Hi David,

there are different kinds of merchant accounts. Some try to hit you up for "software" costs; and/or longterm contracts/leases. Others (goemerchant.com) charge per month, and you can quit whenever you want.

Some require you to buy software and or run your own SSL server. Some give you an option. goemerchant, e.g., will let you GET the data and get the customer data on their own, unbranded, payment page; or you can do it yourself, and just run the transaction past them in the background.

My bank referred me to a shyster who wanted to "lease" software for $50/month for 5 years! My second choice wanted me to buy software for $500. I went with goemerchant because I can quit when I want.

That said, if PayPal had a site called PayBiz <s>, I probably would have done that. I have an account there, but use it mainly to pay consultants who are out of the country. That and when my daughter calls -- I refer to her calls to me as "dialing for dollars." <s>

Hank