According to the 2016 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation, 101.6 million Americans participated in outdoor recreational activities in the year. If you own a hunting and outdoor equipment business, expanding online is essential to keep up with the competition. Selling hunting and outdoor equipment online may seem simple enough, but it can quickly become tricky or even impossible without a merchant account for outdoor equipment.
Unfortunately, the hunting and outdoor equipment industries are considered high risk to standard payment processors such as Paypal and Square. Due to the sheer volume of transactions proccesed in the hunting industry and the risks associated with selling firearms and weapons, obtaining a special merchant account is imperative to your success.
Credit card processing for hunting and outdoor equipment companies is still difficult to find today. While it is not illegal to sell outdoor equipment or hunting accessories, payment processors are skeptical about associating with the sale of guns or other weapons. If an individual is ever linked to a crime related to a purchase they made online, a payment processor's reputation may be at risk.
Additionally, chargeback rates are notoriously high in the hunting and outdoor equipment industries. Standard payment processors prefer to work with businesses in industries with chargeback rates lower than 3%.
Knowing how to start an online hunting dropshipping business is the first step to getting started generating sales and revenue. Researching and comparing dropshipping providers specializing in outdoor and hunting markets are a good place to start. Once you have found a dropshipping company you can trust, proceed by building your website with a trusted and reliable web host along with your chosen domain name. After your website is designed and stocked with your inventory, it is time to begin driving traffic and sales for your business. Before you begin generating sales, having a hunting merchant account for your business is imperative to minimize risks.
While it may be tempting to apply for a hunting and gun friendly merchant account from well-known processors such as Paypal, Square, or Stripe, it is extremely risky for anyone in the hunting industry. Because the hunting and outdoor industries are considered high risk, you may have your account flagged, deleted, or banned entirely without warning.
In some cases, individuals may not encounter any issues when applying for a merchant account, even after disclosing the industry they are representing. However, this may not guarantee your account protection, especially as you continue to grow your business. It’s not uncommon for businesses to go several months before being detected by the processor. And when your merchant account is terminated or removed from the processor's system, you are no longer possible to generate sales.
Applying for a merchant account designed for high risk industries such as hunting and outdoor equipment is highly advisable. A high risk merchant account helps to protect you from the stop of sales and your ability to generate revenue while remaining in business.
A high risk credit card processor is also more willing to defend their clients and the users of their services than a standard payment processor. There is a clear lack of support available for individuals working in high risk industries who are in need of assistance from standard payment processors. This is not the case for accounts geared specifically toward credit card processing for hunting or outdoor recreation.
Obtaining a merchant account to sell hunting gear, firearms, outdoor equipment, etc. does not have to feel tedious or confusing. Taking the time to find a high risk payment processor is the first step to gaining peace of mind each time you make a sale on your website or with your retail swiper. When submitting your application for a high risk merchant account, you will be required to provide the following information:
Working with a hunting credit card processor and obtaining the hunting merchant services you need is a way to run your business online without issue. With an outdoor equipment payment gateway, you now have the ability to sell everything from firearms and hunting accessories to outdoor survival gear and weapons with ease.
At PaymentCloud we see a variety of businesses from all industry types, many of which have been dropped by their tier-one processor. Specializing in high risk accounts from tech support merchant accounts to credit card processing for hunting, we’ve seen it all. We provide the support your business will need to stay compliant with current bank procedures, secure a gateway, and mitigate risk with chargeback and other management tools. At the end of the day, we have the bandwidth and track record to get your hunting & outdoor business up and running.
Create an account instantly and start accepting payments. You can also contact us to design a custom package for your business.