how tough is it going to be to get a merchant account with zero credit?

davidle

davidle

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Aug 30, 2010
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i have a lot of cash on hand, but i have absolutely zero credit (since i'm young and have always payed cash/debit card for everything). i'll need a merchant account for the dietary supplement company i'm starting. is this no big deal or should is it indeed a big deal? i'm so prepared lol!
 


most merchant providers will check credit. You may want to check withyour local bank most offer processing and are rather liberal when it comes to approval, compared to a straight processor. Supplements are considered "high risk", so its a bit harder to get approved. I think pay pal will approve anyone. Or you might have to go with a high risk offshore aggregate provider. I do merchant accounts but the co i rep is very strick.
 
Sigh, another bullshit supplement product. Why don't you sell a product that people will actually get some benefit or enjoyment from? then you wouldn't have to fuck around with all this bullshit.
 
johnmatrix said:
Sigh, another bullshit supplement product. Why don't you sell a product that people will actually get some benefit or enjoyment from? then you wouldn't have to fuck around with all this bullshit.
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How do you know people won't get anything from his supplement. Hell they might even enjoy it. Just because a category is high risk doesn't mean it's a scam with 0 customer satisfaction.
 
johnmatrix said:
Sigh, another bullshit supplement product. Why don't you sell a product that people will actually get some benefit or enjoyment from? then you wouldn't have to fuck around with all this bullshit.
Click to expand...

people get enjoyment from supplements all the time, it's a multi multi billion dollar industry. walk into a nutrition store selling bodybuilding supplements to meatheads and tell me those guys aren't FUCKIN STOKED BRAH to fork over hundreds for what costs $5-10 to produce.

what people are NOT stoked on is getting charged for not reading fine print OR reading it but not realizing that they wouldn't ever be able to follow instructions to cancel due to shady merchants.
 
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Sonny Forelli said:
people get enjoyment from supplements all the time, it's a multi multi billion dollar industry. walk into a nutrition store selling bodybuilding supplements to meatheads and tell me those guys aren't FUCKIN STOKED BRAH to fork over hundreds for what costs $5-10 to produce.

what people are NOT stoked on is getting charged for not reading fine print OR reading it but not realizing that they wouldn't ever be able to follow instructions to cancel due to shady merchants.
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hey Sonny,

i'm not going to be doing any rebills or any kind of shady billing whatsoever. if they want to buy a bottle. they can buy one bottle. if they want to buy two, they can buy two. and that's it. so if my billing practices aren't shady, will getting a merchant account without credit still be more difficult buying a house.
 
I would get paypal and call it a day, or hook up with someone that already has established credit, and get a merchant account through them. Or ask an established e-commerce site to put your products on their site, or do a joint venture if credit is the problem. There are lots of ways to get the money in, just get it in.

But indeed, you are going to be denied, since one what your selling is very high risk, and your age, and you have no credit. All of those are individually are red flags, 3 put together, you're in some trouble. Most merchants, look at your last 3 months income, actually further back. So if you can get in good with top level, you might be able to get around some of their flags.
 
davidle said:
i have a lot of cash on hand, but i have absolutely zero credit (since i'm young and have always payed cash/debit card for everything).
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Why did you put yourself in that situation? I'm young, and from the moment I got a credit card opened, I've always paid credit for everything to build credit...
 
hey man send me a pm, I might be able to help you out if you want to do a jv. My partner and I are in the same boat (in the throws of setting up to sell our own product), except we have lots of credit, a merchant account, distribution, etc setup.

We're in the middle of getting the LPs, CSM & affiliate software setup.

If you have talent we'd love to work with you.
 
Merchant accounts are handed out like candy, as long as you haven't...

a) Been convicted of credit card fraud
b) Been placed on the TMF/MATCH file by visa/mastercard (previously terminated merchant account)
c) Declared bankruptcy within the past 3 months

.. then you shouldn't have any problems getting a merchant account. The monthly caps, payouts and rates might change depending how negative your credit is but it's nothing that will hold you back.
 
Getting a merchant account isn't hard, but getting one for a dietary supplement will be hard - especially if you're selling online.

You may also need to have to have your landing page already made, a price point defined, your return policy already written, and your customer service number already set up. You might even need to have your customer service scripts already written as well.

This is already assuming that you have a real live business with a genuine EIN, a real bank account with a real banking relationship and a banker who can vouch for you when they background check you - and they will - plus provide your last year's tax returns, and the last 3 months of banking statements. If you've been doing any affiliate marketing of any kind, I'm sure you're already set up as a corporation, am I right?

It's not impossible, but it's hard, especially if you're just starting out and don't have previous (good) history. You might have an easier time getting a merchant account for a porno site than you would for a dietary supplement - especially a weight loss supplement.

That's my experience. But once you get your first one, the rest are easy. Try a First Data Independent Sales agent- they approved me when others didn't. I can give you a name of a guy who got me set up in 48 hours.

Now the same assholes from other companies who didn't want to even try to push my application for for a merchant account ('the underwriters probably won't approve you') are bugging me to submit a new application with them. Yeah, right.
 
Reserves @ 50% for 365 Days

Find someone with good credit have add them on as a principal. Then pay them a percentage and provide "decent" customer support. Unless the person that vouched for you does not care about getting put on the TMF list for future endeavors - then have fun and karma.

If you have any other questions about merchant accounts and dealing with the almighty underwriters for the initial application, pm me ;)
 
I have read that if you want to process this type of transaction with little to no credit you will need a "high risk merchant account", of which I believe there are a few brokers out their who specialize in this.

I may be wrong, but it doesn't hurt to Google and ask around.

But, if you do find a normal merchant account that will take your business be VERY careful if you start running high numbers as, like Paypal, they can switch you off at the drop of the hat and keep your money if the volume is too large too fast. You would be best to get a few accounts or try to use a specialist broker.
 
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