credit cards
Just an update on my credit card situation...I've gone with NPC (800) 592-1591. They have been very helpful, especially with the credit card programming. I've not had to wait more than 30 seconds to talk to a live person and I have had to call at least a dozen times now. They seem to know what they're doing and enjoy their jobs = good for knowing your checking account will get the money!Within days of receiving my manual imprinter, I had 2 clients pay with a credit card and then I finally got my terminal working and had another 4 clients also pay via cc.I ended up buying a terminal and printer off ebay for $70. Brand new the same equipment would cost about $600, which is a ridiculous rip-off price, IMO. DON'T LEASE equipment either, another rip-off. Search ebay for "verifone" terminals and you'll get an eyefull. I bought a Verifone Omni 396 with the print-pak 350 printer. FYI, any verifone printer will work with any verifone terminal. The common 250 printer you'll see on ebay is fine, but it is bulky and the noisy dot-matrix type. The 300 and 350 printer (i think the 900 series too?) are thermal printers, which are very quiet and don't require replacing a ribbon cartridge. A week after I won my auction on ebay, I saw the same setup that sold for $10.FYI, if you decide CC processing is for you, here's some things I learned that could save you some time:when programming your terminal, tell the customer service person:*you want to have "full tip reporting capabilities" with the ability to update/adjust your tips *after* the customer has signed their chit and written in a tip (assuming you accept tips in your business)*if you also get a imprinter (old-skool knucklebuster) which is good for doing outcalls, tell them you want some charge slips with a spot for a customer to write in a tip, if they wish.*exaggerate your gross annual sales...say if you expect to do $40,000 in sales, tell them you expect to do $80,000 and exaggerate your average ticket price...i said $100 even though it is more likely $75. The person who set up my account actually recommened I exaggerate these figures to improve my rate and transaction fee. If I said I only did $40,000 in cc sales and actually did $47,000, she said the processing company gets leery of that and will investigate as to why you are charging more than you said you would.-JasonSeattle, WA