Resurrecting a topic with some new information I found. I was about to go with Midwest Transaction Group per Bret's recommendation (their fees are very competitive--$5 per month, 1.69% to 2.89% plus .20 transaction fee), when I found another alternative.

If you have a need to be able to take credit card payments from your clients (not via a website, and not live in a store setting), I have another alternative besides setting up a credit card account: You can use your PayPal business account (which is free) to email a PayPal invoice to your client and get paid through PayPal with a credit card or PayPal balance.

The fees are as follows: No monthly fee! 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction.

While 2.9% (and .30) are a bit on the high side, there are two bonuses that make it worth it (besides not having to pay the monthly fee).

1st bonus: If you get a PayPal debit card (also free), you can use it for purchases/payments from the money you receive and you get an immediate 1.5% cashback bonus. This lowers the effective fee to 1.448%, plus the .30 transaction fee.

2nd bonus: Any money you've received that sits in your PayPal account automatically earns money market rates (currently 4.69%)--try getting that with your checking account!

You can also download the transaction info into quickbooks.

It's working great for me. Let me know if you have any questions.

As one of the "exceptions", I should explain why I use my stage name instead of my real name in my profile(and by the way, I did ask Dan for permission to use my stage name when I signed up for biznik, well before the new policy came about).

My real name is Mike Dobias. When I got into the magic business in the Seattle area, there was already a Magic Mike, and I didn't want any confusion from potential clients with him and me. Going by my real name would make it too easy for people to end up looking up his website instead of mine if all they remember is "Mike" and "Magic".

Because much of my business is a result of referrals or from a parent/child seeing me perform at another party or event, it is paramount that they remember "Xakary" and not just "that magician" or any other name. Most of my clients know me simply as "Xakary", and I make a point with the kids that my name is "Xakary with an X" (I make an X with my arms crossed when I say it, and many of the kids will do it with me). Plus, they all get free coloring sheets with my name and website, I have signage on my magic table, a 7 foot tall free-standing roller-shade banner for larger shows, etc.

For the adults that ask my last name or if Xakary is my real name, I'm very upfront with them about my real name. Thanks, Dan, and the biznik community, for allowing me to continue as simply "Xakary".

After a client books me for a show I send them what I call a confirmation letter that spells out all the details. I ask them to let me know if anything is not correct, and I call them 2 days before the show to re-confirm. It's basically a contract, but sounds less scary to most people. Every now and then I'll get someone who wants a signed contract, and I'll just have them sign a copy of the confirmation letter (which I already signed when I sent it to them) and return it to me.

For the math challenged, here's the math on Propay: Using their $59.95 annual fee option (which works out to $5 per month instead of paypal's $30), you get a rate of 3.25% and $.35 per transaction ($500 individual transaction limit and $3,000 limit per month). It also allows you to take Discover and Amex, in addition to Visa/Mastercard.

So, using the same examples I used before: Single $250 transaction in a month: $16.73, or 6.7% (compared to paypal $38.05). 14 transactions totalling $2800: $100.90, or 3.6% (compared to paypal $121, or 4.3%).

Good savings--the only downside is you have to commit to a year, but it's only the equivalent of 2 months of paypal for a full year of propay.

Propay also has higher annual fee options that lower the rate and per transaction fee. The best package costs $25 per month (with an annual commitment) and gives you 2.69% and $.25 per transaction, with a monthly maximum of $15,000.

Thanks Jay and Nancy!

I only have the need to run a few manual transactions a month, where the customer hands me their card, and I process it later, or via my laptop. I'm just wondering how paypal's monthly fee and per-transaction costs stack up against other services for a low volume business.

Currently, paypal charges $30 per month for their virtual terminal program. This allows you to accept credit cards over the phone, fax, or mail--basically, you are processing credit cards without swiping them in a reader, and the customer is not supplying the info themselves over the internet. In addition, there is a $.30 fee per transaction, plus 3.1% if your monthly charges are less than $3,000, and 2.7% for $3,000-$10,000.

A couple of examples: If I have a single $250 transaction in a month, it costs me $38.05, or 15%. If I have 14 transactions totaling $2800, it costs me $121, or 4.3%.

The other option is to not accept credit cards, but it's a nice option to offer.

I'm a magician. Can I borrow a large denomination bill? ;)

I know we're well past when you were at your purchase decision, but for others looking through the post, I'll share my experience as well. I had the Treo 700w with Verizon for over a year, and really wanted to love it, but ultimately couldn't.

The phone functions were great, but the reception wasn't strong compared to "regular" phones. I also had the reboot or lockup issues happen semi-regularly. The reception issue ended up being the biggest drawback for me.

Having the PDA calendar was great (it's the part that really made me want to keep it), I synch up to a PC so can't speak to the Mac issue there. Synching to a PC was great, however, for those in that camp.

Size was somewhat of an issue as well, since it can't fit well in a pocket, which for guys can be an issue--I had a great case for my belt/pocket (bit of the geek factor there) with a spring clip that made it easy to take the Treo out and put back. The iphone is thinner, so not as much of an issue.

Internet access was also very good on the phone, the big screen and scroll bars made manuvering acceptable (iphone interface is amazing). I also used this to access email when I was out, and it worked great to synch up email.

I liked the keyboard, I found it fine for my fingers, and I like the tactile feedback of pushing the button. I'll need to try an iphone onscreen keyboard sometime and see how that works.

Ultimately, the phone reception for me was the biggest issue, as I take all my business calls on my cell phone. I do like the Verizon coverage overall, which has made me resistant to change (I used to be on Sprint--not good). This is also keeping me away from the iphone. When it's available on Verizon, I'll look at it closely.

So, I've gone to more of a "just a phone" the Samsung SCH-U740. It has a dual flip--it opens like a traditional flip up for calls, and it also opens sideways with a full (albeit small) keyboard, nice for emails/SMS/web. Reception has been great, and the battery life has been fine with the extended battery. I'll have to wait for the perfect marriage of PDA and phone service...

From the business owner's perspective: I like how Mike D lays it out. When I had a store-front business, we had cashiers/sales staff at the front desk who would field calls and talk to customers as they came in. If a salesperson came in (or called), the staff would call me (it was a 40K square foot building, and the offices were a ways from the front desk), and I would usually just have them put the person on the phone. As the business owner, I was busy with whatever I felt was most important at the time, and it's hard to be pulled out of that to meet with a salesperson who has a different priority list--selling me something that I might or might not need. However, if they were friendly and wanted to schedule just 15 minutes of my time as Mike D mentioned above, I would often schedule a meeting with them if the product or service sounded interesting to me over the phone. Now, if I felt right off that that the product/service wasn't something I was interested in, I was not shy about saying no thank you--I want to be fair to the person and not waste their time either.

So, whether you called or came in on foot, I usually would end up initially talking to you on the phone, and then setting up a meeting, so that the time was more on my terms. I agree, call first if you want to guarantee to meet the decision maker.

Oh, and a note about business cards being left at the front desk--the owner is not as apt to call you back from just a business card. There is no personal connection to you yet. I disagree with the adage "It's not personal, it's just business". It's actually all about being personal first--at least in the long run.

From your perspective: Per Lanae's comments, walking into a business can give you a better feel for what the business is all about. You can use those "scouting trips" to learn how your product or service might help the business prior to talking to the decision maker. I always felt more confident about someone who had been to the business (or had done research online) and knew what we were about before calling me versus someone who obviously had no idea.

When I ran Illusionz Family Entertainment Center, we hosted a world record attempt for the longest continuous DDR (that's Dance Dance Revolution for the uninitiated) marathon. We finally had to call it quits after thirty something hours, with 3 people still going strong (we started with 6). They had to stop becase the 3 contestants had school and work a few hours later--I think they could have gone 48 hours or more. They smashed the old record (I think it was something like 12 hours), but because of a technicality we didn't know about going in, they didn't get the record. Anyway, they raised over $5000 for charity, we got some TV coverage on the King5 news, and some other press coverage.

Have the Guinness people given you the ground rules for the record attempt? Typically for endurance challenges like this you get a 5 minute break every hour, and you can save up breaks, so if you go 6 hours straight you can then take a 30 minute break all at once (one of our dancers went 12 hours before he took his first break). You have to have some type of medical personnel on hand to monitor if you are OK to keep going, you need some "judges" to certify that you did what you said you did--video isn't enough. There are even rules for the judges, too--they can only be on shift for something like 2 hours at a time, and they have to have x amount of rest between shifts. Also it's a good idea to have 2 (or 3) video cameras recording the event. You need at least 2 so you have 1 camera going while you're changing the tape on the other camera, unless you're setting up a live feed to a computer so you have 1 continuous shot, but even then a backup would be recommended. Better to be safe than sorry with backups. Bottom line, make sure you have the complete rules from Guinness before starting. It can take a couple of months to get information out of them.

Sorry I'm being so wordy, but I can't make Monday's meeting, and I wanted to get this info to you.

As a performer, myspace can be useful, as we need to get word out on upcoming public shows, and it's a great way to accomplish thta. I mostly do private parties and other private shows for children, but once a month I get together with a band of fellow magicians called "Outta Control Magic" to perform at a comedy club in Kirkland, and we use myspace as one method of marketing the show (http://www.myspace.com/outtacontrolmagic). For a "regular" business, I'm sure it could be useful with some thought, as it's one more method of connecting to people.

Hi Brian, As a children's magician, I would love to be involved in this project, and I'm sure I can get some magic friends involved as well. I can't make the meeting on Monday, but count me in to help out.