HN Explorer

What is the absolute cheapest way to process credit cards online

11 points by emilepetrone ↗ HN
What is the cheapest way to process credit cards online? I've used Paypal & Stripe. At the lowest level, Stripe is a better deal (no redirect). Paypal forces you to redirect the user to Paypal, process the payment, then redirect back to your site. In 2012, this is just crazy - which is why Stripe is doing so well. For the same fee, your users stay on your site (2.9% + 30¢)

However this clearly isn't the cheapest option.

In the top post on HN, another user mentioned: "get a merchant account through a bank and authorize.net ." However I am wondering if this is still the best option.

HN - what is the absolute cheapest way to process credit cards online?

8 comments

[ 3.0 ms ] story [ 29.1 ms ] thread
captaincrunch
I often stick to things like PayPal or strype - they're pretty cheap, considering you don't need to deposit $5k safety deposits on account openings, etc. They also take care of the security, etc for you.
stevencorona
Keep in mind, a merchant account is going to cost you monthly fees for the account + payment gateway (like, $50-60/mo, atleast). Plus a deposit. Plus a credit check. Plus several day wait. Plus nasty APIs.

In the end, you might save a little bit, but likely not much since you're still processing without the card being present. If you're doing enough sales for .007% to be big difference, it's worth it. Otherwise- how much is your time and frustration worth? Even on a million dollars in revenue, .007% is only $7000.

IMO, Stripe is the holy grail for most startups.

shiftpgdn
I don't agree with you at all. We started out using PayPal which has a really similar fee schedule to Stripe ($30/month, swipe fee, 2.9% of the total etc.) One of my cofounders did some research and we switched over to Authorize where after some negotation we get 1.7% transaction fee, $20/month for the account and then $99 up front.

That 1.2% we are saving made up for the labor cost of doing the switch and the cost of the application fee within the first few days. We are now saving enough money that we may be able to bring on an extra person before the end of the year.

_pius
We started out using PayPal which has a really similar fee schedule to Stripe ($30/month, swipe fee, 2.9% of the total etc.)

Stripe doesn't have a monthly fee at all.

petesfishing
There are so many APIs for Auth.net, and its the cheapest way to process cards.
angrow
Whichever involves the least amount of developer time to integrate.
codegeek
Not trying to be smart here but the term "cheapest" cannot just be evaluated in terms of short term money. You also need to look at factors such as ease of setup, long term overhead costs, customer service headache etc. Considering all these together, Stripe seems to be doing pretty well compared to their customers.
shyn3
Stripe just offered a $250 per month fee.

I think they win.