Online Selling Confusion

[regmolehusband]

Could somebody with a little more savvy than I help please!!?

I'm trying to set up a simple buy online facility. Our chosen banker HSBC now says we've got to have 6 months trading before they'll entertain it - THANKS! Very helpful.

I tried Worldpay and the application form asks for our Internet Trading Account ID(s) and which bank provided it. The HSBC "rep" who encouraged us to bank with them doesn't understand this either and is looking into it!!!

Am I missing something obvious here???

"Reg"

[davidd]

I thought the whole point of worldpay and the like was that you did not have to piss about with merchant stuff etc, thus giving a low risk/low cost entry.

D.

[PetrolTed]

Yep, make sure you're applying for the right type of Worldpay account. They offer two sorts - one where you have the trader ID thingy already and one where they manage that side for you.

[tim_s]

PetrolTed said:

Yep, make sure you're applying for the right type of Worldpay account. They offer two sorts - one where you have the trader ID thingy already and one where they manage that side for you.

ted i'm asuming you use worldpay - do you know how long the reconciliation period is (i.e. how many days after the transaction has completed do you get your money)?

[PetrolTed]

Mine was 8 weeks to start with. I've managed to get mine reduced to 6 last year but they're not normally keen on doing it any lower than that as they need some leeway in case of chargebacks.

[tim_s]

do you know how long it takes with normal pdq machines?

>> Edited by tim_s on Tuesday 23 September 10:44

[PetrolTed]

Nope.

[Mark.S]

tim_s said:

do you know how long it takes with normal pdq machines?

Not sure on PDQ machines but I'm sure I've seen online payment providers that offer 3-5 day settlement.

[Cacatous]

If you take a Debit Card then you cannot get chargebacks...

[regmolehusband]

If I was to be expecting quite low volume sales initially do I really need to go to somebody like Worldpay?

Is there much wrong with off the shelf e-commerce software and forwarding the card details manually via the PDQ machine?

This all assumes that we can get a merchant ID from our bank! My business partner has had a personal account with them for some time so I'll get him to wind them up when he gets back off holiday

[rpguk]

regmolehusband said:

If I was to be expecting quite low volume sales initially do I really need to go to somebody like Worldpay? Is there much wrong with off the shelf e-commerce software and forwarding the card details manually via the PDQ machine? This all assumes that we can get a merchant ID from our bank! My business partner has had a personal account with them for some time so I'll get him to wind them up when he gets back off holiday

Best not to do this, the banks get very arsey if you use a PDQ for online orders (even if they don't mind other CNP transactions) and you could lose your merchant account.

I suppose if you don't want to pay all the fixed fees with worldpay theres no reason you couldn't use paypal or the like (although I know many have reservations about it).

[PetrolTed]

Don't forget Worldpay also analyses the orders and rates them to alert you to potential fraud. That's a useful feature.

[john_p]

Not sure how we managed it, but we got a PDQ and an Internet merchant ID from HSBC, with next day settlement, for our online business that had just started up - this was in 1999 though!

[PetrolTed]

john_p said:

Not sure how we managed it, but we got a PDQ and an Internet merchant ID from HSBC, with next day settlement, for our online business that had just started up - this was in 1999 though!

Blimey, mentioning the internet to NatWest back then was like asking for money laundering services.