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Online reviews about anything and everything is so prevalent in today’s culture that most of us fancy ourselves not only as connoisseurs of the best goods and services out there but as consummate experts on reviews themselves. Most importantly, we can all spot a fake review a mile away, right? Turns out, it’s not as simple as we might think, and in this post, we tell you what signs to look for to determine if a review is fake.

If you’re thinking of becoming an online retailer and have begun researching your options, there’s a very good chance you’ve already come across the concept of dropshipping. You may have also noticed that the ecommerce corner of the internet is thoroughly overrun with “How I Made a Cool Million in Three Months of Dropshipping While […]

While Namecheap still offers managed hosting for WordPress users (plus lots of other types of web hosting), not everyone has the time or technical skill required to create and run a WordPress site. It makes sense that Namecheap would seek to expand its customer base by adding DIY site-building software for those without coding experience.

Regardless of which platform you ultimately choose to build your business or personal website, one of the first things you’ll do is select a template. (Heck, I even remember selecting a template for my family blog on Blogger back in 2008! I browsed through the default options and picked a blueish one I thought was pretty.) Founded in 2002, TemplateMonster is a source of third-party template designs for a variety of common eCommerce platforms, website builders, and CMS (Content Management System) platforms. TemplateMonster’s products cover Wordpress, Shopify, BigCommerce, Magento, PrestaShop, WooCommerce, MotoCMS, and more.

Shopify is one of the top choices for eCommerce, but Squarespace holds its own as a website builder. Which software is right for your small business?

Knowing your effective rate helps you understand what you actually pay for credit card processing. Here’s how to calculate it, and use that information to find the best rates on merchant services.

Here at Merchant Maverick, we’ve received countless questions over the years from concerned business owners regarding their merchant account statements. In fact, our website owes a large part of its very existence to the complex pricing, convoluted statements, and hidden markups that are hallmarks of the card processing industry. This is the unfortunate state of […]

Historically, American Express (Amex) earned a reputation as the most expensive and cumbersome card brand to accept. And yet, Amex is the world’s largest card issuer when measured in total money spent by consumers each year. If you’re not already accepting Amex, I wouldn’t blame you for wanting a slice of that giant spending pie. In truth, it has become much easier — and often less expensive — for small businesses to accept Amex cards in just the last few years.

To understand Blackbaud Merchant Services, we must first take a step back and look at the larger entity called Blackbaud. Founded in 1981 and headquartered in Charleston, SC, Blackbaud is a leading supplier of software solutions designed for the unique needs of the nonprofit sector. Most of its clients are medium to large size nonprofits  — think hospitals, philanthropic foundations, educational institutions and the like.

Pros Spotless track record Compatible with a wide variety of industries eCheck processing offered High-risk accounts offered Cons Limited pricing disclosed online Early termination fee Expensive hardware leases Deceptive website & advertising Overview Just as you can’t judge a book by its cover, you can’t judge a merchant account provider by its website. Actually, it […]