Originally Posted by VGeorgie

Go to Costco and pick up an application for their merchant processing. Good prices and respectable players, with no usual agent/middleman BS. You can get a small terminal for running phone orders. It's more expensive than you think, but it's a one-time buy.

For automatic authorizations, that depends on the cart you're using. You could set up something like Authorize.net, and then connect your merchant info to that. Take note: fewer carts these days allow for offline orders where the cardholder's credit card number is exposed. It's part of PCI compliance. You can usually get a waiver if you can show how you'll keep those records secure.