Ask HN: How to setup a merchant account for a new startup?

I'm working on a startup to sell physical goods. We'd like to setup a pre-order page to accept payment information but not bill the individual until the shipment has been made (we're shipping in about 4-6 weeks). Of course after we're shipping I think that we'll have higher conversion rate if we have a true credit card processing system rather than relying on a third-party.

I've only done payment processing through PayPal and Plimus.com. I've read about the complexities of setting up a true merchant account for credit card processing, but it still seems a bit complicated to me.

Can anyone recommend a payment gateway and processor for someone new to the process?