Internet Marketing Strategies Part Five:
Accepting Payment Through Your Website
By Shelley Lowery
If you're doing business on the Internet, accepting
payment through your website is an absolute must. If
you're not processing orders online, you're losing a great
deal of money in lost sales. Studies have shown, you can
increase your online sales by up to 400% simply by
accepting credit cards. With today's technology,
processing your customer orders online can be as simple as
pasting a code within your web page HTML.
Preparing your website to process orders online isn't as
difficult as you may think. There are basically two
options. The first option is to set up a merchant account.
This entails either making arrangements with your bank or
using an online company. The second option is to use a
third party credit card processor. This option requires no
merchant account and usually entails setting up a form or
placing a link on your order page.
Merchant Accounts
If you'd like to set up a merchant account, keep in mind,
you will also need a shopping cart system and access to a
secure server. Many web hosts will provide you with both.
If yours doesn't, this professional web host does:
http://www.web-source.net/cgi-bin/t.cgi?l=h4p
The following websites can provide you with a merchant
account:
Total Merchant Services (TMS)
http://www.web-source.net/cgi-bin/web/jump.cgi?ID=2332
This outstanding company comes highly recommended by Corey
Rudl -- author of the #1 selling online marketing course,
"Insider Secrets to Marketing Your Business on the
Internet."
The TMS Merchant account, for Internet transactions, will
enable you to accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express
and Discover. They offer two merchant processing software
packages to choose from. The first package is the TotalPay
powered by Authorize.Net™ Virtual Terminal. This package
will enable you to authorize, process, and manage credit
card transactions from any computer with an Internet
connection and a Web browser. This package ordinarily runs
$995, but for a limited time is being offered for only
$287. The second package is the TotalPay powered by
Authorize.Net™ Virtual Terminal that includes the Total
Merchant Manager Shopping Cart. This package includes
everything the first package includes, plus all of the
following:
• Customizable Shopping Cart System
• UPS Shipping Module
• Links to Virtual Terminal
• Free Initial Installation
Their discount rate is 2.4% and $0.35 per transaction fee.
Monthly fees include a $10 monthly statement fee and a $10
gateway fee that includes secure, online, real-time credit
card and e-cheque processing and only applies to merchants
processing transactions through their Internet payment
gateway.
Third Party Credit Card Processors
If you'd rather not have your own merchant account, third
party credit card processors will process your credit card
orders for you. There are usually no monthly fees. They
charge a "per transaction" fee and send you payment for
all of your orders processed, minus their fee and a
reserve fee. A reserve fee is withheld to cover and charge
backs you may have. If you have no charge backs within a
period of time, your reserve will be refunded to you. Each
company has their own guidelines in regard to reserves.
The following websites will process credit card orders for
you:
=> iBill
http://www.ibill.com
IBill will enable you to accept Visa, MasterCard, American
Express, Discover, JCB and online checks. They also offer
a telephone billing service (900 toll phone number). There
are no setup fees. They charge 12%-15% per transaction fee
for credit card and check purchases and 20%-30% per
transaction fee for phone purchases. Services available
for US and non- US merchants.
=> PayPal
http://www.paypal.com
PayPal will enable any business or consumer with an email
address to securely send and receive payments online. You
can also accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express,
Discover and electronic checks. You can sell with PayPal
through an online auction, on your own website, or as part
of an online marketplace. They also offer recurring
billing. There are no setup fees. They charge 2.9% + 30¢
per transaction. Services available for US and non-US
merchants.
=> ClickBank
http://www.clickbank.com
ClickBank will enable you to accept Visa, MasterCard,
American Express, Discover, Eurocard, Visa-Debit,
MasterCard-Debit, Novus cards and electronic checks.
They charge a one-time $49.95 activation fee, and a $1 +
7.5% fee per sale. There are no monthly fees. The great
thing about this company is that they'll enable you to run
an affiliate program. Services available for US and non-US
merchants.
=> Revecom
http://www.revecom.com/
Revecom will enable you to accept Visa, MasterCard,
American Express, Discover and JCB credit cards in
real-time. They also offer Check Processing in Real-time
and recurring billing. There is a $49 set up fee. There
are no monthly fees. They charge 3.95% + $1 fee per sale.
Services available for US and non-US merchants.
=> 2Checkout.com
http://www.2checkout.com/
2Checkout.com enables you to accept Visa, MasterCard,
American Express and Discover. They also offer recurring
billing and a free shopping cart. There is a $49 set up
fee. There are no monthly fees. They charge 5.5% + $0.45
fee per sale. Services available for US and non-US
merchants.
If you're just starting out, you may want to use one of
the third party credit card processors, as this is the
easiest route for new Internet businesses. Each company
provides you with step by step instructions to assist you
in getting your website set up to accept credit cards. The
great thing about third party credit card processors is
that they handle everything for you. You don't have to
hassle with processing your credit card payments or charge
backs, as all of this is taken care of for you.
If you're serious about your online success, you must have
the ability to process your orders online. With today's
technology, even the smallest homebased business can now
accept credit credits almost instantly. Visit one of the
websites mentioned above and get your website set up
today. Your success depends upon it.
Copyright © Shelley Lowery
About the Author:
Shelley Lowery is the author of the acclaimed web design
course, Web Design Mastery.
http://www.webdesignmastery.com And, Ebook Starter -
Give Your Ebooks the look and feel of a REAL book.
http://www.ebookstarter.com Visit Web-Source.net to
sign up for a complimentary subscription to Etips and
receive a copy of the acclaimed ebook, "Killer Internet
Marketing Strategies."
http://www.web-source.net
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