I’m trying to find a quality credit card processing company for my home based ffl. I plan on doing online based and home based business. Firearms and gunsmithing. I don’t necessarily need it to keep track of inventory, just take payments. What are you guys using?

I own a parts manufacturing company that also sells retail... and we've gone thru several companies. If you are just doing small scale sales, then I doubt you need a full scale company to integrate a gateway and processing company. If you are planning on running thousands a week.. then a dedicated company might be a good fit. If you IM me, I can relay the company we currently work with.

IM inbound.

We use TSYS. They are 2A friendly and easy to use.

I'm home based but accept no plastic. My regular customers know this. If I was taking plastic I'd have to charge more, and so they're happy bringing cash or checks.

Why not take plastic and everything else has a cash discount? The individual can then decide if paying by CC is worth it.  To many people want to use CC's these days. I don't see running a business without accepting them.

Last I knew, offering cash discounts was not permitted. Businesses that engage in the practice might have some way to get around that.
I'm not going to go through the hassle of figuring out discounts. My regulars know well enough that plastic isn't an option. They're happy with what they're paying compared to anywhere else they'd go locally. It works so far and I see no reason to believe that it won't continue to work.

Just remember if customer disputes a transaction the can pull funds from your account it happened to me once, I was able to resolve the issue and got my funds back but the time and hassle was a pain. I prefer cash or a check from repeat customers. Also keep in mind lots of companys are not 2A friendly. Good luck.

That depends on your state.
In Texas, its always been legal to have a cash discount or a cash price vs credit price....but it wasn't legal to charge credit card customers more (called a surcharge). In August, 2019 a federal judge permanently enjoined the State of Texas from enforcing the law prohibiting credit card surcharges.

It is possible the agreement or contract between a merchant and a credit card or payment processing company may prohibit surcharges or fees. Note that isn't the same as a "cash discount".

Since lower scale i would look into soimething that goes into your phone like INtuit or square

Square terms of service prohibit firearms.

IIRC Intuit is also not firearm-friendly.

I use Plus by EMS.

Try this processor.  They are good to go and FFL/2A friendly.

https://electronictransfer.com/

I do ISO/MSP stuff as a side gig asan agent, so i deal with a handful of processors and banks. What i found is that many places will accept RETAIL transactions but not ECOMMERCE/MOTO.  Even TSYS as someone mentioned swings back and forth rather they will acept ECOM/MOTO for FFL, and as of right now, ECOM/MOTO is on the prohibited list.

In my opinion, an ISO/MSP that uses  Woodforest National Bank or BMO Harris as the sponsor bank, seems to be the easiest for both retail and ecom.  While not an exhaustive list, i can tell you these sponsor banks are unfriendly bellow Your processorhas  disclaimer at the bottom of their site who their sponsor bank is.

Wells Faro
The Bancorp bank
TD Bank
JP Morgan/Chase
Bank of America
First National Bank of Omaha

The problem is, Wells Fargo is a major sponsor bank. A few processors will do a square like setup, you just have to look for them.

I myself, ended up going with Woodforest as my sponsorsing bank and couldn't be happier.

Happy to answer questions for those that have them.

Same here. Clearent (formerly Payment Alliance) was on the NRA/NSSF "recommended processor" list.

I use Clearent and they seem to be great.

Can't speak for everywhere, but what you can't do is charge "extra" (surcharge) to those using credit cards, but you can most certainly offer a cash discount for those who pay by cash (or check, or whatever you choose).

Years ago, the gas stations around here use to advertise their prices as "Cash" or "Credit" on the signs out front.  Those higher advertised prices for credit were determined to be a surcharge, so they had to take them down.  We all know they just got rid of the (lower) cash prices and charge the higher credit prices, so that whole "no credit card surchages" did nothing to help the consumer.  In fact, it hurt consumers.

You don't have to do that.  My invoices and advertisements clearly state, "Prices quoted include cash discount. Cash discounts not available on credit card purchases".  If someone wants to use a credit card, you just add the "cash discount" to the cash price.  

It's dumb, really.   "Cash discount" is no different than "Credit card surcharge".  All that changes in your starting point.  But it's all about HOW you advertise it.

Not accepting credit cards doesn't help your customers who prefer to pay cash or by check, but it most certainly does alienate those who want or need to use a credit card.

We use Bluedog.  2A friendly without the rates normally charged to what others consider a "high risk" industry.

Honestly, the countertop CC terminals and most POs systems will handle the cash discounting for you. Assuming your ISO allows it, they will reconfigure your terminal and change you to daily discount (collect the discount fees daily after settlement).

BUT, yes there are some states which do not allow it. So it just depends on your state, but most do you allow it.

In terms of being a complaint, there are a few steps, which I will borrow from another site.

The essential steps being 1) Correct signage must be posted at the door and check out 2) The amount of the added service fee must be clearly displayed on the receipt and 3) Offering your customers a cash discount verbally. Even though gas stations post different prices, as a retailer it is not necessary to do so. The posted prices are considered cash prices and the signage allows for a fee if the payment is not made with cash. In order to be compliant, merchants with a Cash Discount Program need to display the Base Amount of the transaction, the Cash Discount, and the Total Cost of the transaction on the customers’ receipt.

ALSO if you accept pin-based debit, you can't apply a Cash Discount fee to that, and must treat it as a cash payment.  also note surcharging is prohibited in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Oklahoma, and Texas, and cash discounting is deemed a surcharge in those states.  

Finally, you also need to notify Visa/mastercard of your intent to surcharge, otherwise it is a contract breach.

https://usa.visa.com/Forms/merchant-surcharge-notification-form.html
https://www.mastercard.us/en-us/surcharge-disclosure-webform.html