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Back Road BearsWhen you say on your site that you will take the customers bank number, is this how it works through pay pal?
No, I still have my merchant account thru my bank so if someone doesn't have a PayPal account and wants to pay me with a credit card directly I can do that over the phone.
Wazza Bears AustraliaHey sarah
If you get a manual merchant, the payments go through, if the purchase is over $100 they ask you to call a num to get a confirmation num that the charge has been approved. I have found this manual merchant to be the cheapest and easest as I don't do many shows either. Just find one that does not charge you a monthy fee. They charge you a joining fee i think commonwealth is $79 and then they charge you 2 - 3 % on each purchase. I have found most of my bears sell this way at a show and would not be with out it.
Sarah,
I cannot use PayPal to accept funds into South Africa as they have not set this up yet, I can make use of it if I pay funds into a bank account if I have one in the USA, but I cant pay funds living in SA into my bank account in the UK. Silly silly PayPal.
This works for SA and I am sure most banking houses work on the same principle when it comes to Internet transactions when accepting visa/mastercard/diners/amex.
You as the Seller never see the details of the credit card that your buyer uses when making an internet payment, so it works almost in a 3 part transaction. It is done in this way to prevent fraud.
1. The buyer submits his details.
2. A clearing house get these details, does all the checks etc ( For a fee- either a monthly fee or a % on each sale or both) and then pays the money over into your bank.
3. Your bank receives the funds and then pays it into your account. ( This is for another fee, monthly or % on the sale).
What I did, was to sign up with my bank as a merchant, this allowed me to accept all visa/mastercards. Then I had to sign up with a "clearing agent" who would "intercept" the transactions. Both cary monthly fees.
To accept Diners card and Amex card I had to sign up with each banking house, each one had an initial fee then a % is taken on each transaction- depending on how big you are the % can vary.
In this way I was able to add the visa/mastercard logo onto my website, so that potential shoppers could see I had the facility and that my site was also a "safe " locked site .
Fraud is on the go all the time, and you have to make sure that the money is safe and sound before any order is despatched, even if you have all the credit card details. Credit card transactions can take up to 3-5 working days to clear thru all the right channels. So beware of first time internet buyers, unless you know them.
Once PayPal is up and working in SA, I will make use of this as I now pay 3 places to have the privledge of credit card facilities ( I also have to have a separate merchant number to do transactions off the internet grrrrrrrr)
Your local bank will be able to advise you if you get the right department and then your webmaster will need to set up the "invoice" system.
Lynette
Creative Design Studio (RKR4CDS)While we all live in this 'instant moment' world, your information brings us up short and reminds us that some areas are still in their colonial days, Lynnette. We're really spoiled here and mostly fail to recognize our advantages.
Once PayPal is up and working in SA, I will make use of this as I now pay 3 places to have the privledge of credit card facilities ( I also have to have a separate merchant number to do transactions off the internet grrrrrrrr)
It wasn't so very many years ago when my friends, the Chamberlains in Cape Town, used to need an invoice from me, to take to their bank, to prove their need for US currency, before their own funds would be released to them, to pay me for the fabric I sold them.
And that's not even Third World.....
It wasn't so very many years ago when my friends, the Chamberlains in Cape Town, used to need an invoice from me, to take to their bank, to prove their need for US currency, before their own funds would be released to them, to pay me for the fabric I sold them.
And that's not even Third World.....
wow I thought it was bad when some people from South Africa who bought my mum and dad's house, had to have proof they had bought a house before they were allowed to have their own money to pay for it... but to need proof to pay for fabric! 
Thats pretty strict! I guess they really were worried about too much money leaving the country;)
It's amazing how things have changed over such a short time- before the internet when you actually had to pick up a phone, or fax or write someone to buy something from someone in another place 
Jellybelly BearsThanks Peta...Karen mentioned commenwealth too...I'm copying all this down 
Lynette, I'm pretty sure Pay Pal australia is new too, before we couldn't get things in AUD or transfer funds to our bank...I finished with the transaction through Pay Pal anyway, and it ended up costing me around 10%...crazy hey. They must be raking it in...
Flying Fur StudiosThis has been a great discussion, thanks Ladies.
Daph, thanks for Marks info.......
