If you ever decide to sell something off your free site or you already have a paysite, chances are you won’t get too far without a merchant account. Sooner or later, you will start looking for one and when you are at that point, you will ask yourself – Where the heck do I start? .As your site begins to grow, it gets demanding. We are not talking a six pack of beer after work, but faster servers and merchant accounts.

As your site begins to grow, it gets demanding. We are not talking a six pack of beer after work, but faster servers and merchant accounts.

If you ever decide to sell something off your free site or you already have a paysite, chances are you won’t get too far without a merchant account. Sooner or later, you will start looking for one and when you are at that point, you will ask yourself – Where the heck do I start?

To make your life easier, follow this checklist:

1. Who do I go to?

Your choices are quite interesting. Being an adult site, we can recommend to you CCBill, or I-bill, both are competent companies in terms of customer satisfaction. We recommend you ask a lot of questions upfront, so you don’t have surprises later. The other half of the market is banks and financial institutions. Experience tells us that most mainstream vendors shriek at the name of porn site. You may find some that would do otherwise.

2. What do you need to get started?

Most of us in this industry have our apprehensions about jumping the hoops. The first word that comes to mind when I think of merchant accounts is credit rating. Cynical bankers love being nosy. Asking questions is their favorite past time. More than often they will ask for credit histories of your business entity and yourself. Be prepared to address any red flags on it.

If you have a commercially viable website, the bank looks at it more favorably. The right side of the lender’s brain will tell him that you will generate revenues off your orders soon. Buying your banker lunch at Olive Garden doesn’t always work.

3. Does it take forever to get one?

If you applied with adult vendors as discussed above, you can get started in just under 48 hours. Banks due to their bureaucratic hurdles will take longer. It also helps to have your documents ready. Shawn, a banker we worked with in MI, used to tell me- most of the delays are caused by customers not coming in prepared!

If you have sufficient funds in the bank account (personal or business), the banker is more inclined to be on your side. This will woo his worries as a lender away.

4. What fees are involved?

Again, some adult merchant account vendors charge setup fees and then a fixed percentile off your revenues (13.5% for CCBill and 15% for I-Bill). If the fees sound steep, you can always call them and find out if they will negotiate. There are other fair vendors that are equally good.

Banks are known to be quite conservative. Some will charge you fees just to evaluate your case. If you do not get approved, chances are you have lost those fees. Do not forget to ask for list of hidden fees such as wire transfers and other add-ons fees.

5. Do looks matter?

No. In our time, we have seen hideous merchant account consoles. Although repulsive, your potential customer is already sold on the idea of signing up with you. The last thing that is going to deter him/her is the looks of your merchant account. We do recommend you to look at more concerning issues like security, ease of ordering, fraud protection and card compatibility. If you are servicing european clientele, chances are you might need euro account processor.

Technically, we have found most processors very cooperative. They have answered phone calls, questions and also recommended experts to fix glitches. Then again, make sure you have someone on your side who will help you pinpoint the problem should one crop up.

6. What are my liabilities? Fraud et al?

Most of us who have been through the maze know of zipcodes and blacklisted card companies.

Processors are very well aware of such problems. Adult vendors will help you work the kinks out. You can always pile questions about fraud when you make your laundry list of questions to ask your processor (item 1).

Like they always said growing up..Better safe than sorry. We urge you to ask a lot of questions. Chances are the strong will survive. They will stand your test. This can be your weeding excercise. Good luck!