Having problems finding a merchant account

[tugglejazz]

Hi all,

Please help, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I am trying to make the move from PayPal Pro, to sec pay or prtox but I can not get a merchant account. The reason being that the goods are effectively drop shipped and I do not own them or stock them at the point of sale.

I know of at least three similar websites that are using major payment gateways so how have they got round this problem?

I really dont want to go with 2checkout but its starting to look like the only option.

regards

Jasmyne

[blown away]

Ah, I do remember streamline asking how much stock we physically hold.
The other sites you mention may well have had standard merchant accounts or a trading history which enabled them to get their IMA.

[Toon]

We offer a dropshipping service and have customers who have merchant accounts. I know of one of them who uses Protx and I think he's with natwest. Obviously they never had a problem offering him their services. Do the banks ask these kind of questions?

[Sue F]

Hi ... we do a little drop shipping.

We use HSBC for our banking and for card processing.

[WebPageOne-Solutions]

Hi Jasmyne, im not sure if this will help, but have you looked at google checkout (https://checkout.google.com/seller/what.html?hl=en-GB).

[kulture]

What do you mean by 'effectively dropship'. I had a quick look at your holding page and I am guessing but are your dropshippers individuals rather than major companies? It may be that the merchant providers are worried about the whole cottage industry feel. I would re-approach your bank and show them your trading history. Show them that you have been trading for some time, show them the figures (no orders, amount, etc) they will then get the realisation that you are a serious business and perhaps give you a merchant number.
I would also approach your bank manager and suggest that you are about to move banks as your bank has not given you a merchant account. It is likely that your bank manager may be able to talk to the right people to step aside from the nit picking rules that are so far stopping you expanding your business with your bank. Make getting a merchant account your managers problem not yours.

[Sue F]

It may be that the merchant providers are worried about the whole cottage industry feel.

This is a good point that I hadn't thought of ... by far the majority of our products are held in stock which might be why I didn't have a problem setting up accounts etc.

[lockie]

Speak to the bank and tell them why you want it,how it will enhance your business and how that is good for them. I was denied a credit card machine by a few banks when i first started out so i put them in the situation of a customer. I explained that if you had had your bag stolen and lost all the your keys and cards on a saturday night how would you pay if your only option was a spare credit card in the house ?
When i explained it like this they became a bit more receptive and sorted it out straight away.
Basically dont take no for an answer and use some charm and powers of persuasion.

[hondo]

Hiya...
Im somewhat of a newbie so please forgive me if i've overstepped the mark in some way...
I know of a large internet hosting outfit who use bank of ireland to supply anyone who hosts with them a merchant facility. Where I wouldnt wish to suggest you use this hosting company (as I myself have just left after an infuriating period during which their security lapsed and approx 75% of their clients couldnt log in)...it may suggest that if you do have problems the bank of ireland may be able to offer a facility. I do know they withold 5% of the transaction for 6 months initially which may or may not be a problem but it does give the extra step away from paypal etc which you seek?...
Hope this is of some help..

Well ladies and gents thats my tuppence worth...a happy and need i say it prosperous new year to all

Dave

[gibby]

if you do a web search there are a few of organisations that will off you an IMA for a price

metacharge (if I have it right) offer almost anyone an IMA account even for businesses involved in the adult sex biz etc
be careful as they hang onto your money for 4 weeks - then pay weekly to protect themselves

there are others who also do this and you need to find one with the best processing charges as some are quite expensive

also try a broker -as some that sort business finance arrange applications and know how to place your application for best results

hope that helps

G

[boho]

Worldpays Junior Direct is a good place to start if you are struggling to get a merchant account, and it is one of the main recognised and trusted psp's along with Protx.

Junior Direct is a combined merchant account and psp account and whilst they do hold your funds for 28 days you will probably find that this occurs anyway with other merchant accounts if you are deemed a risk.

Worldpay are part of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, so it works well combined with a Natwest or RSB business account and once you have achieved either £3k a month or 100 transactions a month you can renegotiate your rates, or once you have a reasonable trading history then look to combine your Worldpay account with Streamline which give very good rates.

[Blush]

Thanks for that useful post BOHO, I use worldpay and didn't realise I could renogitiate rates once I have reached that amount, which I did sometime ago:). I shall be chasing that one up now.

[boho]

I discovered this was the case when I asked how I could get them to reconsider my rates and the 28 day time period :)
I now actually use Streamline and Worldpay combined and get even better rates with that split and a 3 day turnaround on funds.

[IridiumCorp]

Send me a PM if you want some help. Drop Shipping is not a problem so long as the merchant account provider understands the model.

We have a merchant account buy group in place with a UK acquirer so will be able to get you an account and at some decent rates.

Think I might post a how-to guide for getting Merchant accounts in the UK.

It is not as hard as people make it out to be.