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Hey All,
I know theres a few posts about this already, but...
I'm in the U.K. I have a web site already setup, and just want to know the best way to accept payments, do i have to speak to my bank about doing this ?
hi i use paypal,but you can use credit card company`s not sure how use though but a friend of mine does.I think they do a check on you what you sell and stuff(not a criminal) i`m in the uk too i`ll ask him tomorrow and mail you the details mate.
You can use a few different services to accept payments.
There are ecommerce services like PayPal, Google Checkout, CCNOW, 2Checkout.com, WorldPay that will help you accept payments online from customers that want to pay by credit card.
There are also more traditional "merchant accounts" that you can signup for that will allow you to accept credit card payments directly from your customers without the need for a "middleman".
I just want to add that merchant accounts can have monthly fees that can add up to a nice amount. So if you are just starting out I suggest looking into the free services that Rodney mentioned.
I want to keep things looking professional, do you think using these free tools lower the look of things or... ?
When you say Merchant accounts, are these shopping baskets ?
Ideally i'm looking for a shopping basket system which i can add to my site, which people can add items to and pay using the various cards out there (debit, visa etc...)
I want to keep things looking professional, do you think using these free tools lower the look of things or... ?
When you say Merchant accounts, are these shopping baskets ?
Ideally i'm looking for a shopping basket system which i can add to my site, which people can add items to and pay using the various cards out there (debit, visa etc...)
Merchant Accounts are not shopping baskets systems (aka Shopping Carts).
What you need first is a shopping cart. Popular free ones are OsCommerce, Zen Cart and Cubecart. Most will require a bit of knowledge of PHP and html to get them going.
Once you have a shopping cart you need something to handle your payments and so forth. This is where MErchant Accounts and the previously mentioned payment gateways come in (Paypal, 2checkout, etc). You intergrate these into your shopping cart so you get an entire shopping and payment system.
Doesn't Paypal come with a shopping cart feature? I was planning on using that?
As for making it look professional, surely if your customers are paying through a well-known payment sytem (paypal, worldpay, etc), they're more likely to consider the transaction to be safer?
Doesn't Paypal come with a shopping cart feature? I was planning on using that?
It's crappy (opens in a new window, doesn't change shipping to reflect location, I don't think it has inventory management, etc.), but it does have one. On the plus side it's free and easy to setup.
hey Rodney which merchant account did you said was free huh? I am intending to start out too so hopefully i can find a low priced or free merchant service account thou. Help is appreciated thanks!
hey Rodney which merchant account did you said was free huh? I am intending to start out too so hopefully i can find a low priced or free merchant service account thou. Help is appreciated thanks!
I don't think I said that any merchant accounts were free
You can accept payments by credit card using PayPal, Google Checkout, 2checkout, ccnow.com, etc. Each service charges a different fee per sale (I think Google Checkout is free for 2007).
Those payment accepting services are different than an actual merchant account where you can enter the credit card numbers yourself. This type of "regular" merchant account usually has a monthly fee and a small percentage per sale. I use eonlinedata.
Also take a look at Big Cartel » Bringing the Art to the Cart (free) and also has the option for upgrades. There's already a lot of apparel companies that use the service. It's PayPal structured.
Accepting Payments 
