There are many ways of collecting payments for the goods and services that you sell online. Many are simple to set up, and just involve pasting a bit of code onto your existing web pages.
I'll start off by discussing the easiest method - the non-bank service providers.
Non-Bank Online Payment Methods
Over the past few years, many online payment services have sprung up. These services accept credit card numbers on your behalf, process the transaction, remove their fees, and pass the balance on to you. They offer a quick, simple way of selling your goods online with a minimum of fuss.
PayPal is the best known and most popular non bank payment systems. It is now owned by E-Bay.
PayPal has a lot of rules, so make sure you do not breach their terms or your account could be closed down. I've never had problems with using PayPal but be careful what you sell, and don't forget to transfer money across to your bank account regularly.
Paymate is an Australian based payment processor. The fees and terms are a bit different to PayPal. I haven't used them, but I understand that their service is very good.
Authorize.net is another popular payment processor that caters to US citizens.
Bank Merchant Accounts
The traditional method to accept online payments is to use a merchant account from a major bank. This method is more difficult than the other methods, but gives you maximum control over the payment process.
A normal merchant account allows you to accept credit card payments when the customer presents the card to you in the store. If you want to receive payments over the internet, you'll need to be approved for a MOTO (Mail Order/Telephone Order) account. If you are just starting off in business, or don't have an excellent credit rating these can be difficult to obtain.
Having your own merchant account also requires that you take steps to secure the transmission and collection of credit card numbers. This can be done by using an approved payment gateway that connects to your bank's merchant account facilities. You'll probably need a specialist to set this up for you.
If your volume of sales cannot justify a payment gateway, then you can collect the credit card numbers, and process them manually. To do this, you'll need a secure way of collecting the credit card data. You will need an SSL security certificate for your website, or you can use a third party shopping cart service like Mal's E-Commerce at http://www.mals-e.com to collect and store the card numbers until you collect them.
SSL Certificates vary in cost from around $20 per year to over $1,000 per year, depending on where you purchase them. You'll also need to get the certificate installed by your web host onto your hosting account. I use the certificates from GeoTrust.com. They do the same job as the much more expensive ones from Verisign and Thawte.
Having your own merchant account can be the best way to accept online payments if you have sufficient volume of transactions, and the ability to have the required systems installed.
To give you a VERY rough idea, It could cost up to $2,000 to implement your own merchant account if you outsourced the work. There would also be ongoing transaction fees if you used a payment gateway.
This work would normally be done by your web developer in conjunction with setting up a shopping cart system. As a guideline, you should be anticipating at least $100,000 in annual sales before considering a system based on your own merchant account.
I'll start off by discussing the easiest method - the non-bank service providers.
Non-Bank Online Payment Methods
Over the past few years, many online payment services have sprung up. These services accept credit card numbers on your behalf, process the transaction, remove their fees, and pass the balance on to you. They offer a quick, simple way of selling your goods online with a minimum of fuss.
PayPal is the best known and most popular non bank payment systems. It is now owned by E-Bay.
PayPal has a lot of rules, so make sure you do not breach their terms or your account could be closed down. I've never had problems with using PayPal but be careful what you sell, and don't forget to transfer money across to your bank account regularly.
Paymate is an Australian based payment processor. The fees and terms are a bit different to PayPal. I haven't used them, but I understand that their service is very good.
Authorize.net is another popular payment processor that caters to US citizens.
Bank Merchant Accounts
The traditional method to accept online payments is to use a merchant account from a major bank. This method is more difficult than the other methods, but gives you maximum control over the payment process.
A normal merchant account allows you to accept credit card payments when the customer presents the card to you in the store. If you want to receive payments over the internet, you'll need to be approved for a MOTO (Mail Order/Telephone Order) account. If you are just starting off in business, or don't have an excellent credit rating these can be difficult to obtain.
Having your own merchant account also requires that you take steps to secure the transmission and collection of credit card numbers. This can be done by using an approved payment gateway that connects to your bank's merchant account facilities. You'll probably need a specialist to set this up for you.
If your volume of sales cannot justify a payment gateway, then you can collect the credit card numbers, and process them manually. To do this, you'll need a secure way of collecting the credit card data. You will need an SSL security certificate for your website, or you can use a third party shopping cart service like Mal's E-Commerce at http://www.mals-e.com to collect and store the card numbers until you collect them.
SSL Certificates vary in cost from around $20 per year to over $1,000 per year, depending on where you purchase them. You'll also need to get the certificate installed by your web host onto your hosting account. I use the certificates from GeoTrust.com. They do the same job as the much more expensive ones from Verisign and Thawte.
Having your own merchant account can be the best way to accept online payments if you have sufficient volume of transactions, and the ability to have the required systems installed.
To give you a VERY rough idea, It could cost up to $2,000 to implement your own merchant account if you outsourced the work. There would also be ongoing transaction fees if you used a payment gateway.
This work would normally be done by your web developer in conjunction with setting up a shopping cart system. As a guideline, you should be anticipating at least $100,000 in annual sales before considering a system based on your own merchant account.
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