For any ClickBank vendor that has reached over US $25,000 in monthly sales, it's time to transition to your own merchant account. Here's why.

Being a ClickBank vendor is common for those who seek a done-for-you solution. This is especially true for those who make money online selling digital or physical products.

Digital product owners like to use ClickBank, because it’s a simple solution. It offers a step-by-step guide on launching a product online. Not only can you sell products online, but you can take advantage of ClickBank’s in-house affiliate network to increase your website’s traffic and sales.

So you may be asking yourself, “Should I transition my focus from the ClickBank marketplace to maintaining my site and affiliates on my own?”

Or, as an Amazon seller, you might be wondering, “When is it a good time to get my own merchant account and sell products directly to consumers?”

Obviously, you’d be avoiding the hefty fees charged by these done-for-you platforms.

It’s not only about having the greatest webpage, pitch page, or landing pages. You need to consider having your own dedicated merchant account and reliable traffic sources or ads that convert.

If you’re unprepared with the correct infrastructure to support your offer and business, then you’ll have difficulties with scaling your business outside of ClickBank or even Amazon.

It’s also important to ensure your refund and chargeback rates are at optimal levels to avoid getting in trouble with your payment gateway provider.

None of this sounds good… And it shouldn’t have to be this way.

If you launched your business on ClickBank and reached over US $25, 000 in monthly sales, it’s time to transition to your own merchant account. You can save big bucks and control your checkout page, which provides you with invaluable data you can use to convert more sales.

Which brings us to WHY it’s crucial to educate yourself on the best practices for setting up your infrastructure to be able to take the leap from ClickBank to your own merchant account and environment.

Using ClickBank to make money online

Let’s talk about ClickBank real quick…

ClickBank is one of the largest internet retailers online. They have over 6 million sellers worldwide. It’s also an affiliate marketing marketplace that has over 100,000 digital marketing experts helping these sellers sell more.

It’s certainly a useful tool for people who are looking to start a new business online.

But to sell as a ClickBank vendor, you’ll need to be familiar with compliance and fraud prevention. They take legal issues very seriously. That’s why many users see their accounts suspended.

Also, there are some fees you should know about.

When you use ClickBank payments, your payment processing fees are 7.5%. There are also other fees for each sale. This cuts into a significant part of your margins.

First, there’s a one-time product approval activation fee. Then there are other fees such as a flat rate of $1 stocking fee for each purchase and then the percentage of every sale you make. Let’s not forget to add on fees for chargebacks and refunds.

With this in mind, many offer owners lose upwards of 20% of their sales volume to fees and maintenance with ClickBank. So here’s a solution we recommend. If you start scaling, consider multiple payment gateways. You need to ensure you have backups should there be any down time or monthly volume constraints.

If you want a merchant account that supports your high-risk product, you can contact DirectPayNet here.

 

ClickBank is a great platform to test a business or product offer. And why not? It’s a fast and easy solution to get up and running. Once you start seeing traction, losing a minimum of 15% of your sales to fees is tragic. There are several payment gateways and solutions that cut those fees by at least 50%.

If you are currently using or plan on using PayPal or Stripe, think again! Both of these payment processors frown upon nutra merchants and other digital sellers. They may freeze your account, hold large reserves or worse terminate your business without notice.

To name a few, these are high-risk categories you should be aware of:

• Digital products
• Coaching services
• Dating apps
• Nutra products
• And much more…

 

What we want is for you to keep profiting. For that to happen, don’t put all your eggs in one basket, or even the wrong basket.

 

Is a ClickBank vendor account a good start?

ClickBank has seen it all. They’ve seen which business types have the most chargeback issues, and they’ve seen almost every payment model there is.

Payment models matter because if something goes wrong with a high-risk payment processor, it could ruin your campaign and leave no funds to pay ClickBank affiliates.

ClickBank puts restrictions on sellers to keep its consistency with sales and growth. They also review your sales letter to ensure it is compliant and you are not misleading your customers.

That being said, this is free advice for you on compliance and how to run your online nutra or info product business. What we’re showing are invaluable tactics that could save you, a ClickBank vendor, a lot of money in professional fees and time.

So if you’re starting out, ClickBank has several advantages. And, although there are high fees, you will only pay them if you have sales.

Once you have mastered your offer on ClickBank, transitioning to your own merchant account will be a breeze. You will also have more flexibility on designing your own order form and you can be more aggressive with your marketing than you would be allowed to as a ClickBank vendor.

Add this to saving 50% or more on the monthly payment processing fees and you’ll be swimming in additional profit.

 

Time to go from ClickBank vendor to using a merchant account

Is it your time to jump ship from ClickBank and move to your own merchant account? Here’s what you need to consider.

Having your own shopping cart

Do you control your own shopping cart? Can you plug in your own checkout page so you can test which converts better? If having control of your checkout is important to you, then connecting to your own merchant account is a must.

This will allow you to see all your customer data through all stages of your funnel, offer down-sells if a customer is taking too long to check out and see which stage your customers are abandoning your cart.

Since ClickBank is a third-party processor, these are things you cannot do when relying on their payment solution.

For starters, ClickBank is a hosted solution. You can’t host your own checkout page. If your customers are not converting at checkout, you won’t know where and why. But using the ClickBank checkout template can be a good start for you when you go out on your own.

You might’ve worked hard on setting up your own websites or sales page. But all that traffic and sales will occur on a ClickBank page.

That means these are ClickBank customers ultimately. ClickBank can monetize them in the future and will have more information on what, when and how they buy.

So by having your own shopping cart, you’ll be able to foresee patterns and other analytics of what’s working and what’s not. Customer data and analytics is key for future product launches and success.

Customizing your order page

Since you have to stay compliant as a ClickBank vendor, they’ll only allow a standard checkout page for you to use.

Depending on what you’re selling, you might need more customization for your order page. Especially if you have unique offers, promotions, upsells, or even digital products and services…

Having your own merchant account means more flexibility in this area. So, customizing your order page can make a HUGE difference in sales. It could be a quality design that immediately captures your prospect’s attention. Or, it could be the extra features that convince them to buy now.

Either way, you’ll need that flexibility to create effective campaigns to help convert more sales. Also, testing several checkout pages can really help you dial in on what works for converting more customers.

Control over your checkout data

Having control over checkout page and transaction data will set you up for success through your merchant account.

How will you know what needs to be improved otherwise?

When you have more control over your data, you’ll gain real-time access to all types of reporting. This includes suspicious or unusual activities, warnings before your account gets frozen, and funds arriving sooner than later.

There are even more opportunities opened up to you as a ClickBank vendor when have your own merchant account.

You could have a higher monthly volume and transaction limit, as well as accepting payments in multiple currencies. This could also help you scale a lot more if you want an offshore account outside the United States.

 

Upgrade to a merchant account

If you’re worried about ditching ClickBank but want more control over your business and pay less fees, then try testing your offer separately through another channel. This way you will dial in what works and can make changes on the fly until you optimize and surpass your current ClickBank offer.

Also, with ClickBank policies being a lot more conservative, testing several sales letters or landing pages is tough. So testing a new offer or sales letter with your own merchant account while maintaining your ClickBank offer can be an interesting option.

There are certain product types not permitted for ClickBank accounts. That includes items with nudity or super racy language. Would you like to sell an adult-related product, but can’t because you’re a ClickBank vendor? Why not try an aggressive or “raunchy” way of selling your product? There are many merchant account providers that are able to support sexual content.

When you upgrade to a merchant account, more aggressive marketing strategies are allowed.

Payment processors like PayPal and Stripe won’t allow the same flexibility as other options. That’s because they cater more towards low-risk businesses only.

They’re also known as a third-party payment solution provider. In other words, you have little recourse if your Stripe account is suspended or terminated.

Therefore, payment service providers of merchant accounts understand your business. Your business will have the flexibility to test and grow. There’s more time to focus on scaling your business instead of worrying about high-risk payment processing with a reliable payment solution.

 

Sell your new product through your merchant account

ClickBank may be the best platform to sell your own products or services. However, it can also be a pain when it comes to payment processing.

Every ClickBank vendor’s goal is for every potential customer to eventually enter sales funnel and end up at the thank you page.

Several limitations can translate to lost sales or opportunities for growth. It doesn’t matter how good you write a sales page or the quality of your offer.

After a successful ClickBank launch and US $25,000 in monthly sales, consider moving to your own merchant account. Keep those hard earned profits in your pocket.

So, to quickly recap, if you want to scale your business without hassle do the following:

1. Choose a reliable partner who understands your business (like DirectPayNet);
2. Control your customer data; and
3. Seize control of your checkout page and your offer’s profitability.

Feel free to leave us a comment below. Or if you’re ready for a merchant account, but don’t know where to begin, then let’s chat. Contact DirectPayNet now!