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About the Author
Mitch (@mitchellharper) is the co-founder and CEO of BigCommerce. Way back in 2007 he built what eventually became BigCommerce as you know it. Today he runs the company alongside Eddie and along with our 100+ team members, is passionate about helping businesses succeed with e-commerce. Mitch spends time between our Sydney and Austin offices and is giving the keynote at TechConnect 2012 in Sydney on April 19th. |
When it comes to selling your products online the first thing you need is the ability to accept and process payments via credit card. There are two ways to go about getting started – you can either apply for your own merchant account through a bank or use an online payment provider such as PayPal or Google Checkout.
If you’re looking to get started quickly then PayPal or Google Checkout might be the best option, however they typically attract a higher transaction fee (around 3-5%) than using your own merchant account.
If you’re a little more patient or expect to process a large amount of orders through your online store then having your own merchant account is the best solution. You’ll pay a low transaction fee of around 1-2% per order and you’ll get paid directly into your bank account. We provide merchant accounts which allow you to accept credit cards online for a low rate of 2.10% + $17/month. You’ll get an all-in-one solution which integrates with BigCommerce in 3 clicks. It will also allow you to process payments for phone orders, so it’s definintely worth considering if you’re in the market for a merchant account.
In the video above I go into more detail about each option and give you some other points to consider so you can decide if a merchant account is the right choice for you, or if you might be better off using a third party payment option like PayPal or Google Checkout.
This video is the second of many which we’ll be publishing on our new YouTube guru channel, BigCommerceDotCom. Check it out and make sure you subscribe so you don’t miss future videos.
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