Those who do business online can choose from several ways to get their money. The most common methods are through PayPal and through a merchant account. Do you need and want a merchant account? Here are some answers that could give you a clue as to whether or not this is the right road for your business to take:

1. You are grumbling about your PayPal transaction fees. It adds up quickly! Merchant account fees can be substantially less!

2. You might be losing customers because you can't accept specific types of payments such as Discover card

3. You want to be able to swipe credit cards in your office / business as well as accept online payments by the customer

4. You want a more robust shopping cart solution

5. You're having problems with PayPal or ClickBank charge backs and want your merchant to do fraud checks in advance for you

6. You're the victim of a PayPal account hold and need another payment solution NOW

7. You're expecting your business to have a growth spurt very soon and you just want to be ready!

There are a lot of merchant account options!

Do your due diligence and check out more than one option before you sign on the dotted line. Different companies have varying perks and benefits as well as red tape and hassles. Consider reading some product reviews that are not on the merchant's website so that you can see just what their reputation in the industry is.

The lowest price isn't always the best so look at all the features and benefits to see which solution most closely matches your needs.