Ask HN: Any payment processing advice?

4 points by kylec 17y ago ↗ HN

I'm in the process of building a simple website for my grandmother to showcase her artwork online. Right now, if someone sees art they would like to purchase, they send her an email and arrange a check or money transfer. However, I'm concerned about the risk of accepting checks and am looking into credit card processing systems.

So my questions are:

  - Is there really a risk to accepting checks, or am I just being slightly paranoid?
  - Should I go with PayPal, or should I look into alternatives?
  - What information do I need to keep for each transaction?

Thanks for your advice!

1 comment

[ 2.6 ms ] story [ 13.1 ms ] thread

noodle 17y ago ↗

1) a safe policy would be to accept checks by mail, but hold shipping until the check clears the bank and you have funds in your account.

2) http://www.gabrielweinberg.com/startupswiki/Ask_YC_Archive#t...

3) depends. some of the things in the link above touch on that. for the most part, though, keep as much of the "safe" (non-CC, check, routing, etc. numbers) information that you feel like you need.