they take a cash advance and give you the cash, you would need to have a merchant account with the credit card company they are using. I don’t have any merchant accounts but I believe they run a couple hundred dollars to get one and then you have to get the machine to process the credit card sales. I believe the machine is rented. If this info is not accurate, I’m sure someone else will correct me. Anyway, I hope this helps
Paul_Pa