Business Forums

There are many necessary elements that have to be considered when deciding to sell products and/or services from a website but for the most part, there are 2 major considerations:

1.) a shopping cart/or buy now buttons
2.) a merchant account/payment handling processor

1. The Shopping Cart:

You will need a way to present your products/services and allow visitors to pay you for them.  There are a couple different options here too:

a. You can integrate shopping cart code (html) or "buy now" buttons into your existing site.
It's just a matter of entering product details and prices, the code is generated for you, copy and paste the code into your webpages - voila!

There are literally thousands of these services on the net to choose from.  We have referred many folks to a full service shopping cart that works well, is very reliable and affordable and has several different ways to use their service. Here' s a helpful link to setup products, both tangible and downloadable, setup shipping, sales tax and so much more!:  <a href="http://www.securenetshop.com/t/a1611">Add the internet's #1 shopping cart to your website!</a>

You can also use PayPal, it's easy to sign up with and fairly inexpensive to use and very basic.  No bells and whistles here unless you pay for it.  You can setup "buy now" buttons and process the payment transaction all in one or you can sign up for the full ecommerce options. ! Here's a sign up link: https://www.paypal.com/us/mrb/pal=G4MTAHNE2AL2G

b. You can sign up for services that offer an ecommerce package (shopping cart & website all in one)
If you don't have a website, you can use a service that will allow you to build one real quick and easy.  They typically provide various themes and templates that you can customize to your companies own look and feel, they have and easy data entry system for products, many can intergrate with your merchant accounts or provide one for you.  It's really a turn-key option for those that don't have the resources to build a website and a shopping cart. Here's a link to a very reliable service that has several different options to help you build an online store: <a href="http://www.securenetshop.com/t/a1611">Add the internet's #1 shopping cart to your website or build an ecommerce site instantly!</a>

You may also want to look at: http://ccnow.com/

2. The merchant account/payment processor:

More options... You can establish a merchant account so you can conduct transactions both online and off, or you can use a "pay per transaction" type processor that would be used primarily for online transactions. With both, you will pay a transaction fee and a percentage of the dollar amount.

The standard merchant account will be less expensive and must be applied for. We use EFT Secure: http://eftsecure.com/ ---------They are inexpensive and will meet some competitor rates. They have been around a long time and have been very, very reliable which is not always the case with some merchant companies.  Expect to pay statement fees and gateway fees for online transactions. Those fees are usually about $25-$45 monthly.

If you use a service that does not require you to APPLY for a merchant account, but will help you accept credit cards, expect to pay more per transaction and higher percentages.  These services are better for high risk applicants or products.  Here's a company that does this and more: http://ccnow.com/

Remember: As with any business there are many considerations and risks, research carefully and use the internet for resources and forums to help you make the best decisions for these services.  Once it's all setup, you are home free!

If you need help with any of these services, please feel free to contact me.  I am in the process of setting up a site: http://www.theonepagewonder.com that will address many questions and answers that folks may have about these types of services and websites in general.

Hope this information was helpful!