Who would be the best?

[haxman04596]

[haxman04596]

2Checkout is a 3rd party processor and Authorize.Net is only a payment gateway.

If you use AuthNet, you still need to get a Merchant Account to go along with it.

Merchant accounts + AuthNet are usually a lot less expensive on a per transaction basis than any 3rd party processor like 2CO.

For most growing merchants with consistent sales volume, that would be my recommendation... especially if they are U.S. based.

For a merchant who is non-U.S. based or has only sporadic or occasional need for cc processing, a 3rd party payment solution like 2CO, PS or PayPal may be more appropriate.

[zune818]

[zune818]

With any third processor there are going to be things that are different than having your own merchant account. Some third party processors are very easy to obtain - you sign up & that's it (Paypal). Visa/MasterCard are cracking down on these more & more because they are losing money with them.

If you are looking for your hosting company - check around. Some merchant accounts consider hosting high risk. So you might have a reserve rate for up to 6 months at 25%. There goes your profits. Ask them up front before you sign anything if they consider it a high risk.

Plus it seems you will also want a gateway that will support recurring billing. Most do that these days - and you should not pay anythig extra for that

[zune818]

Yes, it is always good to ask about reserves, as Corey mentioned.

Most merchant processors these days won't require reserves for a typical Web hosting company but there are definitely some that do and you will want to definitely ask about that.

For instance, I know of a few merchant processors that will require a 5-10% reserve if there is a high average ticket and/or bad credit... so definitely ask this question when you interview any prospective merchant provider.