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Furniture Business Merchant Accounts:
The online furniture sales industry is very popular and can be extremely rewarding if you can establish your own business as a popular and reputable furniture selling business.
The reason why online furniture businesses are so popular is obvious. Everybody needs furniture! So, it seems obvious that starting a business within the furniture industry would be a great and sustainable thing to do. Right?
However, being able to sell furniture online isn’t as straight forward as many people think. It can prove to be very difficult to not only setup, but also maintain a business within the online furniture selling industry. One of the main reasons why this can be so difficult is because the furniture industry is considered ‘high risk’ by card processors.
The reason why online furniture businesses are so popular is obvious. Everybody needs furniture! So, it seems obvious that starting a business within the furniture industry would be a great and sustainable thing to do. Right?
However, being able to sell furniture online isn’t as straight forward as many people think. It can prove to be very difficult to not only setup, but also maintain a business within the online furniture selling industry. One of the main reasons why this can be so difficult is because the furniture industry is considered ‘high risk’ by card processors.
Why are furniture business merchant accounts considered high risk?
It may seem bizarre that selling furniture online is considered high-risk, but this is the case. The reason, in most cases, for why online furniture businesses are considered high risk comes down to 1 thing: chargebacks.
Furniture companies experience very high chargeback rates, typically due to the time taken between the date the customer orders the product, and the delivery date of the product. The truth is that any change of circumstance can happen within this time frame, hence the disputes that can arise when the furniture is finally delivered. The customer will often involve their bank about the issue regarding the product that they have received, and then … chargeback.
In the eyes of all card processors this is a red flag, since it is not in their best interest to be accommodating a merchant with a high volume of chargebacks. THIS is one of the reasons why a lot of businesses, such as furniture businesses are labelled as high risk.
Hence why an online furniture retailer would need a card processor that truly understands the full nature of the online furniture retail industry.
Furniture companies experience very high chargeback rates, typically due to the time taken between the date the customer orders the product, and the delivery date of the product. The truth is that any change of circumstance can happen within this time frame, hence the disputes that can arise when the furniture is finally delivered. The customer will often involve their bank about the issue regarding the product that they have received, and then … chargeback.
In the eyes of all card processors this is a red flag, since it is not in their best interest to be accommodating a merchant with a high volume of chargebacks. THIS is one of the reasons why a lot of businesses, such as furniture businesses are labelled as high risk.
Hence why an online furniture retailer would need a card processor that truly understands the full nature of the online furniture retail industry.
What should you expect from a furniture merchant account?
As we have already established, card processors do not favour furniture businesses because it’s not in their own best interest to take on those kinds of businesses. It may seem selfish, however, it is also important to understand that they are looking after themselves.
Card processors need to keep their chargebacks as low as possible because if too many chargebacks occur, they will receive fines from Visa and Mastercard, so it is understandable that most card processors will refuse certain business types that typically have a high chargeback reputation.
Card processors need to keep their chargebacks as low as possible because if too many chargebacks occur, they will receive fines from Visa and Mastercard, so it is understandable that most card processors will refuse certain business types that typically have a high chargeback reputation.
So, when furniture businesses are approved for their own furniture merchant accounts, card processors include certain terms within the agreement as a form of protection for themselves, and in some circumstances; to slightly take advantage of your business.
One of the most common forms or protection card processors will often have within their contracts is something called a rolling reserve. In Lehman’s terms, the card processor will withhold a proportion of your sales for a disclosed amount of time, this money is withheld to cover any potential losses your business may encounter due to chargebacks. Rolling reserves protect both the card processor, and the merchant. Although they can be seen as an inconvenience from the merchant’s perspective, in numerous cases, rolling reserves have protected many businesses and card processors.
Another thing to expect, especially if your online furniture business is new, is higher card processing fees.
If you already have proof of previous card processing history then the rates that you will pay should be much more reasonable. This is because in the eyes of the card processor your business will then be seen as much less risky compared to a new furniture business with no card processing history.
So new furniture business owners; expect your online furniture card processor to charge a higher transaction fee.
Advice on how to become more likely to get approved for a furniture business merchant account:
Ultimately, the people who decide whether your business is worthy of a merchant bank account are the underwriters. Therefore, it is in your own best interest to make your business look as squeaky clean as you can to these people, because when underwriters are assessing a business, they need to have full confidence that the business is sustainable and has satisfactory pre-emptive measures in place, for if any unforeseen circumstances that could put your business in jeopardy were to happen.
Here are some ways to make your business much more likely of getting approved:
Here are some ways to make your business much more likely of getting approved:
- Pay off all outstanding bills or debts. If you have no debts or outstanding payments to make, it can speak volumes about your character. It shows you value getting everything paid and out of the way which is something underwriters look at.
- Proof of card processing history. This makes your business look much less ‘high risk’ to the underwriters since you can prove that your business has already been processing card payments.
- (Ideally) Have no chargeback history. This can sometimes be out of your control as a furniture business owner, and the underwriters know this. Therefore, it isn’t a must, but if you do have a clean/minimal chargeback history, it will only help your chances of getting approved for a furniture sales merchant account.
- (Ideally) Have previous audited financial accounts.
- Have enough money saved and put away for any business-related emergencies. This shows the underwriters that you have put precautions in place for any potential emergencies. This makes your business far less likely to fail, and in turn, it makes your business less ‘high risk’.
- Have an immaculate credit history. This shows that you commit to making payments on time. Again, this speaks volumes about your character and will make you + your business seem much lower risk to the underwriters which of course, increases the probability of getting approved.
Has your furniture sales merchant account been terminated?
If your online furniture business has been terminated (or will be terminated) by your card processor, then you’ll be happy to know that we can help.
How can we help then?
We Tranxact specifically niche towards getting high risk business owners approved for their own merchant bank accounts and we have been doing exactly this for many years. And of course, the same applies to business owners in the furniture sales industry so you’re in very safe hands.
We Tranxact can get you approved for your own furniture sales merchant account + payment gateway because we have vast experience with placing businesses that have had their accounts terminated, or worse, blacklisted. Our reviews speak for themselves. If you are interested in getting approved for a furniture sales merchant account with a payment gateway, then feel free to contact us.
We Tranxact can get you approved for your own furniture sales merchant account + payment gateway because we have vast experience with placing businesses that have had their accounts terminated, or worse, blacklisted. Our reviews speak for themselves. If you are interested in getting approved for a furniture sales merchant account with a payment gateway, then feel free to contact us.
