The ability to transfer money via the Internet is part of my core definition of e-commerce. Back in the early days of e-commerce when I designed my first online store, the e-commerce pieces were difficult to assemble. Today there are a number of solutions, some of them quite inexpensive.
Since the current series is on "Starting an E-Business on a Shoestring," in this issue I'm focusing on low cost methods. They work reasonably well, but have their downsides. The better -- and more expensive to set up -- methods involve two major expenses: (1) a merchant credit card account, and (2) a payment gateway. A merchant account enables you to accept credit cards for payment, and a payment gateway connects the transaction on your website in real time with your bank's credit card processor. All this takes place via secure Internet pipelines so that your customer's credit card information is not compromised.
The advantage of the best systems is automation. It's possible to program your online store so that the whole process takes place automatically. The less expensive systems all require more intervention from the site owner. With larger volumes of sales, the set-up and monthly fees become much less significant than with a very small site.
In the current issue of my e-commerce newsletter, Web Commerce Today, Issue 47, June 15, 2001, I gave subscribers my candid comments about 14 of these payment gateways (www.wilsonweb.com/wct4/qshop-gateway.cfm) and told them how to find the best prices. In the July 15, 2001 issue of Web Commerce Today, I'll be sharing the candid comments of payment gateway users from all over the world so you can get an idea of the good, the bad, and the ugly of payment gateways in the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, and other countries. In Web Commerce Today, Issue 38, September 15, 2000 I explained how to get good prices on merchant credit card accounts (http://www.wilsonweb.com/wct4/issue38.htm) and how to avoid the sharks of that industry that lock naive merchants into 3 to 4 year leases and often sell them e-commerce software they don't need. I also vent a little anger in that issue. :-) I hope you'll subscribe to Web Commerce Today so you can get up-to-speed quickly (www.wilsonweb.com/wct/).
But in today's issue of Web Marketing Today, I am pointing you to several relatively low-cost ways to get started in e-commerce -- without either a separate payment gateway or a merchant account. First, let me compare the fees involved with the various approaches available. Then I'll give you an in-depth look at PayPal from an online merchant's perspective.
