What is the best merchant account service?

You may be best off with Paypal or another third party merchant account service.

Finding a payment provider can be quite the hassle, I know from personal experience as I have ran my own business for over 5 years now. I found that using several options usually works best, and it’s fairly cheap to do so assuming you signup with the right people.

I use PayPal for small ticket items, and for customers who prefer the option. However since there are so many people who don’t like PayPal, and it’s not quite as professional I also use a merchant account that has me setup with a shopping cart, payment gateway, and has everything integrated. Luckily it was extremely easy to do, and even without much technical know-how in the field I’m able to operate it without a problem.

However I won’t lie and tell you it was easy to setup, I had to fill out an application that was about two pages long with all my information and detail on my business and products. It was worth it in the long run and the merchant fee’s are lower than PayPal, but if you don’t feel like the hassle then PayPal, Google Checkout and etc. are good options.

If you want a merchant account I can personally recommend two good ones I’ve used in the past, the first is Prosper Merchant Services ( ) and Merchant Express (http://www.merchantexpress.com/)

The choice depends on exactly what your selling and what you value in my opinion, for instance if your selling software codes and not shipped items Prosper is probably a better option as they have some really good chargeback programs… most don’t require a deposit in my experience. But Merchant Express is much bigger and has a few more services/recognition if your doing shipped stuff, both have pretty good customer service.

Good luck with your decision!

I use paypal, it’s free to sign up accepts tons of methods, and charges very little fee per transaction. Comes with all the features you want too.