Traditional Shopping is Dead to Me

As a young boy living in the New York City, my mother took my siblings and me around to all the major stores to go shopping. I can remember walking through these huge buildings, floor by floor looking for the best deal my mother could find. With four children and on a nurses salary, my mom would go from one end of a city block to another just to take advantage of some competing sales one store had over the other. Oh and please don't let my mom have had a coupon she would cut out from the Sunday newspaper. That coupon was like a paper lighting rod that just had to get used before it was to expire at any cost.

Of course all I wanted to do was not be there--not be at any of those stores, because I knew at some point in time I would be left holding the bag. This is not a figure of speech. I was literally left holding my mother's bags of either clothes or groceries and she would be off somewhere in the store trying to pick up one last item. The most embarrassing part of it all was when she would forget an item just before we got to the cash register and I was left in the line in her place. She would tell me to stay in the line until she got back and of course she never got back in time. So there I was in front of the checkout cashier with no money and no mother in sight to rescue me from all the angry onlookers behind me waiting their turn.

Fast forward nearly 30 years and the intervention of the Internet and E-commerce. I am married now with two kids. I can buy just about anything over the Internet and never have to leave my home. If I want to shop at Target for my kids I can first go to http://www.couponchief.com/ and pick up a 10% off electronic coupon that will give me a discount when I finish my purchase at checkout. Not only can I shop online and get what I want without standing in any line but I can get a great discount on almost anything I purchase.

My wife and I will be celebrating our wedding anniversary this June. What a perfect opportunity to purchase a wonderful piece of jewelry from Blue Nile and get Free Shipping on all my orders. So, you can plainly see why "Traditional Shopping is Dead to Me" because with the advent of the Internet, Online Shopping and now discount coupons from The Coupon Chief there is absolutely no reason, and I mean N-O reason for me to be left holding the bag in a department store line again in my lifetime.

Are you a High Risk Business that needs to process credit cards?

The only thing you have to be to considered a "High Risk" when it comes to doing business in this economy is anything against the norm. If you don't have a store front aka sticks and bricks location then you are considered a "High Risk". If you do have a store front but it is in a really bad town, city or zip code, you are considered "High Risk" and most of all if you have questionable or to put it bluntly bad credit you are definitely considered "High Risk".

So what is a business to do when they can't make the grade of a traditional bank or "Low Risk Only" credit card processor? Well, fortunately you do have a few options. One way I have gotten around not even having a merchant account is use services like PayPal.com and Google Checkout. Both services don't care if you are "High Risk" or not, all they want to is a verification of who you are and what you are selling. You can be up and running in minutes with any one of these services. PayPal.com happens to be my favorite and I have been a verified merchant of theirs for the past seven years.

Now their is also and answer for all you that want to step out there and go the extra mile and get a traditional merchant account. There places to go even if you are considered a "High Risk" business. Advantage Processors.com and Easycharge.net two places you can at least start. So don't stagnate your business by not accepting credit cards. Give one of these services a try and take your business 2 The Next Level.