What's better?  Propay?  Paypal? First Data Merchant Account?
Let's Compare:

Getting your own merchant account is not for just anyone.  You really have to weigh out whether you are generating enough sales each month to compensate the merchant account fees.  Sometimes paying the higher fees to a 3rd party processor like paypal or propay is better, as crazy as that may sound.

To help you see it in black and white, we've created the following comparison chart:
 

Processor:	Discount Fee:	Transaction Fee:	Monthly Fee:
Paypal	2.9%	.30 ea.	20.00
Propay	3.5%	.35 ea.	39.95/yr + .35 each time to send money to your bank.
MomPack Merchant Acct.	2.19%	.15 ea	20.00 optional gateway fee & virtual terminal through authorize.net

Now, comparing the above rates, you can see that the choice would be the Mom Pack negotiated Merchant Account through First Data.  But.. let's go over this in detail using sales examples because it still may not be for you.  We're going to go through 3 scenarios of sales volumes.  Maybe this will help you decide.
 

Processor:	50.00 Single Ticket Sale:	$1,000.00 Sales This Month in 20 transactions:	$2,000.00 Sales This Month in 40 transactions:
Paypal	$1.45 %fee  .30 fee Total: $1.75	$29.00 %fee $6.00 fees Total: $55.00	$58.00 % fees $12.00 fees Total: $90.00
Propay	$1.75 %fee  .35 fee Total: $2.10	$35.00 %fee $7.00 fees Total: $42.00	$70.00 % fees $14.00 fees Total:  $84.00
MomPack Merchant Acct.	$1.09 %fee  .15 fee Total: $1.24	$21.90 %fee $3.00 fees Total: $24.90 +$20.00 optional gateway fee	$43.80 % fees $6.00 fees Total:  $49.80 + $20.00 optional gateway fee

Now, see how the totals each month are less with the Mom Pack merchant account and the highest with paypal?  But, also see how the fees really make a difference in your pocket book the more credit cards you process.  That's where the big difference is. If you only process small numbers of sales each month, it's best to stick with a 3rd party processor.  As your business grows, you'll definitely benefit by having your own merchant account.

Note that the above total fees have been tallied to the best of our knowledge.

You do not "need" a gateway which would stop you from having the 20.00 per month optional fee above.  But, you do need some way of actually "running" the cards.  You can purchase or lease your own terminal (which can be good for those taking a machine to a live show - phone processing included) - see Mary for more details as well as for other options.  Keep in mind that the above 20.00 optional gateway fee gives you a Virtual Terminal through authorize.net so that you can manage your own credit card processing services.  Authorize.net does have a setup fee of $49.00 one time which helps you through the process of connecting the setup with your shopping cart.  This has been negotiated for Mom Pack Members down from the normal $199.00 normal setup rate.

With any of the above processors, you will need either a secure order form to gather credit card order information through your site OR a shopping cart using your secure certificate or your host's SSL (if they have one).   If you have a shopping cart already and it is API enabled, you can have the cards processed directly through your merchant account.  If you do not, see if your webmaster or programmer can install a module for you. 

Don't forget:  You can continue to take paypal as a form of payment along with any other merchant account.  It's not an "either - or" thing.  You will have some visitors that just do not want to give out their credit card information to you since they may not know you.  They may feel safe with paypal and will give their credit card to them ONLY, making paypal's merchant account unused by you.

Hope this information helps you in making an informed decision on your new merchant account processing.  I am personally using this same merchant account for my own business.

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