Re: Very confused! I need a Merchant account and a Cart?
Hello Bades,
Paypal is a way to process credit cards and other forms of money via the internet, without having to have a merchant account elsewhere. All you virtually need is a bank account to link Paypal to.
Some E-commerce companies offer both shopping carts (a program internet store with your products) AND a means to process your credit cards from customers. Paypal does has a VERY BASIC cart that you could use, but it's better to use a 3rd party (like MyCart.net) that is integrated to use Pay Pal Pro to process cards. That way, you can get the look and feel of your own site, without your customers even seeing your Back end programming (like PayPal pages.) You can check out my website for an example. I use the above 3rd party shopping cart, and I have a PayPal Pro account.
Re: Very confused! I need a Merchant account and a Cart?
Paypal isn't the CHEAPEST around, that is why. But I guess it's worth the fraction more to some (like myself) for the transaction fees in trade for the convenience factor.
One more thing...Those who don't have a credit card, can use Paypal, so it may just be that some sites list PayPal as another option to pay...not necessarily that they are using two different processors. You'd never know the difference, since the end user can't see what's in someones backend programming.
Re: Very confused! I need a Merchant account and a Cart?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bades
One more thing...
Paypal's merchant account also allows major credit cards.
So why do I hear that some people have some other merchant account and paypal? When it seems you could just do it all through paypal...
If you are just using PayPal to accept payments and a customer goes to your site to pay, they are transferred to the PayPal site to input their credit card details (or login with their existing PayPal account to pay)
For some businesses, they feel it doesn't present a professional enough experience and they'd rather not send customers somewhere else to pay. This can confuse some customers that may be newer to the internet who may not know who PayPal is. There are also some customers who simply just don't like PayPal for one reason or another.
So, it can sometimes be beneficial to offer a way for your customers to pay that doesn't transfer them off your site and doesn't require them to go to PayPal to pay.
With a regular merchant account, you can use what is called a "payment gateway" (like authorizenet), which is a way of your shopping cart securely and transparently connecting to the customers bank at the exact time of the transaction to see if they have the funds available. If the funds are available, the order is approved and the customer never has to leave your site. This also helps for those people who don't want to pay with PayPal, because they can just use their credit card or debit card (with visa/mc logo on it) to buy right while they are on your site.
If you go this route, you'll not only need a merchant account, you'll also need a secure certificate (SSL) so that customers are on a securely encrypted page on your site when they enter their personal information.
Re: Very confused! I need a Merchant account and a Cart?
Yes, you can setup a merchant account with most banks. As I said before, the transaction fees may be less, but you would still have to find a way to accept credit cards on your website store. Secure pages, encryption, etc. Paypal does all of this for you, in conjuction with a cart which would display everything for you and keep a database of your products.
Think of the cart as the front door to your store, and paypal as the warehouse where things are processed in the back that no one sees.
With PayPal you have the option to have a virtual terminal...meaning that you can go onto your account on PayPal and enter someones credit card info all over the web, and securely take payments. All you need is internet.
Re: Very confused! I need a Merchant account and a Cart?
I prefer to use PayPal when I shop. When you use PayPal, they are the only ones that have access to your CC information. Joe Dirtbag selling used widgets from his garage doesn't need to see a customer's CC number.
Yeah, their rates are a bit higher, but for card NIH purchases I think they give a decent value to the store owner. Some merchants complain and some buyers complain about how PP handles disputes, but the complaints only arise after one of them has done something wrong and they think PP is not siding with them as they should. (I've been on both sides.)
Very confused! I need a Merchant account and a Cart? 
