My Business Venture Review

Four Service Packages Available

My Business Venture offered 4 pricing tiers for users to choose from through i3 Verticals. The first (“Standard”) costs $795 to start and $99.83 per month for 36 months and includes access to the company’s 14,000 products. The second (“Professional”) costs $2,795 to start and adds the company’s “Diamond” marketing package and 24 months of search engine submission. The third (“Enterprise”) costs $3,995 to start and includes all of the Professional tier’s features plus a custom logo and a training package. Lastly, the Premier plan costs a one-time payment of $4,695. The Premier plan seems to include all of the Enterprise plan’s features. The company’s website states that all merchant accounts pay a flat rate of 2.19% plus $0.20.

Virtual Terminal and Payment Gateway Pricing

In addition to its storefront payment processing services, My Business Venture also dedicates a portion of its website that advertises its virtual terminal and payment gateway services. The company advertises Authorize.Net and Pay-Me-Now Virtual Payments as its payment gateway providers. However, the company’s website states that all merchant accounts pay a rate of 2.19% plus $0.20, including for transactions made through these gateway services.

High Startup Costs

As with the complaints about the company’s advertising methods, the available pricing complaints about My Business Venture do not often cite payment processing fees as a major issue. However, some complainants state that the high initial cost of the service is not justified by the potential earnings and that an investment of thousands of dollars is often required before a merchant can make any money on the business. These complainants raise a valid point considering that none of My Business Venture’s competitors require an up-front investment of thousands of dollars simply to create an online store. My Business Venture may compensate for these high startup costs by offering better customer support and marketing services than its competitors, but we generally do not advise merchants to spend thousands of dollars without knowing for sure that the product is exactly what they need.

An Average Performance

This pricing gap has lowered My Business Venture’s score to a “C” in this category, and we do not consider the company’s pricing to be competitive with budget-friendly merchant accounts. If you have any specific knowledge of the standard My Business Venture contract (including any early termination fees or monthly minimum fees), please share that information in the comment section below this review.

Low Complaint Total

We have located only a few negative My Business Venture reviews outside of the Better Business Bureau at this time, although some complaints through the BBB have accused the company of being a ripoff or a scam. This overall complaint record is commendable. My Business Venture is a participant in CPO’s Complaint Resolution program and is committed to achieving successful resolutions with merchants who file complaints through CPO.

My Business Venture Lawsuits

We have not found any outstanding class-action lawsuits or FTC complaints filed against My Business Venture. Dissatisfied merchants who wish to pursue a non-litigious course of action against the company should consider reporting it to the relevant supervisory organizations.

My Business Venture Customer Support Options

The company offers live phone support during business hours and after-hours support via email, as well as a one-on-one trainer for each user.

My Business Venture’s relatively clean complaint record outside of the BBB may be related to the relatively short period of time that the company has been active. However, a company representative has stated that My Business Venture has tripled in size in the last three years, so its low complaint rate may be sustainable moving forward. For now, My Business Venture will be assigned an “A” rating in this category.

Nearly 20 Complaints

My Business Venture currently has an “A+” rating with the Better Business Bureau and has been accredited since 2009. The company has received 19 complaints in the past 36 months, with 4 related to advertising or sales issues, 12 due to product or service problems, and 3 related to billing or collection disputes. My Business Venture has resolved 14 complaints to the satisfaction of the merchant, while the remaining 5 either were resolved to the dissatisfaction of the merchant or did not receive a final response from the merchant.

An “A” Performance Overall

Given My Business Venture’s complaint record and resolution ratio, we agree with the BBB‘s rating at this time, but merchants should always be aware that there is reason to be skeptical of the BBB’s reviews.

No Independent Sales Agents

My Business Venture primarily markets itself as a turnkey e-commerce solution for aspiring entrepreneurs. Under this model, its payment processing services are not heavily emphasized in its marketing materials. There is also no evidence at this time that the company employs independent sales agents.

Potentially Expensive Terms

My Business Venture has received a low-to-moderate number of complaints about the quality of the online marketing services that the company offers. My Business Venture charges at least $795 to set up a new merchant’s business, but merchants have claimed that the company charges thousands of dollars per month for its online marketing packages. If merchants can’t afford the company’s SEO and paid marketing services, then they claim that they are stuck with websites that don’t rank well in search and have no active advertising campaigns. If you suspect that you are overpaying for your service from My Business Venture, you can renegotiate your pricing with a third-party statement audit.

Lacking Competitive Pricing

Another complaint is that My Business Venture is unable to offer competitive pricing for the products that come with its online stores, which leaves merchants unable to compete with online shoppers. A company representative has stated that most of these complaints stemmed from high shipping costs charged by My Business Venture’s shipping partner, but that the company now covers the cost of shipping on all items sold through its users’ stores. This issue is unrelated to payment processing, but it does support merchants’ complaints that the company makes unrealistic claims about the profitability of using its service.