A Fresh Way to Get an Aromatherapy Merchant Account
Breathing in essential oils can improve mental, physical, and spiritual. Essential oil aromatherapy is an alternative type of medicine used alone or to complement more traditional medical treatments. Inhaling the scents of oils, such as chamomile, lavender, bergamot, and peppermint, have helped people experience feelings of relaxation, peacefulness, and happiness. Essential oils are created when essences are extracted from plants in natural ways.
Statistics show that the global aromatherapy market size was valued at $1.07 billion in 2016, and the industry is expected to experience lucrative growth throughout the next six years, according to Grand View Research’s Aromatherapy Market Size, Trends, Industry Analysis Report 2014-2025. Experts say the growth of aromatherapy market is due to the rising awareness about the therapeutic uses of essential oils.
Sellers of aromatherapy products have noticed consumer interest and have taken advantage of it, leading more entrepreneurs to sell everything from essential oils, aromatherapy diffusers, and essential oil jewelry. Unfortunately, banks and credit card processors don’t share the same enthusiasm as aromatherapy merchants. It is challenging to obtain an aromatherapy merchant account because many
traditional financial institutions won’t work with merchants that sell these products. They consider them high risk and won’t approve them for a merchant account. Any business that wants to accept and process credit card transactions needs a merchant account.
Banks consider aromatherapy products as “pseudo-pharmaceuticals” because they contain ingredients, such as vitamins and minerals, and sometimes, they are fraudulently labeled unproven therapeutic benefits, such as eliminating stress and curing anxiety. In addition to deceptive claims, friendly fraud, a lack of regulation, and its reputation for excessive chargebacks make obtaining an aromatherapy merchant account difficult. One way to get the merchant account you need is to prepare, know how to prevent chargebacks, and think about applying to a non-traditional lender.
Understanding the Issues with Aromatherapy Products
Similar nutraceuticals, the cosmetics and aromatherapy markets is one of those industries that walks the razor edge line between science and wellness. The practice of aromatherapy is used to help people to achieve overall health and wellness of the mind, body, and spirit. Problems occur when aromatherapy products claim to give you energy, induce relaxation, and eliminate stress. Depending on how the claims are presented to consumers, these claims can be problematic for merchants. Misleading or unproven claims can lead to customers initiating chargebacks. When consumers don’t get the products they expect or if the oils don’t give the promised results as quick as they expected, customers get upset and ask for a refund. When they don’t get refunds right away, they initiate chargebacks by contacting their credit card companies.
Plan to Eliminate Chargebacks Before They Start
You can do a number of things to cut down on potential chargebacks. A simple step is to ensure anything you sell doesn’t promise anything that your product doesn’t deliver. Next, offer customer service 24 hours a day, seven days per week. By available all of the time, you are there to offer refunds to unsatisfied customers. If you give a refund, you are preventing that customer from getting upset and initiating a chargeback with a credit card company. It is important to remember that a refund is always more cost-effective and has fewer long-term consequences than a chargeback.
Also, it is very important that you track any product deliveries. This prevents you from friendly fraud, which are attempts by consumers to get out of paying for products they received.
Documents Needed to Get an Aromatherapy Merchant Account
When you are ready to obtain an aromatherapy merchant account, you will need to submit a number of documents in addition to your application. You will need to provide a valid, government-issued ID, such as a driver’s license or passport, a Social Security Number or Employer Identification Number, and a bank letter or a pre-printed voided check. Three months of your most recent bank statements and three months of your most recent processing statements also will be needed.
During the application process, merchant account providers will want to ensure you maintain operational websites that have clearly-displayed terms and conditions, as well as refund and return policies.
Apply for an Aromatherapy Merchant Account
Getting an aromatherapy merchant account may be challenging, but, it’s not impossible. Apply for an aromatherapy merchant account with a high-risk merchant account provider, like eMerchantBroker.com (EMB). The online application process is fast and easy. EMB works with merchants of all sizes and those with less than stellar credit. Additionally, it offers knowledgeable customer support, fraud detection tools and chargeback mitigation systems.