If you have a low volume of credit
card transactions, it might benefit you to switch from a merchant
account to some sort of payment service like PayPal or ClickBank.
Statement fees, monthly fees, discount percentages and the like
can all add up to big money. While payment services normally have
reduced fees, they do have higher "per transaction" costs
so you'll have to do some math to find out if this is a good idea
for your business. Just take an "average" invoice amount
from a sale and multiply it times 12 to get a base total. Now, add
in your 12 months worth of fees for statement, monthly access, discount
percentage, per transaction cost, etc. This is your "example"
total. Do the same with several payment services using their costs
to see which one, over time, would be less expensive for you. If
you were paying a $15 statement fee, $20 monthly fee, 3 percent
+ $0.35 per transaction and $25 monthly gateway fee, your annual
expenses would be $742.20 for an average transaction of $50. Your
annual fees for a payment service with 3.5 percent, $1.00 per transaction
and a one-time $50.00 set up charge would only be $83.00 per year.
[Savings of $659.20 per year.
Helpful HInts
What's the best way to
improve your website? Let your customers do it for you! Who knows
more about how well your website is fitting your customer's needs
than your customers? Finding out is easy. Put a feedback form in
an easily seen place and invite your customers to use it.
But not just any feedback form will
do. Don't expect them to tell you what you need to know unless you
ask. Here are some examples of things you might want to ask.
- Please tell us your favorite product.
This will help you decide which products to feature most prominently.
- Which part of the site did you find
most interesting or helpful? This lets you know what is working
and that knowledge can help you improve other parts of your site.
multiple choice drop menu here will make it easy for customers to
choose. - What did you like least about the site? Why? Find out
what's not working and change it!
- Was your shopping experience easy
and enjoyable? This is good to add to the bottom of an order form.
Let them know you care.
- Was there something you wanted that
we didn't have? Also good to add to the order form. If someone wants
it, you should consider carrying it.
- Did you have trouble finding anything?
Products should be easy to find. If they aren't, install a search
engine or rethink your categorization.
- How did you find us? Know which
advertising is working for you.
- Would you recommend us? Why or why
not? Customer recommendations are a great way to build a business.
If you aren't getting them, you need to make some changes.
Let SWD get your
small business on the web today
