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Discussion on: The State of Payment Processing for Cannabis E-Commerce

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rgoldmanning profile image
RGoldManning • Edited

Man i do not really think that ''showing all of your cards'' is exactly the best idea. Especially taking into account that it is exactly how you said that it is a high risk product, how on earth showing all of your cards might be a good idea? I mean, seriously, in this case you got to be as hidden as possible, especially if the product is still illegal in the place where you live. That is exactly the cause why should try and keed it as ''confidential'' as possible, as it is not like you go to a greenhouseil.com/litchfield/ store to buy it with some cash, you order online and you got to make a payment which you do not see where do the money go, so i think that ''showing all of your cards'' is a bit stupid.

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whoisryosuke profile image
Ryosuke

I've had people tell me to put up a fake website, get approved, then put back my real site. You can do that if you want to play it risky and gamble your money away.

What happens when they do a checkup 2 months later (because the system automatically flags a transactions -- or someone makes a complaint [snitches are real]), ban you, and you're forced to find a new payment processor while operating a business? That's money lost. And customers don't care about these backend issues, they just want to make a purchase. Any issues with that process just make your brand look worse. I've had to do this 3-4 times in the span of 2 years, and it's not fun, and takes an immense toll on revenue.

At that point, there's no "putting up a fake site" or "taking down 'illegal' product". Your site is live, customers are browsing it daily, and now your only solution is to hide again in plain sight temporarily when you re-apply to a different processor? What does that say to a customer that pops in to "CannabisDirect.com" and suddenly finds a completely different language and experience? You've lost them and their trust.

Not to mention, we're just talking a website here. Payment processors are diligent enough to check *social media profiles*, so you'd have to wipe out all your accounts (or start "clean" and then get "dirty") if you wanted to get approved -- on top of your site content.

The point is to find partners who will work with your business -- despite the legal gray area. There are people who work in that space (clearly, how else are all the other CBD and cannabis companies taking credit cards?) -- you just have to find the right people.

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rgoldmanning profile image
RGoldManning

Maybe you are right, but i don't know, i just do not agree with some points.