Merchant Services

acal

Can anyone explain the process that takes place when you sell something off of your website.  My basic understanding is that your website must contain a "shopping cart" option.  That I assume, communicates with a merchant services company.  They in turn, process the transaction and make the deposit into your business account.  Right, so far?  That being said, can anyone reccomend a merchant service provider for processing the orders?

postcarder

For merchant account provider, I recommend Paymentech. For shopping carts, you can purchase and install cart software, which is not for the faint-hearted. Or you can pay a monthly rate to a shopping cart application provider. 1ShoppingCart.com is a big player in the application provider business.Hope this helps!

acal

Thanks for the information.  I appreciate you taking the time to respond.    It looks like PayPal is going to be my best option.

mikechong

thanks for the tip , Pat. I didn`t know that they`re so many other alternatives other than PayPal.  I run an online store selling origami roses, i`ll be sure to use some pointers from you.Thanks again

Shauno

I have been using PayPal for over 2 years now and love it.  The free version allows users to pay using a PayPal account or using a credit card (without PayPal).  I simply generate buttons to purchase one product at a time.  PayPal also has shopping carts.  I even took it a step further and offer custom volume discount logic with my buttons.  After a purchase is made through PayPal, I use their IPN (Instant Payment Notification) system and a web service that I created to post customer info to a database and send me and them a confirmation email.  You would be amazed at how much automation you can do for free!  Of course the PayPal merchant account is free, however PayPal charges you a very minimal fee per transaction.I would be happy to help anyone accomplish automated payment processing through PayPal.Shauno