There are a lot of new technologies in the money transfer industry right now. Bitcoin and Apple Pay might be making the headlines, but what’s best for your business?
E-commerce Sites
Selling on major platforms like eBay or Amazon gives you the benefit of accessing their multi-million customer-base. This comes at a premium, however, with high transaction fees and limited customisability. Luckily, there are various other e-commerce sites out there with already established audiences to fit a variety of businesses. If you sell vintage clothing or handmade crafts, take a loot at Etsy. While you can sign-up for free, they currently charge a 3.5% transaction fee for each sale–way below eBay’s current 10%–and a listing fee of 20 cents per item. eCRATER offers a better alternative to less specilaised sellers, with product categories from antiques to video games. It’s also completely free, though with a caveat. Generally, you will be charged a 2.9% marketplace cost, but you can opt out of this. Doing so means your products will be given limited visibility compared to those who choose to pay.
Running Your Own Site
For those of you who want to lose the recurring fees altogether, you could consider running your own website. The downside of this is that you’ll have to work hard to built an audience, but you’ll also have more control over your store. You could partner with specialists such as CardCutters.co.uk to create an e-commerce site that takes payments easily and securely. This includes various fraud-screening tools, a personal back-office for real-time transaction monitoring, and even a virtual terminal so you can take payments over the phone as well. They also offer a try before you buy service, which allows you to set up a free test account and try out all of their features.
Consider a Virtual Terminal
A virtual terminal is the perfect solution for businesses that need to take card-based payments over the phone as well. This is especially useful if you find your company dealing with an older demographic, who might not be comfortable dealing with online payments. Receipts can still be sent to your customers by email, even if they paid over the phone, and you’ll also be able to easily manage your payments and transactions history. No additional hardware or software will be necessary when logging in to your virtual terminal, and you can allow multiple employees to use the service simultaneously.
