Because there tends to be a lot of fees involved, some businesses both on and offline don't allow customers to pay with a Credit Card. Generally this may scare away a fair amount of customers, but some feel that they have no choice but to not accept it. How about you?

This would really depend on the volume and average size of payment, considering for most smaller providers PayPal, GoogleCheckout, MoneyBookers etc provide the service for your customers and their details are secured and handled by a trusted third party for a small transaction %, however when providers are accepting larger payment for dedicated servers such providers are more than happy to dip in and use a higher % bracket or band at which point becoming PCI compliant is more appealing.

It's really a case of juggling the cost as well as the trust of a 3rd party VS doing it yourself and the cost involved.

I agree. I think once your business reaches a certain point it's well worth doing yourself. Security is a huge factor when taking credit card details directly on your site. I think for the smaller hosts it's one less thing to worry about using a 3rd party company such as PayPal.

We currently do accept credit cards although we love it when our clients pay via Paypal(:

You're outright missing sales if you don't accept credit cards.

Absolutely. Even though PayPal allows anyone to make a payment using their credit/bank card, alot of customers don't know this and they move on to the next host that can take their card directly. Also, some do not wish to use PayPal, at all.

I did noticed an increase in signups after I attached a note during the checkout process, stating that anyone with a credit/bank card can make a payment, even if they do not have a PayPal account. This has worked pretty good with the clients that have never heard about PayPal.

I do agree that at some point, any succesful online business will have to eventually accept credit cards directly through their website and be PCI compliant.

these days you have to, or you will miss signups

Exactly, which is why almost all web hosting companies do accept credit cards.

You definitely WILL turn off a lot of customers by not accepting Credit Cards, but a lot of smaller businesses have trouble managing with the fees. Ultimately it really depends on your situation, and how much you can afford to lose customers because of Credit Cards.

Indeed, I've noticed many smaller startups and businesses use only Paypal at the moment because they can't keep up with the fees and charges.

We have to make things easier if we do not want to miss signups. And having credit cards is essential.

While I do currently allow Credit Card payments, I make it clear that it isn't my preferred method of payment. What really hurts is when you end up with a very small order/package and have to deal with the Credit Card payments on that. To be honest, I may have to start having a minimum for Credit Card usage, but I will have to see where the next few months lead me.

We have to make things easier if we do not want to miss signups. And having credit cards is essential.

Yeps, and about the only thing we really do not like is when someone pays via Paypal but does not check their funds before hand, and we are waiting 2 weeks for an echeck. A straight CC would have them processed in minutes, and an echeck takes forever.

For anything online, you have to take a CC and/or Paypal. As a consumer, I hate using paypal b/c I use it so infrequently and have to remember all the login/pw's etc.