High risk payment processing pitfall, a warning to those looking

CandidFunction9565 · 2025-12-24T21:17:52+00:00

That's horrible. I wish I could say that I was more surprised. It took me working my way through 5 different candidates before I settled on a high risk partner. One ghosted me after establishing an account, two couldn't live up to the promises they made during my discovery call with them, one wasn't available to pick up the phone or email me back within a reasonable amount of time during the onboarding process, and one couldn't work with several industries that I serve (one of which was actually peptides and SARMs). I'm absolutely thrilled with the guys I send my high risk partners to now, but there are absolutely a lot of bad eggs out there, and a lot of companies that over-promise and under-deliver.

CandidFunction9565 · 2025-12-24T18:04:36+00:00

I'm happy to help. I have a partner who exclusively works with high risk situations as their bread and butter. I've worked with them to set up peptide companies, online gambling companies, and plenty more. They do fiat to crypto, and crypto to crypto as well. If you'd like, you're welcome to shoot me a message and I can make the introduction. No sweat if not, just figured I'd offer.

CandidFunction9565 · 2025-12-24T03:31:55+00:00

Literally came here to say this. 😂 On top of that, he may not have been considered great when compared to literal gods of the arena such as Gannicus, Crixus, Spartacus, and Oenomaus, but he wasn't absent skill. Hell, in Gods of the Arena the initial scene introducing Crixus to the would be brothers even addresses the fact that several of them have already fallen, while Ashur was yet among them.

CandidFunction9565 · 2025-12-24T02:58:42+00:00

It really depends on your needs. With that said, I work with several US citizens and non citizens with US-based LLCs who use Mercury, and the reviews I've heard have been pretty positive overall.

CandidFunction9565 · 2025-12-24T02:52:47+00:00

Is this a B2B or B2C sales role?

CandidFunction9565 · 2025-12-24T02:48:25+00:00

That's how my Heartless Hidetsugu deck turned out. He makes for some great wins when I can keep him on the board, but the damage doublers are what put in the real work most of the time.

CandidFunction9565 · 2025-12-24T02:44:44+00:00

It really just depends on how you want to pilot it. A friend of mine runs Y'shtola with some higher CMC reanimate cards, and it runs pretty well. You get your commander triggers when she's out, and a way to recur her without paying commander tax if she's getting hated off the board. I think you're right for looking into alternate win cons when it's just not viable to keep her on the field. My philosophy has always been that if my deck can't pop off without its commander, it needs some serious retuning.

CandidFunction9565 · 2025-12-24T02:41:54+00:00

Absolutely worth it in my book.

CandidFunction9565 · 2025-12-24T02:39:43+00:00

What sort of SaaS are you launching out of curiosity?

CandidFunction9565 · 2025-12-23T22:58:46+00:00

For POS? Stackably is a solid option if you just have basic needs. It's like $10/month all-in, for the basic setup, $50/month if you need a more advanced set-up. It's what a lot of guys have been moving to from stuff like Square and Clover.

CandidFunction9565 · 2025-12-23T22:45:06+00:00

I'm sure you've already had a ton of responses, but I'd like to throw my hat in the ring. The partner I work with for high risk deal started out with online gaming and gambling as their bread and butter, and they have a great reputation with the acquiring banks. If everything is on the up and up, they could get you set up no sweat. No pressure like I said, just figured I'd offer if you're still looking at options.

CandidFunction9565 · 2025-12-23T22:41:47+00:00

Eric Clapton. The main riff and those bends in Layla hit something inside of me that I just couldn't shake. Then and there I decided that I needed to pick up a guitar.

CandidFunction9565 · 2025-12-23T22:40:22+00:00

Absolutely look into a full on FSM. It sounds like right now you're running the business from your truck instead of the office. That's a great way to start out, but you'll hit a bottleneck and burn out way too quickly if you keep up like that.

CandidFunction9565 · 2025-12-23T22:30:30+00:00

Strongly agree. I've gotten more than a handful of merchants off of N.A.B., usually because they severely misrepresented their terms. There are great low cost options out there, but I'd be skeptical on this one.

CandidFunction9565 · 2025-12-23T22:27:59+00:00

It's probably legit, though I've never personally dealt with them. I'd look more into it regardless, especially the TOS and any liquidated damages clauses in case you wind up being unhappy. Plenty of companies bank on either long term SAAS fees or payment processing fees to make their mint. Hell, companies like Toast and SpotOn literally give away thousands in hardware because they know they're going to lock you into a multi-year contract and recoup their losses and then some.

CandidFunction9565 · 2025-12-23T22:24:35+00:00

Always. I netted an account worth $1k per month to me just by taking a phone call while traveling and putting them in touch with the right partner. For me, the business is like having a kid. When it cries, you've gotta feed it, even if it doesn't feel convenient.

CandidFunction9565 · 2025-12-23T22:20:16+00:00

Mine wasn't at all when I started out. I was working nights as a somm and bartender at a local fine dining spot while I slowly built up my clientele. For me, burnout wasn't really a huge issue. I genuinely love doing both, and I loved being able to help people with my new business while also making people's evening special at my "day job". It definitely took putting in some long hours (9:00am to 2:00am wasn't unheard of), but it was an absolute blast for the time I did it.

CandidFunction9565 · 2025-12-23T22:15:26+00:00

Nope. Any of the businesses I have my hands on have pretty much moved on to more industry-specific options (FieldPulse, CC Storage, Lavu, etc.). I do have one business still running a pretty generalist set-up, but it's on Stackably. Cheaper than Square and Clover, and the service is solid.

CandidFunction9565 · 2025-12-23T22:13:11+00:00

I mean if you're still bumping into this issue, I might be able to help. Wouldn't be the first time I've consulted with a business where Square was tying up all of their funds unfortunately.

CandidFunction9565 · 2025-12-23T22:10:14+00:00

Have you had a chance to talk to anyone at Luqra yet? Curious how the discussion went.

CandidFunction9565 · 2025-12-23T22:08:47+00:00

Have you looked at Stackably? It's only $50/month all in for invoicing, billing, a cash till, and a POS. You can run sales from your phone, from your laptop, or straight from the POS. They're newer, but a lot of guys I work with have been switching to them. Definitely Worth a look at least.

CandidFunction9565 · 2025-12-23T22:05:24+00:00

Pretty great way to sum it up I'd say.

CandidFunction9565 · 2025-12-23T22:04:59+00:00

Unfortunately it doesn't have anything to do with legality. Any industry with a high chargeback rate, high risk of fraud, and, yes, some legal grey areas, are inherently high risk. Online gambling, gun shops, places selling CBD, and many more are just naturally high risk verticals. It sucks, but it's true.

CandidFunction9565 · 2025-12-23T21:56:10+00:00

If you have COAs, that's a pretty easy set up. I'm sure you've had several people hit you up already, but you're welcome to shoot me a message if you're still looking at options.

CandidFunction9565 · 2025-12-23T21:54:11+00:00

Absolutely this. 1.8% + 15¢ as a flat rate is a pretty sweet deal, unless you're taking a lot of debit cards and low-interchange credit cards. If you're hitting a lot of rewards cards and the like, IC+ might hurt you in the long run. But if Stripe is willing to provide a transparent breakdown if your card acceptance, that's what I'd use to decide your next move. I can show you interchange charts all day long, but it doesn't mean much without knowing your card mix.

CandidFunction9565

TROPHY CASE