> Card-not-present accounts fetched a much steeper supplier commission of 80 percent, but mainly because these cards were in such high demand and low supply.

Some part of that statement doesn't make sense. Normally if something is in high demand, then it is easier to sell it, therefore the seller can demand that the middleman i.e., BriansClub, accept a lower commission. In real estate for example, when there is a lot of demand for houses (in a "sellers' market), you as a seller can easily negotiate a lower commission from your brokerage agent.

One clarification: When there's high demand and low supply, the end-buyer will pay a much higher price of course. But the middleman (like BriansClub) should be charging a lower commission as a percentage, though he or she might end up making more money because it's a higher priced item being sold. So Krebs's explanation of why they charge a higher commission for card-not-present doesn't make sense.