Learn More about how eCommerce works

Gateway

ecommerce chart

After you choose a cart, you need to think about how you'll get paid.

Payment gateways

A payment gateway is a separate service and acts as an intermediary between the merchants' shopping cart and all the financial networks involved with the transaction, including the customers' credit card issuer and your merchant account. Think of it as an ATM terminal in cyberspace. It checks for validity, encrypts transaction details, ensures they are sent to the correct destination and then decrypts the responses which are sent back to the shopping cart. Sometimes, the gateway can also act as the payment provider (Paypal) and eliminate a level of complexity without sacrificing security.

This is a seamless process and your customer does not directly interact with the gateway; as data is forwarded to the gateway via your shopping cart and a secure (SSL) connection. The shopping cart is configured via plugins to send information in a format that is acceptable to the particular gateway.

Gateways

Many shopping cart software companies are happy to support other payment gateway services if there is a demand for it, either free or at a reasonable cost.

If you haven't yet selected a shopping cart, get a list of supported applications from the payment gateway service provider. A payment gateway may offer great pricing, but if the range of shopping carts or storefront software it supports is limited, setting up for taking online payments may cost more than expected. Some gateways only support horribly expensive and restrictive shopping cart software packages and services.

AVS protection

Ideally, the gateway should support AVS protection. The Address Verification System (AVS) AVS decreases the incidence of accepting fraudulent transactions by verifying the cardholder's billing address with the card issuer.   AVS used on your transactions can also result in a reduction in fees charged by your Merchant Bank.

What other types of transaction protection are offered to you as a merchant? Ask if these are 'premium' services and what the charges are that are added to the basic servicing fees.  Sometimes they may be absolutely necessary with some products. If you sell of anything that is youth or technology oriented, especially downloads, it's probably a wise move to pay for the extra service.  Chargeback rates on fraudulent transactions can be $30-$60 per incident! 

Other Shopping Carts we offer

 

eCommerce Shopping Carts

Comparing ecommerce shopping carts is often like comparing apples and oranges - both taste great but different.   Locally hosted cart software is stored on your own server and usually is a one-time purchase and not monthly payments as in the case of software hosted remotely. The major advantages of purchasing your own shopping cart software is flexibility and control over the way your estore looks and works, though this will require development to make it look and process orders like you'd like it to.  However, once the cart is set up, you can usually add and remove products yourself, and maintainance of your estore is usually an occasional update.  

Hosted carts are easier to set up and maintain (it's someone else's responsibility) but you are limited as to how you can incorporate them into your site and there is always an ongoing monthly fee, making them much more expensive in the long run. The major advantages of using a remotely hosted shopping cart include fast implementation, security, and often 24 hour monitoring of service. Because the management of your online store is actually hosted on another server, you can might even save on bandwidth charges - especially if your products are delivered online. 

We'd like you to be able to compare. Below is a list of our favorite shopping carts, and though there are hundreds of carts out there, we like these for ease of use and ability to customize.  You can view the online store layouts by clicking on "Store demo" where available and see the administrative backend (where you would add products and track sales) by clicking on "Admin demo".  Where log-in is nessary to view the demo, the username and password is provided.  The Web Assist ecommerce solution uses a Flash presentation  to show you it's features.  Use this page to get a feel for different shopping cart features and store layouts.  Keep in mind, the web site does not have to LOOK like it does in the demo - all database driven ecommerce sites can be modified to one degree or another to match the rest of your website. 

Payment Gateway Services

Every estore will require a payment method using a gateway service so you can get paid.  These are sometimes called merchant accounts.  These are the merchant account providers we recommend and use.  We feel a variety of payment methods gives you a greater choice in how your web store operates.

  • 2checkout
  • ProPay
  • Paypal
  • Instamerchant
  • Worldpay
  • Payquake
  • Authorize.net

 

Secure Certificates

If you host your online store yourself, you will require a secure certificate.  We are providers of several different SSL certificates.

Other Store Solutions

If a hosted or software store doesn't fit your needs, we can set up an ecommerce store for you with Yahoo or eBay.

 

 

eBay Store Pages & About Me Pages

If you'd like to get started selling on eBay there are two important ingredients to a successful eBay selling experience.  The first is your About Me page.  A page that tells buyers about yourself and what you are selling.  A professional looking About Me and Store pages inspire confidence in buyers just as a good Feedback rating does.  We can also design listing templates you can use for uploading your auctions so they have a consistent look and feel - bringing customers back to a familiar style.

eBay is a very different environment from other online or brick and mortar stores - it has it's own rules and is a unique marketplace.  It's helpful to have someone guide you through the pitfalls inherent in such a unique experience - dealing with negative feedback, shipping charges and properly listing an item can be daunting to even experienced eBay users but may be overwhelming to a novice.  Don't let that stop you from taking advantage of the world to sell your unique items.  From personal experience I've found you'll often earn more selling on eBay than any other venue if you are careful and follow the "rules".  There are many people who have turned eBay into a full-time business with the proper tools and the professional look of well-designed eBay pages.

We have several years experience selling on eBay and maintain our own store, so we are  aware of the current eBay environment.  Selling through a service is not nearly as profitible as "doing it yourself", but it is one avenue of selling online.  Let me help you find a venue for your unique and beautiful items - and we'll be here to help you grow into your own website when your eBay experience becomes a blooming success.