Online Selling Confusion

Online Selling Confusion

Author
Discussion

regmolehusband

Original Poster:

4,017 posts

264 months

Monday 22nd September 2003
quotequote all
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

6,527 posts

291 months

Monday 22nd September 2003
quotequote all
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

34,443 posts

310 months

Monday 22nd September 2003
quotequote all
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

299 posts

261 months

Tuesday 23rd September 2003
quotequote all
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

34,443 posts

310 months

Tuesday 23rd September 2003
quotequote all
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

299 posts

261 months

Tuesday 23rd September 2003
quotequote all
do you know how long it takes with normal pdq machines?

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

PetrolTed

34,443 posts

310 months

Tuesday 23rd September 2003
quotequote all
Nope.

Mark.S

473 posts

284 months

Tuesday 23rd September 2003
quotequote all
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

3,166 posts

280 months

Tuesday 23rd September 2003
quotequote all
If you take a Debit Card then you cannot get chargebacks...

regmolehusband

Original Poster:

4,017 posts

264 months

Tuesday 23rd September 2003
quotequote all
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

4,484 posts

291 months

Tuesday 23rd September 2003
quotequote all
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

34,443 posts

310 months

Tuesday 23rd September 2003
quotequote all
Don't forget Worldpay also analyses the orders and rates them to alert you to potential fraud. That's a useful feature.

john_p

7,073 posts

257 months

Tuesday 23rd September 2003
quotequote all
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

34,443 posts

310 months

Tuesday 23rd September 2003
quotequote all
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.