And then you have this fantastic idea, you have a great business model, but you are just about to launch your startup. There is one problem, though, and that is the payment issue – the problem of every beginner business owner. Do not underestimate this step as the improper payment processor choice may result in either losing money or bringing your website to its knees right after becoming popular.
Do not be afraid. Here I will assist you in choosing different payment processors in plain language.
We will start with the basics like Stripe or PayPal. If you provide some subscription or digital goods, then Stripe will be a perfect choice, because it perfectly works with any service you are using and is really professional-looking. Speaking of PayPal, it is rather old-fashioned service, but takes an extremely large commission from the transaction. Nevertheless, it is highly reliable service from the buyers’ point of view, so you will encounter less problems during payments. As for Square, it is absolutely different story – you should take its card readers into consideration when you want to sell your products physically in some marketplace.
It is time to talk about the price. Payment processors do not work for free, and they expect you to pay them some part of each transaction. You might hear some terms like “flat rate” and “interchange plus”. However, as a student entrepreneur, it will be enough for you just to monitor the percentage and the fixed commission from each transaction. The “2.9% plus 30 cents” fee might seem rather small until you calculate it concerning your low-profit products.
The security is of critical importance and it would be totally unreasonable for you to invent anything on your own here. You should never store your customers’ credit cards data. It is better for the payment processor to take care of it in order for it to be PCI-compliant. Otherwise, any hacking attempts would harm your reputation.
To conclude, I would advise you to make a decision and proceed. You might spend a couple of weeks searching for the features and prices of different companies, but, in reality, you will only delay your decision making. You just have to choose a payment processor you are satisfied with and start selling. If you are scared to make a wrong decision, then take a look at Stripe. It will be a perfect solution for most of online businesses. Later, you can change your payment processor whenever you want.