If you run an ecigarette or vaporizer shop online or offline, you probably know that getting a merchant account can be quite a process. Before you start looking around for merchant accounts for ecig or vape shops, you need to keep reading. We have some important things to consider as well as some tips on how to make sure you get the best rates. Accepting payments for bongs, hookahs, water pipes, ejuice, shouldn't be your biggest source of hassle when doing business in this burgeoning smoke shop industry.

Ecig / Vaporizer Business Merchant Accounts

Here are some of the main issues to think about when looking for a merchant account for an ecigarette store or vapor shop - online or offline.

• Payment Methods - You want to be able to take signature and card present payments, of course, but if you're selling online, you're going to also need a virtual terminal so you can take credit card payments without the card being present. Known as MOTO or Mail Order Telephone Order.

• High Risk vs Low Risk - Unfortunately, most ecig and vape shops are going to be considered high risk - especially with so much talk of ecigarette regulation recently. However, this doesn't mean that you're not going to be able to get a merchant account.

• Rates and Fees - Speaking of being in a high-risk industry like vaporizers, you need to be careful that you're not paying super high rates and fees on each transaction you make. If you want to keep your profits high, this is something you need to watch carefully.

• Multiple Underwriting Banks - Because of the high risk nature of ecig and vape shops, you want to make sure your merchant account has multiple underwriting banks. This will prevent a complete shutdown if one bank decides to stop dealing with ecigarette stores due to age restrictions on tobacco related products.

Merchant Account for Online Ecigarette eCommerce Business?

PayPal, Stripe, Square and other payment gateways online have a history of not working with people who deal in ecigarette and tobacco related sales. However, this is good news if you want to start your own vape shop online or in a physical retail location because a merchant account is often the better way to go. If you use the tips and advice above, you're going to be able to find a provider that gives you everything you want and need to be successful.

Rates Vary by Startup vs History

The most important thing to remember is that your rates and fees are going to be determined primarily by whether you're a startup or you have a financial history. Things like whether you're considered high risk or low risk play a part in the equation, but overall it's more difficult for startup companies to get as good rates as businesses that have been around for a while.

If you're starting an ecommerce ecig shop or a retail ecigarette store, you should call IBI Merchant Services and see what we have to offer. We give companies in this industry the ability to take payments online and offline via a lot of different methods, and we can help you with finding the perfect merchant account for your company.