What to Know Before Getting Started
Starting a New Business?
Selecting a credit card processor is often more complicated than most people expect. How much should you be paying in fees? Should you lease or buy equipment? Should you be locked into a service agreement for anything length of time? These considerations and several others are imporant to understand before signing up with any merchant account provider. Mistakes are easily made and can be very costly to your business. Along with seeing our top choices for payment services below, be sure to checkout this post to avoid common traps in the merchant services industry.
Considerations For Current Business Owners
Changing merchant accounts can be an expensive, complicated, and time consuming process. Are you really going to save as much as promised? Do you need to buy to new equipment or sign new lease agreements? Will there be other less accountable costs such as those associated with employee retraining? Before selecting one of our choices below, you may want to consider renegotiating your fees with your current payment processing vendors using the help of a contingency-compensated consultant. It can result in a dramatic decrease in costs without the pains of switching. In some cases business owner have also obtained substantial refunds of prior overcharges along with saving thousands in future processing costs. See this post to learn more about this little-known alternative to changing merchant account provider.
As with labeling and advertising regulations, the payment processing regulations surrounding nutraceuticals can be a minefield of conflicting rules. Many large merchant account providers completely refuse to process nutraceuticals payments, citing the murky legal status of certain supplements and the risk of chargebacks from dissatisfied buyers. Among those credit card processors that do provide nutraceutical merchant accounts, it can be difficult to distinguish between the providers that are knowledgeable and fair and the providers that are simply out to gouge nutraceutical suppliers for as much as they can get.
That’s why we’ve prepared this list of the best merchant account providers for nutraceutical businesses. The companies on this list have significant experience working with merchants in the nutraceuticals and supplements industry and have earned a reputation for fair pricing and quality customer service. In order to find the best fit for your business, be sure to check out each provider’s products and services and contact multiple processors to compare rates.
Our unbiased articles are supported in part by helping you find highly reviewed merchant accounts. You can learn more here.
Why These Merchant Account Providers
PaymentCloud
Based in Woodland Hills, California, PaymentCloud is a merchant account provider that specializes in serving high risk business types. The company’s products and services include point-of-sale solutions, mobile phone swipers, an online payment gateway and virtual terminal, EMV-compatible terminals, and merchant cash advances. PaymentCloud is a good option for nutraceutical suppliers.
PaymentCloud provides a dedicated account rep to all new merchants for the life of the account. The company has not received any negative complaints on consumer forums, and it customizes its pricing according to each merchant’s business type and processing history. The BBB does not maintain a profile for PaymentCloud at this time, but CPO gives the company an “A.”
For more information, visit the PaymentCloud website or call (888) 506-7859.
eMerchantBroker
eMerchantBroker.com is a Los Angeles, California-based company that offers high risk e-commerce processing solutions including nutraceutical merchant accounts. The company’s products include ACH processing, an online payment gateway, merchant cash advance, and a chargeback management system to help merchants dispute and resolve chargeback claims. eMerchantBroker.com can provide an offshore merchant account for nutraceutical sellers and online pharmacies that do not sell illegal services, do not use continuity-based billing, are not based in India, maintain high processing volumes, and are properly licensed.
eMerchantBroker.com offers custom pricing for each merchant and maintains a low complaint rate relative to its size and merchant portfolio. Our review of eMerchantBroker gives the company an “A” rating overall and the BBB assigns the company a rating of “A+.”
For more information, see the eMerchantBroker website or call (877) 301-3442.
Host Merchant Services
Host Merchant Services is a Newark, Delaware-based merchant account provider that is capable of serving most domestic high risk business types. The company’s products and services include point-of-sale solutions, online marketing tools, an online payment gateway and virtual terminal, mobile credit card processing, gift and loyalty programs, merchant cash advance, and offshore merchant accounts. Host Merchant Services specializes in e-commerce businesses and provides a free website and email address to new merchants who require them.
Host Merchant Services has received only positive feedback on public forums, with most reviewers singling out the company’s customer service for praise. Host offers interchange-plus pricing with no early termination fees to all of its merchants, meaning that users will enjoy the most transparent pricing model and can cancel service without penalty. The BBB gives Host an “A+” rating, and CPO also gives the company an “A+.”
For more information, visit the Host Merchant Services website or call (888) 591-9026.
Other Merchant Account Options
The providers in this section may not have been researched as thoroughly or may lack a quality that prevented them from being listed above. We have listed them here to provide a broader view of potential merchant account options. Are you a decision maker with your company and believe that you should be listed below? Tell us here.
Durango Merchant Services
Based in Durango, Colorado, Durango Merchant Services is a high risk merchant account provider that is able to supply credit card processing for retail and e-commerce nutraceutical businesses. Durango was founded in 1999, and its products include an online payment gateway, e-check (ACH) processing, offshore merchant accounts, and QuickBooks integration. Durango is able to serve many different types of nutraceutical merchant, including businesses that have previously been places on the TMF/MATCH list.
Durango offers custom pricing according to a merchant’s size, time in business, and credit card processing history. The company often receives praise on merchant forums for its knowledgeable and friendly sales and support teams. Our review of Durango Merchant Services gives the company an “A+” rating, and the BBB also gives Durango an “A+.”
For more information, see the Durango Merchant Service website or call (888) 316-1897.
Payline Data
Payline Data is a Chicago, Illinois-based merchant account provider that is a great all-purpose option for most business types, including nutraceutical suppliers. The company processes payments for retail, mobile, and e-commerce merchants and is able to provide a QuickBooks-integrated payment gateway, a virtual terminal, POS equipment, merchant cash advance, and check guarantee.
Payline Data offers custom pricing to its high risk merchants. The company consistently receives positive merchant feedback regarding its pricing and service, and it has maintained a high score with most third-party reviewers since its founding in 2009. Payline Data currently has an “A+” rating on CardPaymentOptions.com and an “A” rating with the BBB.
Vantage Payments
Based in Scottsdale, Arizona, Vantage Payments is a merchant account provider that can provide both domestic and offshore merchant accounts for high risk merchant types, including nutraceutical suppliers. The company’s products and services include remote deposit capture, European direct debit, call center services, multi-currency support, web design, and SEO assistance. Vantage Payments currently has a clean complaint record across all review websites, which is an impressive feat for a company specializing in offshore merchant accounts. Our review of Vantage gives the company an “A” rating at this time, while the BBB gives Vantage an “A+.”
For more information, see the Vantage Payments website or call (888) 582-4903.
Instabill
Based in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Instabill is a high risk merchant account provider that is able to place both domestic and international nutraceuticals suppliers. The company provides a payment gateway, a virtual terminal, an online shopping cart, support for over 160 currencies, and AVS. Instabill’s website advertises that while the company is able to serve most types of nutraceuticals, it cannot process payments for kratom, raspberry ketones, or African mango.
Instabill enjoys a very low complaint rate relative to its size, time in business, and merchant portfolio. The company offers customized pricing packages depending on each merchant’s business type and size. Our review of Instabill gives the company an “A,” and the BBB also gives Instabill an “A.”
If your business offers merchant accounts and payment solutions to nutraceutical suppliers, please leave a comment in the comment section below or contact us through our contact page in order to get listed in this article.
About Phillip Parker
Thank you for reading my review. I hope that it has helped you with your research.
Why I'm Qualified to Write About Credit Card Processing and Merchant Account Services
I'm a former credit card processing sales director who left the industry because I didn't like how it takes advantage of small business owners. It feeds like a leech on businesses and thrives by imposing fees that are nearly impossible to comprehend. Seeing a need for change, I left and built this website help business owners better understand the industry, research merchant services providers, and get refunds of excessive merchant account fees. My experience of working "behind the curtain" in the industry, and using that knowledge for good, has resulted in millions of dollars returned to hard-working small business owners as well as enterprise-level companies.
From the time that I starting working in the merchant services industry to when I left to create this website, I've been on the pulse of payments for nearly 15 years. It didn't seem fair to keep this "insider" knowledge to myself. To lift the fog, I've reviewed hundreds of companies, read thousands of user reviews, and learned the pricing tricks of every provider. If you have questions about credit card processing, you can find the answers on this website.