Hi nmcknight,
We are very pleased to read that you have landed great leads through SaleHoo :)
There are several third party payments processing companies that offer merchant accounts. For example PayPal offers two (2) types of merchant accounts a premier account and a business account.
From what I understand you do not need to pocket out your own funds to pay your dropshipper. Remember with dropshipping you only pay for the item once your customer purchases it from you (your site). With a merchant account the payment clears right away. As soon as your customer makes the payment, the money will be reflected in your account - you can then make the payment to your dropshipper for the ordered product.
To learn more about PayPal's merchant account please visit this link:
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Hope this helps. All the best :)