Thread: What methods do you use to accept deposits from clients?

Do you ever have to meet them in person to pick up the deposit? or have them mail it to your home address? (I don't have a PO BOX). I'm confused about this, please any experiences let me know.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by Raya

Do you ever have to meet them in person to pick up the deposit? or have them mail it to your home address? (I don't have a PO BOX). I'm confused about this, please any experiences let me know.

Thanks!

Many find it useful to get a PO box for business purposes. The small ones are usually pretty cheap (anywhere from $20 to $40 per year). For safety sake, it's worth it. Giving out a PO box also looks more professional. Some also offer to take payments via paypal or other similar service. You can also get a credit card reader or find an online credit card processing service.

They mail it to my house. Or submit it through paypal. Aradia has a really cool app on her iphone that you can use with a credit card scanner - like a merchant account but without actually having to set up a merchant account. I am thinking about going that route since a lot of people want to use credit cards but don't use paypal.

I've never worried about clients having my home address. I guess that's because by the time they have gotten to the point of giving me a deposit, i've spoken with them enough to be comfortable in my assumption that they are not serial killers. That, and I have a good home alarm system.

I have both met clients in person (not in full makeup of course, and I inform them of this in advance :->) and have had cheques mailed to me. I have the same feelings as Daniela: by them time they are sending me a deposit, I have had enough discussion with them (and they have signed my contract) to give me comfort in doing this. Although I will accept payments through PayPal, no one has elected to pay me this way yet.

I accept paypal, or credit card (a Square for my iPhone) or they can mail me a check to where I teach Pilates.
I don't give out my home address... just because I'm reasonably sure they're not serial killers doesn't mean I want them to have my home address. They could still have a nephew who's a stalker.

I also accept Paypal or mail-in checks. People generally seem to prefer Paypal.

Originally Posted by SamiraShuruk

I accept paypal, or credit card (a Square for my iPhone) or they can mail me a check to where I teach Pilates.
I don't give out my home address... just because I'm reasonably sure they're not serial killers doesn't mean I want them to have my home address. They could still have a nephew who's a stalker.

Hi Samira,

Thanks for your comment. Can u explain what you mean by "Square" for your iPhone? Is that an app or a peripheral?

I saw something for about $10 in last week's Best Buy's ad that enables an Iphone to process credit cards. I do not know if an additional fee would be involved or not but it might be worth research. I do not have an Iphone so it's all news to me. If I can locate the flyer I will post the info.

Found the brochure. The listing states: Square credit card reader, $9.99, lets you accept credit card payments on your Iphone, Ipad touch or Android device. SKU 3282053

The unit is tiny, it plugs into the headset/speaker outlet. You utilize it to swipe the card. From what I can see it is smaller than a silver dollar. I do not know if you can do manual entries but it might be worth research.

I posted the following on a facebook group, but it seems applicable here...

I thought I'd make a comparison between taking credit cards online through paypal vs. a traditional merchant account. I am assuming $50,000 in gross annual sales.

Paypal (roughly $2.50 fee on a $100 sale)
$1250 total transaction fees
$0.00 total monthly processor fees
$0.00 total monthly gateway fees
$0.00 total set up fee
-----------
$1250 annual cost

SquareUp (roughly $2.75 fee on a $100 sale)
$1375 total transaction fees
$0.00 total monthly processor fees
$0.00 total monthly gateway fees
$0.00 total set up fee
-----------
$1375 annual cost

Merchant account (roughly $0.70 fee on a $100 sale)
$350 total transaction fees
$180 total monthly processor fees ($15/month)
$180 total monthly gateway fees ($15/month)
$65 total annual SSL certificate
$95 one time set up fee
-----------
$775 annual cost + $95 set up fee

This does not include any expenses you might have relating to installing and configuring a shopping cart (which you may or may not need to do). Also, if your online set up is fairly simple, you can probably get away with using the processor's website to process the cards (instead of the gateway). This would save you the expenses of the SSL Certificate and the gateway fees and bring the annual cost down to $530.

Additionally, if your average sale is higher or lower than $100, then the per transaction fees would go up or down accordingly.

Obviously there is a point where having a merchant account is more cost-effective than using paypal or google checkout, but you have to have enough volume to justify it. Every situation is different.

If I run the same analysis using the same parameters, but use a $25K Gross, you can see that it's nearly about even.

Assuming 25K Gross:

Paypal (roughly $2.50 fee on a $100 sale)
$625 total transaction fees
$0.00 total monthly processor fees
$0.00 total monthly gateway fees
$0.00 total set up fee
-----------
$625 total transaction fees

SquareUp (roughly $2.75 fee on a $100 sale)
$625 total transaction fees
$0.00 total monthly processor fees
$0.00 total monthly gateway fees
$0.00 total set up fee
-----------
$687.50 total transaction fees

Merchant account (roughly $0.70 fee on a $100 sale)
$175 total transaction fees
$180 total monthly processor fees ($15/month)
$180 total monthly processor fees ($15/month)
$65 total annual SSL certificate
$95 one time set up fee
-----------
$600 annual cost + $95 set up fee

It would cost you more the first year, and then save you more every additional year after that.

Keep in mind, this is just processing fees. And it can be done for less if you choose different gateway/processors. Additionally, this does not include any of the expense of integrating it with a website or shopping cart.

For the record, I use the following:
Merchant Account: Preferred Merchant Processing
Online Gateway: Authorize.net
SSL Certificate: GoDaddy
Shopping Cart: OpenCart

Originally Posted by Samira_dncr

Keep in mind, this is just processing fees. And it can be done for less if you choose different gateway/processors. Additionally, this does not include any of the expense of integrating it with a website or shopping cart.

For the record, I use the following:
Merchant Account: Preferred Merchant Processing
Online Gateway: Authorize.net
SSL Certificate: GoDaddy
Shopping Cart: OpenCart

Great info! Thanks for posting!

I checked my Android phone app market. It's free to download the app that works with the Square that sells for $9.99. If you have very little credit card activity hopefully the fees would be much less. You would have to inquire about manual entries, transactions via phone and online.

Originally Posted by crystalllized

Great info! Thanks for posting!

Glad you liked it.

Originally Posted by showtime

I checked my Android phone app market. It's free to download the app that works with the Square that sells for $9.99. If you have very little credit card activity hopefully the fees would be much less. You would have to inquire about manual entries, transactions via phone and online.

That was really my whole point in a nutshell. If your annual gross is 25K or higher, you might look into other options.