In “Understanding Credit Card Fees, Part 1: The Basics,” I outlined the information you need to know to receive the best rates from your merchant account provider.
This article is "Part 2" of that series where I help you understand your credit card fees. In this installment, I address merchant account statements, and identify key fees and charges on them. I sympathize with merchants when it comes to reading their statements. I decipher statements every day, and there are times when I want to pull my hair out trying to understand their rates and charges.
The legitimacy of various fees and charges is hard to know without looking at a specific statement. To be sure, I've seen fees that are fair and reasonable. But, I've also seen bogus fees, inflated fees, questionable fees, and even nonsensical fees. For example, I recently analyzed an ecommerce merchant’s statement that had a "terminal support fee" on it. Terminals are for physical retailers, of course, not pure-play ecommerce merchants. In this case, the merchant account provider apparently had a cookie-cutter approach to processing, regardless of whether the merchant was brick-and-mortar or online.
The important point here is that not all merchant account providers are competent with ecommerce. If you see a questionable fee on your statement, ask your provider about it.
Fees and Charges
PCI Fees. The first fee you should look for in your statement is a “PCI Noncompliant Fee,” or words to that effect. Not all merchant account providers isolate this fee in their statements. If your merchant account provider does, you will probably find it at or near the bottom of the last page of fees. If you see this fee, you have a severe issue. PCI — Payment Card Industry — compliance is critical. Noncompliance could end up costing you your job or your company if you are breached and card holder information is stolen. Your merchant account provider should insist that your company become compliant. Unfortunately, some merchant account providers use noncompliance as just another income stream by charging merchants a higher monthly fee — say $25 — versus the more common monthly PCI rate of $5 to $10.
You may see a monthly — or yearly — “PCI Fee” on your statement. Some merchant account providers have not started charging a PCI fee, yet. Those that do typically charge $5 to $10 per month — or up to $99 per year. This fee covers the cost of conducting certain functions to help them ensure you are compliant. Merchants should ask their merchant account provider specifically what it is doing for the amount it charges you.
Annual Membership Fee. Many merchant account providers charge an "annual fee" or "membership fee." This is typically around $100, and it's usually charged to smaller merchants who process less than $250,000 per year in card volume. However, I have seen much larger merchants charged this fee. What is the purpose of the "annual fee" or "membership fee"? In my view, it's simply to increase profits of the merchant account providers. Merchants should view this fee as a red flag about how the merchant account provider views its business relationships.
Supply; Merchant Club; Terminal Support Fee. These fees all apply to physical merchants. No ecommerce company should be paying them.
Monthly Minimum Fee. Very small merchants — those processing less than $50,000 a year in card volume — need to be aware of the monthly minimum fee. Moreover, merchants with fluctuating monthly card volume should pay attention to this fee. Some merchant account providers may quote very low discount rates to small merchants because they know the merchants will end up paying the much higher monthly minimum fee. I have seen these monthly minimum fees as high as $75.
Monthly Gateway Fees. Ecommerce merchants may be charged both a monthly gateway fee and a per-item (per-transaction) gateway fee. Every ecommerce merchant needs a payment gateway, which links the shopping cart to the merchant account. However, remember that the monthly gateway fee is negotiable.
2011年6月14日 星期二
International Checkout Increases Global Sales
a leading international payment processor, and International Checkout, a leading third-party payment and fulfillment service for US retailers selling globally online, announced today an expansion of their multi-currency pricing agreement. Planet Payment’s Multi-Currency Pricing via its iPAY Global Gateway helps online merchants more effectively target international markets with pricing and payment transparency in any supported currency, through the ease of a single US-based merchant account.
International Checkout will now offer an additional twenty cardholder acceptance currencies - including the Turkish Lira, the Egyptian Pound, the Iceland Krona and the Belize Dollar, thereby bringing its total currency offering to over 65 currencies. To attract more merchants and help them sell more goods around the world, International Checkout has also agreed to take advantage of Planet Payment’s multi-currency processing support of JCB cards, enabling Japanese holders of JCB cards to pay in their own currency. The company will also extend Planet Payment’s multi-currency payment processing services to its newly launched Enterprise Solution, which enables a US online retailer to login to International Checkout’s database and print shipping labels and customs documentation.
Since launching these multi-currency processing services in 2009, International Checkout has seen a substantial increase in its sales to buyers from outside the United States using credit and debit cards. By partnering with Planet Payment, International Checkout has enhanced the international customer experience for its 500-plus merchant set.
“Planet Payment’s goal has always been to help merchants target new markets, and sell more goods and services,” said Drew Soinski, Managing Director of the Americas “Our partnership with International Checkout demonstrates how our multi-currency payment processing solutions can help merchants increase sales, by helping them tap into new markets and convert more international browsers to customers.”
“We are very excited to offer additional services that make selling and shipping internationally easier for our customers,” says International Checkout CEO and President, Saskia Chiesa. “Our goal is to make selling globally as seamless for our merchants as possible. Through valued partnerships with companies like Planet Payment and with the launch of our new Enterprise Solution, we continue to deliver solutions that make accessing the international e-Commerce marketplace as easy as possible.”
International Checkout will now offer an additional twenty cardholder acceptance currencies - including the Turkish Lira, the Egyptian Pound, the Iceland Krona and the Belize Dollar, thereby bringing its total currency offering to over 65 currencies. To attract more merchants and help them sell more goods around the world, International Checkout has also agreed to take advantage of Planet Payment’s multi-currency processing support of JCB cards, enabling Japanese holders of JCB cards to pay in their own currency. The company will also extend Planet Payment’s multi-currency payment processing services to its newly launched Enterprise Solution, which enables a US online retailer to login to International Checkout’s database and print shipping labels and customs documentation.
Since launching these multi-currency processing services in 2009, International Checkout has seen a substantial increase in its sales to buyers from outside the United States using credit and debit cards. By partnering with Planet Payment, International Checkout has enhanced the international customer experience for its 500-plus merchant set.
“Planet Payment’s goal has always been to help merchants target new markets, and sell more goods and services,” said Drew Soinski, Managing Director of the Americas “Our partnership with International Checkout demonstrates how our multi-currency payment processing solutions can help merchants increase sales, by helping them tap into new markets and convert more international browsers to customers.”
“We are very excited to offer additional services that make selling and shipping internationally easier for our customers,” says International Checkout CEO and President, Saskia Chiesa. “Our goal is to make selling globally as seamless for our merchants as possible. Through valued partnerships with companies like Planet Payment and with the launch of our new Enterprise Solution, we continue to deliver solutions that make accessing the international e-Commerce marketplace as easy as possible.”
2011年6月12日 星期日
Does it have analytics, reporting?
How difficult was it to set up?
It really could not have been easier. They sell their cart to others that already have websites, so they have made it outstanding as a stand-alone product. It seamlessly integrated with my website.
Does it have analytics, reporting?
It has counters that tell you the number of hits on each page (and which can be shown for weekly, monthly, etc.), but for thorough analytics I use Google. It was very easy to add.
What features do you wish it had?
I wish it had a bulk editor. (Actually, I think the version they came out with after the one I'm using may have it.) I wish my version could show more than 10 items per page. (Which in the new version you can.) However, in my version I can put each product under multiple categories, and you can't in the newer version. I checked into upgrading to the new version, and stayed with the one I have because of that category limitation.
What are the challenges you faced in starting your own website?
As with most websites, getting traffic is the big thing, especially in a competitive field like I am in. Although Prestostores does a Google feed on all of their stores, not too long after I started there I asked to do my own, so that I could add more information ("attributes"). The first year was definitely slow. But it has picked up nicely and the last couple to three years I have been very happy with the results. And it is still growing month-to-month.
I would say to anyone starting a new site - have patience! And since Google products, and Yahoo and Bing are more into featuring "shopping" items, it is a lot easier and quicker to be seen now. I make sure my pictures are good, and my descriptions, though accurate, are definitely not long and "flowery." But they do the job.
I think one important key is to get as much product listed as quickly as you can, because that makes you come up better in search.
What would you do differently if you were setting up a website today?
I might consider doing one that I put together from scratch and that would then be 100% "portable" - so there was no relying on a host like Prestostore. However, when I think about all the extra work that would have taken, it kind of makes me shudder. And with Presto I can at least download all my products in a csv file, though it would still take a lot of work to move to a new home. So really, I can't think of much I would do differently. I would rather put my time into adding product than fiddling around with code, etc.
How do you control inventory as a multi-channel seller? In other words, if you have the same item listed on multiple channels, and it sells, how do you make sure you take it down from the other channels?
Well, Google really frowns on doing that, and so for a couple of years now I do not list any product on more than one site. Easy for me to do that, because each of my products is fairly unique.
My inventory system is what you might call old fashioned and would probably drive some people nuts. As I get new inventory, I assign it a number and enter the info on an index card. I also put it on a list (spreadsheet form) - just the number and a short, maybe 5 word description, and a category abbreviation. This is so I can sort the inventory by number or category. Then, when I list something, the index card goes into either the SVS, Bonz or eCrater file. When it sells, I pull the card. And all of my jewelry (about 1500 items or so) is all neatly filed in numerical order. I never have to look for an item when it sells. (Well, never say never.)
Anyhow, it is a simple, easy to use filing/inventory system. It probably wouldn't work for someone who sells hundreds of items a month.
How did you create the logo/branding for your business/site?
My logo is used on all my sites, so it is getting fairly familiar.
How do you differentiate yourself from others selling similar products?
Well, I give quite good service, so get a fair amount of repeat buyers. Also, it seems that I get word-of-mouth recommendations. I try and provide a large variety of items, and include extra "content" such as designer information.
How do you drive traffic to your listings, and which channel do you primarily drive traffic to?
I drive almost all the traffic to my website, primarily through Google, though Bing and the others are coming on board nicely. Google provides about 65% of my traffic (Google Products was about 10%, back when you could see that info using the old tracking system, but at this point I have no idea how much traffic comes from there). Bing is at about 6%, but it has great metrics - people look at more pages and stay on the site longer. I have to confess I do little to drive traffic to my market sites (Bonanzle and eCrater). They would no doubt do better if I did.
Can you talk about some of the SEO techniques you employ to drive traffic to your site(s)?
I do a Google feed every couple of weeks, and it includes extra attributes (color, feature, etc.). I use excellent titles. I get a lot of traffic from Google images, so apparently they like my pictures.
I just recently went through all of my listings and put my "boilerplate" info in a picture, so Google wouldn't pick it up when it is crawling.
It really could not have been easier. They sell their cart to others that already have websites, so they have made it outstanding as a stand-alone product. It seamlessly integrated with my website.
Does it have analytics, reporting?
It has counters that tell you the number of hits on each page (and which can be shown for weekly, monthly, etc.), but for thorough analytics I use Google. It was very easy to add.
What features do you wish it had?
I wish it had a bulk editor. (Actually, I think the version they came out with after the one I'm using may have it.) I wish my version could show more than 10 items per page. (Which in the new version you can.) However, in my version I can put each product under multiple categories, and you can't in the newer version. I checked into upgrading to the new version, and stayed with the one I have because of that category limitation.
What are the challenges you faced in starting your own website?
As with most websites, getting traffic is the big thing, especially in a competitive field like I am in. Although Prestostores does a Google feed on all of their stores, not too long after I started there I asked to do my own, so that I could add more information ("attributes"). The first year was definitely slow. But it has picked up nicely and the last couple to three years I have been very happy with the results. And it is still growing month-to-month.
I would say to anyone starting a new site - have patience! And since Google products, and Yahoo and Bing are more into featuring "shopping" items, it is a lot easier and quicker to be seen now. I make sure my pictures are good, and my descriptions, though accurate, are definitely not long and "flowery." But they do the job.
I think one important key is to get as much product listed as quickly as you can, because that makes you come up better in search.
What would you do differently if you were setting up a website today?
I might consider doing one that I put together from scratch and that would then be 100% "portable" - so there was no relying on a host like Prestostore. However, when I think about all the extra work that would have taken, it kind of makes me shudder. And with Presto I can at least download all my products in a csv file, though it would still take a lot of work to move to a new home. So really, I can't think of much I would do differently. I would rather put my time into adding product than fiddling around with code, etc.
How do you control inventory as a multi-channel seller? In other words, if you have the same item listed on multiple channels, and it sells, how do you make sure you take it down from the other channels?
Well, Google really frowns on doing that, and so for a couple of years now I do not list any product on more than one site. Easy for me to do that, because each of my products is fairly unique.
My inventory system is what you might call old fashioned and would probably drive some people nuts. As I get new inventory, I assign it a number and enter the info on an index card. I also put it on a list (spreadsheet form) - just the number and a short, maybe 5 word description, and a category abbreviation. This is so I can sort the inventory by number or category. Then, when I list something, the index card goes into either the SVS, Bonz or eCrater file. When it sells, I pull the card. And all of my jewelry (about 1500 items or so) is all neatly filed in numerical order. I never have to look for an item when it sells. (Well, never say never.)
Anyhow, it is a simple, easy to use filing/inventory system. It probably wouldn't work for someone who sells hundreds of items a month.
How did you create the logo/branding for your business/site?
My logo is used on all my sites, so it is getting fairly familiar.
How do you differentiate yourself from others selling similar products?
Well, I give quite good service, so get a fair amount of repeat buyers. Also, it seems that I get word-of-mouth recommendations. I try and provide a large variety of items, and include extra "content" such as designer information.
How do you drive traffic to your listings, and which channel do you primarily drive traffic to?
I drive almost all the traffic to my website, primarily through Google, though Bing and the others are coming on board nicely. Google provides about 65% of my traffic (Google Products was about 10%, back when you could see that info using the old tracking system, but at this point I have no idea how much traffic comes from there). Bing is at about 6%, but it has great metrics - people look at more pages and stay on the site longer. I have to confess I do little to drive traffic to my market sites (Bonanzle and eCrater). They would no doubt do better if I did.
Can you talk about some of the SEO techniques you employ to drive traffic to your site(s)?
I do a Google feed every couple of weeks, and it includes extra attributes (color, feature, etc.). I use excellent titles. I get a lot of traffic from Google images, so apparently they like my pictures.
I just recently went through all of my listings and put my "boilerplate" info in a picture, so Google wouldn't pick it up when it is crawling.
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