Card Payment Terminated for E Cig Products

[Andy Thatcher]

Seems that Authorize.Net have added e-cigs to their list of terms and conditions as regards card services.

This one is a problem folks.

Our Credit Card Processing account has been terminated.

We have just been notified by Authorized.net who has been our Credit Card Processor for years of a change in Terms of Use concerning tobacco Products. Electronic Cigarettes have just been added. Authorize.Net LLC ("Authorize.Net") has determined that the nature of our business constitutes a violation of Section 2.xiii of the Authorize.Net Acceptable Use Guidelines.
You can view this public information by clicking on the following link.
http://www.authorize.net/company/use.php
Since Athorized.net sets the precedence for most credit card processors, it is going to be a challenge to find an alternative payment method. With FaceBook, Paypal, and now a major credit card processor washing their hands of all e-cigarette sales… I am not sure where we go from here.
Personal checks, cashier checks, and money orders would be option, but it would obviously slow processing times down extremely because of the increase in the amount of manual processing that would be needed. Also there is the concern of lost mail and consumer frustration, etc.. We are not ruling out these options, but reviewing our options.
Timing of these unfortunate set of events came luckily “after” ALL orders had already been processed and shipped.
At this point in time, we do not know how we will proceed. Certainly there is much to be considered and internal decisions to be made.
Sorry be the bearer of sad news, it’s not a happy day here. But I am confident that we will find a solution as a community.

 

[Andy Thatcher]

If this happens across other vendors there is a huge problem looming. We are being told it is perfectly acceptable for us as consumers to spend money using bank cards for tobacco but not to support the lifestyle I choose to lead.

 

[six]

Anyone using authorize.net for this last year and a half or so really should have been aware of the TOS. In fact, when they cut off a handful of popular vendors in March 2011, about a zillion threads on the topic popped up on all of the major e-cig forums (including ecf ) and any vendor active in the forum communities should have known at least that long ago.

 

[Iffy]

WOW... sorry to hear that!

The day my CC company banishes e-cig purchases is the day that I find another avenue.

 

[six]

The day my CC company banishes e-cig purchases is the day that I find another avenue.

It's not a CC company not allowing someone to purchase whatever they want. It is a payment processor deciding not to service e-cig vendors.

 

[Andy Thatcher]

Anyone using authorize.net for this last year and a half or so really should have been aware of the TOS. In fact, when they cut off a handful of popular vendors in March 2011, about a zillion threads on the topic popped up on all of the major e-cig forums (including ecf ) and any vendor active in the forum communities should have known at least that long ago.

That means there are alternatives. That is good to know.

 

[mwa102464]

There are other companies that Service CC's

 

[six]

That means there are alternatives. That is good to know.

Yes. There are many alternatives. Most e-cig vendors end up paying more for being "high risk" but there are a whole bunch of payment processors out there and only two or three that won't service e-cig vendors.

 

[Iffy]

It is a payment processor deciding not to service e-cig vendors.

I don't GAS who is limiting my options! There are 'hungry' enterprises out dere that want to process my money regardless of my purchases...

 

[six]

OT, but Iffy - You are the master of emoticons!

 

[KTaylor]

We need to come together as a community and compile a list of ecig friendly processors to help our faithful vendors.

 

[bjannr]

We could all go back to using checks, or money orders.

 

[Iffy]

OT, but Iffy - You are the master of emoticons!

Just kiddin'... thanx! But, they do help in not gettin' a 'vacation' on some of da more heated topics...

 

[Katdarling]

Anyone using authorize.net for this last year and a half or so really should have been aware of the TOS. In fact, when they cut off a handful of popular vendors in March 2011, about a zillion threads on the topic popped up on all of the major e-cig forums (including ecf ) and any vendor active in the forum communities should have known at least that long ago.

six, can you provide us with more info on where to find info on this? I've been around these parts for awhile now, and I don't recall seeing this or reading up on it. And, I'd like to. I would love to know who the vendors were that got cut off from Authorize.net, and what happened to them subsequently?

 

[Butters78]

They allow got dang Justin Bieber artifacts and snuggies to be sold over the net, they want to take away my vapejoy? That just grinds my gears.

 

[six]

six, can you provide us with more info on where to find info on this? I've been around these parts for awhile now, and I don't recall seeing this or reading up on it. And, I'd like to. I would love to know who the vendors were that got cut off from Authorize.net, and what happened to them subsequently?

My best recollection is that myfreedomsmokeusa was one popular vendor to get shut off by them in or about November 2010. - Almost a year before that, whoever BWB was using as a CC processor shut them off too, but I don't think it was authorize.net. -

The mods (mostly rolygate) closed tons of threads on the topic in July of 2011. Some of those threads were spawned by a troll thread where someone started screaming that the sky was falling and that the FDA had banned online ecig sales. It wasn't all that long after when authorize.net started dropping e-cig vendors for real (but not with any authority from the FDA). The threads that came from it happening for real mostly got moved to "the outside" and to "announcements and news" or one of those type of threads at the top of the ECF Forum main page.

I hope that helps.

That's my best recollection.

 

[Njt07]

You could always sell gift cards via CC and then customers could use those to purchase whatever from your store right?

 

[Hulamoon]

Now that's thinking outside the box! I like that idea!

You could always sell gift cards via CC and then customers could use those to purchase whatever from your store right?

 

[Hulamoon]

Hi Kat, I posted the info on the NLV thread and it got shot down so I deleted it. Sorry - so used to seeing your wonderful comments there that's where I posted it duh. Anyway I think that KickbassVapor was another vendor who was k-o'ed for a short time by authorize.net in March 2011 maybe?

 

[Katdarling]

Thank you, Hula. Seems there is still a lot of info to be discovered.