First Timer in eCommerce world

[checkai]

Ok, here's my situation.

1) I am needing to create an online store that accepts credit cards.
2) From what I understand, is that I can use a FREE shopping cart tool, along with my own internet merchant account, or
3) I can use a 3rd party tool which would handle the transaction processing and push the funds to a regular business account?
4) We are a startup business that will need to be very cost effective to get the ball rolling.

Any tips, info or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!
DC

 

[CoreyBryant]

Well a shopping cart (tool) is usually the program that is placed on your website to interact with your clients. It allows them to purchase the merchandise & then informs you to ship it to them.

A merchant account (a cc processor and a payment gateway) allows you to accept the credit card. The gateway is similar to the POS terminal at the grocery store. The CC processor is basically the one who will transfer the money into your checking account once the transaction is approved.

__________________________
Corey

http://www.merchantaccounts4less.com/

http://www.merchantaccounts4less.com/promo/tek.asp

 

[JSutor]

Do you currently have a physical store that you are operating out of that has a credit card merchant? If this is the case it is very important that you talk to your current merchant and see what options are available for web based shopping centers. This will save a lot of hassle and save you from having to pay for two different merchant accounts.
The reason that I mention this is because I help design a ecommerce site for a company and they fail to inform there current merchant account and the project cost them several hunderd dollars extra and the project failed and they were forced to start the whole project over again.
If this is solely an ecommerce business there are some merchants that will allow you to pay fees based on the amount of products purchased, which is a great way to get started. As your sales increase you can change you package to a normal monthly fee plus a transaction fee.

John

 

[CoreyBryant]

One thing to keep in mind though - an internet merchant account is needed. If you use your brick & mortar account, you run the risk of a higher discount rate because the risks of fraud is greater with a keyed entry.

And getting the CC# from your website to you can be difficult. You cannot e-mail, since e-mail is very unsecure. You can store the CC number is you are CISP compliant:

http://usa.visa.com/business/merchants/cisp_index.html?ep=v_sym_cisp

and then you cannot store the CVV.

__________________________
Corey

http://www.merchantaccounts4less.com/

http://www.merchantaccounts4less.com/promo/tek.asp

 

[checkai]

We do not run a regular store currently...this will be web only.

dlc

 

[JSutor]

There are several companies that will handle all the transactions for you and inform you who order what and where to ship it. Miva Merchant is a Company that I think does a great job with ecommerce websites

http://www.miva.com/products/merchant/

 

[CoreyBryant]

Miva is OK - they do have great mods. But if you are with a hosting company & need to change - well you have to find another hosting company that supports Miva. We usually tell our customers to get their own cart - that way they have their own database, etc

__________________________
Corey

http://www.merchantaccounts4less.com/

http://www.merchantaccounts4less.com/promo/tek.asp

 

[figmatalan]

If you are in the UK, you can use OSCommerce with the NOCHEX plug in. NOCHEX charges a flat rate (2.6% I think) for credit/debit cards with 0 chargebacks. No setup fee, no software fees, just the hosting fees to pay.

I've setup a site and the only payment method option it has is credit/debit cards, but that links you through to the NOCHEX site where the details are collected and payment is instantly put into your NOCHEX account.

 

[btownsend]

Actinic Catalog is another alternative that also supports NOCHEX in the UK. It is also available in the US, and all versions support Paypal as well. Unlike osCommerce it's not free, but it is easier to install, and you get guaranteed tech. support. It is compatible with most business hosting packages, so you get a lot more flexibility in choosing a web host than you do with Miva. Unlike Mive you buy it rather than rent it. So the startup cost is higher - but you pay less in the long term.



Bruce Townsend
Actinic Software

http://www.actinic.com

|

http://www.actinic.co.uk

 

[CoreyBryant]

Hm, been about 4 months, I hope the poster was able to make a decision by now :-/

__________________________
Corey

http://www.merchantaccounts4less.com/

http://www.merchantaccounts4less.com/promo/tek.asp

 

[dpk136]

you should just go with a simple solution like yahoo stores.

David

David Kuhn
------------------

http://www.davidpkuhn.com

 

[Kurt111780]

Shopping Carts:

http://www.candypress.com/

http://mals-e.com

http://comersus.org

Instead of a merchant account you can use Pro Pay. This way you will not have any monthly fees to deal with.

http://www.propay.com

Hope this helps,
Kurt

It's only easy when you know how.

http://www.seedandgarden.com