Is an AVS fee normal?

[RB4580]

Are most merchant accounts still charging PER transaction for Address Verification...?

[stymiee]

It's a gimmick. It's their way of trying to make their transaction fee appear lower. They say you pay something like 25 cents per transaction but then you have to add their AVS fee which is usually 5 cents. So your real transaction fee is 30 cents. And you have to do AVS or else your rates go through the roof (add an additional 1% or more).

Always look closer at offers with gimmciks like this.

[RB4580]

That's crazy man, I just got my fee lowered to 25 cents per transaction and JUST found out about this fee today when I called. I never heard of this before, it's like they added it when they lowered my NOTICABLE fee to make me feel better, I'm going to call them right now.

P.S. I also found out today I pay a .25 cent DAILY BATCH FEE!!! You gotta stay on top of these people...

[stymiee]

That's crazy man, I just got my fee lowered to 25 cents per transaction and JUST found out about this fee today when I called. I never heard of this before, it's like they added it when they lowered my NOTICABLE fee to make me feel better, I'm going to call them right now.

P.S. I also found out today I pay a .25 cent DAILY BATCH FEE!!! You gotta stay on top of these people...

Hidden fees are rampant in this industry. That's why it's always important to do your homework before selecting a provider. I'm considering making a checklist for SP members to use when shopping for a provider. This thread motivates me to do it again.

[RB4580]

It might be good, you should title it:

"Merchant Account Hidden Rates - Grab The Vasoline And Bend Over!"

There is no end to all the little rates. Not to mention my $75.00 YEARLY fee.

[stymiee]

It might be good, you should title it:

"Merchant Account Hidden Rates - Grab The Vasoline And Bend Over!"

There is no end to all the little rates. Not to mention my $75.00 YEARLY fee.

Wow. I didn't know people were still charged annual fees. Good tihng you're considering switching providers. Now you need to ask them about a cancellation fee.

[RB4580]

I just got off the phone with them. The guy refunded my 75$ yearly free from Decmeber and cancelled any more yearly fees:

Now my rates are:

Qual - 2.25
Non Qual - 3.70

.25 Per Transaction
.10 AVS Per Transaction
.05 Per Transaction Gateway Fee

And of course $15.00 Monthly Service Fee for Merchant and $10.00 Per Month for Gateway.

What do ya think? I'm still considering shopping around... They wouldn't budge on the BATCH and AVS fee, they said nobody gets those waived...

[stymiee]

I just got off the phone with them. The guy refunded my 75$ yearly free from Decmeber and cancelled any more yearly fees:

Good. Goes to show you they know they shouldn't be charging you this. I bet they were hoping you wouldn't notice.

Now my rates are:

Qual - 2.25
Non Qual - 3.70

.25 Per Transaction
.10 AVS Per Transaction
.05 Per Transaction Gateway Fee

And of course $15.00 Monthly Service Fee for Merchant and $10.00 Per Month for Gateway.

What do ya think? I'm still considering shopping around... They wouldn't budge on the BATCH and AVS fee, they said nobody gets those waived...

Qual rate and Non-qual are good.

35 cents per transaction is kinda high. A nickel lower would be about average.

5 cents per transaction fee for the gateway is good. It more or less counter balances the the 35 cents per transaction.

$15 a month for the merchant account is high. Shouldn't be more then $10.

$10 a montth for the gateway os good and more or less balances out the extra $5 a month for the merchant account.

The batch fee isn't horrible so I wouldn't sweat that too much.

Overall not too bad. I would also ask them if you're locked into a contract. If not, keep shopping around. If you are, ask when it expires. Your rates aren't bad so if you are locked in I wouldn't lose any sleep over it. But I would keep your options open when your contract is up.

[beley]

Thats not too bad... it's right around normal. I think it's a hair over what I pay % wise, but the other fees are pretty close. I actually don't think I pay an AVS fee though.

I'm with CDG commerce, and have been very happy. They disclosed all the fees up front and I haven't found anything "hidden" so far. I've been with about 6 different processors over the years, and that's rare.

[RB4580]

I've been with them over a year now. it's innovativemerchantsolutions.com

I believe it's 295$ to cancel anytime after a year.

[RB4580]

I just did a price comparison between my Merchant Account and Paypal. Can't believe Paypal comes out ahead. This is based on a $20,000 month.

Paypal Fees TOTAL - 610$
Merchant Fees TOTAL - 681$

Well, I think I did that right...lol

But I'll pay a little more I guess to have a true merchant account.

[beley]

I've been with them over a year now. it's innovativemerchantsolutions.com

I believe it's 295$ to cancel anytime after a year.

Cancellation fees are rediculous too. I think you've found a bad seed, to be honest with you.

CDG doesn't have a minimum contract length, I can cancel anytime and there are no cancellation fees.

[talash]

Hi,

I totally agree with RB4580

I think Pay Pal leads the way. I find their fees very transparent and justified. No AVS, No "hidden fees". Just a simple per transaction fees, which makes life simpler.

I think many on SPF will agree with me.

Abhishek

[beley]

Yes, PayPal's fees are good. However, PayPal isn't a bank and money in your PayPal account isn't FDIC insured. They can freeze your entire account without warning. I use them as a secondary processor, but still have reservations about using them as my primary processor.

[stymiee]

Yes, PayPal's fees are good. However, PayPal isn't a bank and money in your PayPal account isn't FDIC insured. They can freeze your entire account without warning. I use them as a secondary processor, but still have reservations about using them as my primary processor.

Plus if you're doing any real volume the savings from a true merchant account easily justify having one.

[RB4580]

Yes, PayPal's fees are good. However, PayPal isn't a bank and money in your PayPal account isn't FDIC insured. They can freeze your entire account without warning. I use them as a secondary processor, but still have reservations about using them as my primary processor.

I agree, we had a merchant account problem for 4 days last year because of something I did and we used PayPal as a backup and kept sales moving! But as a PRIMARY it feels good to know I have a real merchant account.

[RB4580]

Plus if you're doing any real volume the savings from a true merchant account easily justify having one.

I have a true merchant account and PayPal beat my merchant account on a 20K month.

[stymiee]

I have a true merchant account and PayPal beat my merchant account on a 20K month.

That's a sure sign your merchant account was overcharging you.

[RB4580]

Where they got me is the PER TRANSACTION fee after everything is bundled in.

.25 per transaction + .10 AVS per transaction + .05 gateway fee per transaction

That = .40 PER TRANSACTION as opposed to a flat fee of .30 that PayPal has plus there are no monthly fees other than 20.00$.

But like I said, I'll have to suck up the extra 50$ I pay compared to PayPal because I need a real merchant account. But.. I'm on the lookout for a new merchant account, I'll keep ya'll updated.

[stymiee]

Where they got me is the PER TRANSACTION fee after everything is bundled in.

.25 per transaction + .10 AVS per transaction + .05 gateway fee per transaction

That = .40 PER TRANSACTION as opposed to a flat fee of .30 that PayPal has plus there are no monthly fees other than 20.00$.

But like I said, I'll have to suck up the extra 50$ I pay compared to PayPal because I need a real merchant account. But.. I'm on the lookout for a new merchant account, I'll keep ya'll updated.

If the transaction fee is having that much of an impact on your overall costs I am going to assume that you have a low average ticket. In that case I would recommend focusing on finding rates that offer a lower transaction fee even if it means a slightly higher percentage rate. But not too much higher or else you negate the effects of the lower transaction fee.

[JordanTW]

Adding $.40 to your shipping, if the items are shipped, will cover the costs of your merchant fees.

[beley]

Adding $.40 to your shipping, if the items are shipped, will cover the costs of your merchant fees.

Maybe the transaction fees, but that won't cover discount rates. We often ship orders of $500 or more. We pay around $18 for those orders just to process the cards

[stymiee]

Maybe the transaction fees, but that won't cover discount rates. We often ship orders of $500 or more. We pay around $18 for those orders just to process the cards

What sucks about that is that it is against Visa and MasterCard rules to charge more for a credit card sale. But you can always price their fees right into your pricing and no one will be the wiser.

You are allowed to give a cash discount, though! (Yeah, does a lot of good for an online business....)

[beley]

What sucks about that is that it is against Visa and MasterCard rules to charge more for a credit card sale. But you can always price their fees right into your pricing and no one will be the wiser.

You are allowed to give a cash discount, though! (Yeah, does a lot of good for an online business....)

We could raise our prices by another 3%, but then we wouldn't be competitive. CC processing is just a business expense. It shouldn't be an issue if you plan for it.

[stymiee]

We could raise our prices by another 3%, but then we wouldn't be competitive. CC processing is just a business expense. It shouldn't be an issue if you plan for it.

Oh definitely. Since every online buisness has to take credit cards to be successful you can consider it a level playing field (for the most part).