When the economy is shaky, pawn shops are usually doing brisk business. At the same time, they also do well in good economic times because they offer used merchandise at reasonable prices. This is why so many people are looking into starting their own pawn shop. We have some basic things that you should think about if you want to get into the pawn store industry. It can be really lucrative, but you really need to get the right merchant account to be able to accept payments and pay customers who pawn items.

Pawn Shop Merchant Account Basics

If you're running a pawn show and are looking for a new merchant account or you're thinking of starting up a new pawn store and need to be able to accept payments, here is a short list of some of the considerations you want to make before you decide on a company to work with when it comes to collecting payments.

• ACH Processing - Taking payments via electronic check and straight from a bank account is useful for pawnshops who need to make sure they get the money they are owed by customers.

• Recurring Billing - Another nice feature to have with your merchant account is the ability to take advantage of recurring billing. Basically, this means the money you are due can be automatically charged to a credit card or bank account.

• Check Processing - Paying by check is not always preferable, but some types of customers are going to want to have the option of paying by check. Processing these quickly and easily on your own with your merchant account is very useful.

• Check Drafting - As a pawn shop, you're going to have to pay for items when you buy them or people pawn them. While cash works sometimes, you want to be able to have the ability to quickly draft checks if needed.

• Chargebacks - Unfortunately, people trying to chargeback an item they bought at a pawn shop is common. The good news is that the right merchant account isn't going to charge you too much to deal with chargebacks - even if you have quite a few of them each week.

• Ecommerce - These days, more and more pawn shops are moving their business online. This can make it possible to bring in even more money - if you can accept online payments. Make sure to get a merchant account that gives you a virtual terminal so you can provide no card present and no signature transactions.

Best Merchant Account for Your Pawn Shop Business?

This is a question you're only going to be able to answer yourself. One of the best things you can do is give us a call today. At IBI Merchant Services, we have help many pawn shops find the perfect merchant account for the industry. We offer many extras like no setup fees and no application fees. Contact us to learn more about what we can do for you.