Being able to accept credit card payments through your Web site is essential for any Web-based business. You can accept checks and money orders alone, via mail-in order, but adding a merchant account to your Web site is definitely worth it in the long run, in terms of achieving higher profit margins.

Almost every Web hosting provider offers a merchant account service. In addition to merchant accounts provided by Web hosting providers, there are some independent merchant account services that you can consider as well. PayPal is probably the most used merchant account service available for the home based business owner.

As with most merchant account services, PayPal provides this service by deducting a small service fee from each sale you make. The amount deducted from each sale is based on a percentage basis, meaning that the amount deducted by the merchant account service depends on the amount of the item that was sold.

As with anything, it's best to do some shopping around before you commit to a merchant account to see which service best suits your needs.