What is the difference between a refund and a chargeback? They both give the customer their money back, but there are substantial differences between the two. A chargeback is is a forced refund from a bank/credit card provider. Once a chargeback is issued, there is no way to refund a customer.

Probably the greatest difference is that when a bank/credit card provider intervenes on behalf of their customer, they charge the merchant a fee.  A refund, on the other hand is between you and your customer with no banking fees to pay.  Additionally, a refund is an immediate resolution to a customer’s needs. In many cases a customer will be satisfied with a credit toward a future purchase or a replacement for the item rather than a refund.

Too many chargebacks will eventually get a merchant account closed. In the case of 2Checkout, this means that our merchant account is the one at risk. To protect our merchant account standing, we do everything we can to lower the number of chargebacks we receive . Even though the bank/credit card provider intervenes, you still have the option to challence the chargeback. Since the process involved in challenging a chargeback can be quite time consuming and complicated, you may want to contact a customer about the chargeback to resolve any issues and potentially get the chargeback reversed.

As you see a refund allows you the opportunity to communicate with your customer, to come to a resolution, and to avoid additional banking fees.  This is one of the reasons why it is a smart business decision to include a clear refund policy on your website.

The Case Against Lower Prices -

In times of increased competition in a finite market, particularly when spending has been reduced, the question of how to increase sales arises. Economics and marketing provide us with many theories and strategies on how to make money – it is after all the basis of both areas of study.

There are different pricing models at odds here. One will tell you to offer the lowest price within your margins. This can result in higher short-term sales. That is, until your competition offers a lower price. What happens long-term with lowering prices? Does quality of the product/service lower as well? How about Customer Service and back end processes? If you eventually make only enough to just get by what parts of your business are you willing to sacrifice? Not to mention what happens when the economy stabilizes, how will your customers react when you start to increase your prices?

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Great news! Small business owner confidence is on the rise, and by no small margin.

According to a recent blog published by Small Business Trends, “the Small Business Optimism Index shot up by almost 6 points, to its highest level so far in 2009.”

The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) has been the nation’s gauge for small business owner optimism for years and even though overall optimism is still at historic lows, a six-point jump is a considerable increase.

At the least, the increase raises some eyebrows. If the boost in confidence is for real and not just a temporary spike, then small business owner confidence has risen above December 2008 levels and close to marks recorded in October and November. Most impressively, a significant one-month increase the size of April’s spike over March has not been experienced in well over five years. Of course, disclaimers are always in order, as a jump in confidence could very well be temporary, but regaining positive ground in times of economic uncertainty is always enlightening for small businesses, especially those who have invested in technology and positioned themselves to sell online.

The big question remains — what does this increase mean for a small online business like yours? If the indicators are correct, it means it is time to increase inventory, fine tune your advertising campaigns and prepare your site for an increase in sales from the “pent up demand” consumers are feeling from buying less and hoarding trillions of dollars in personal savings accounts that are yielding dismal returns.

The tide could very well be turning. It’s never too early to fine tune your online business to ensure you are ready to capture the business generated from a significant increase in confidence.

Here at 2Checkout, we like having an active community of suppliers, customers and staff interacting and sharing information. You will see an increasing number of articles discussing various aspects of e-commerce, Internet history, and general information – not just announcements. The vision is to have a place where people from all over the world can come together and post questions, problems or observations and get answers, advice, and comments from various perspectives and experiences. Many of 2CO’s highest selling suppliers already know the value of having a community. We have sellers who write blogs, have forums, write interesting articles,  and post news that affects their customers. Many of these suppliers are among our most profitable.

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Starting today, some online shoppers can use PIN-debit to purchase products through 2Checkout.com with the addition of PaySecure as its newest payment option.

PaySecure, a sophisticated encrypted PIN-Debit payment option is the first software-only service of its kind in the U.S. The service is fully automated and unique in comparison to traditional online payment methods and fills a nice niche for 2Checkout. Signature debit is a preferred payment method for many 2Checkout customers, but paying by PIN-Debit has never been an option until today. The addition expands 2CO’s market of potential buyers, who prefer to use PIN debit, or have PIN-only debit cards.

Here’s how the system works. PaySecure’s graphical PIN-pad appears during checkout when the system determines a customer’s debit card can be used with a PIN and the card is a member of Acculynk’s network. Customers are given the choice to enter their PIN on the PaySecure PIN-pad or run the transaction as signature debit. If they choose PaySecure, they enter each digit of their PIN into a unique, scrambling graphical PIN-pad by mouse, making the process undetectable by online scammers. Upon completion, they click “submit” and receive payment confirmation. Click here for a PaySecure demo.

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