Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Running a Web Hosting Business : Payment Options

[richman]

Iam looking for a system that will allow users to automatically sign up for a web hosting package with out having to e-mail staff. can anyone help me with this.
Cheers
Rich

[Adrian]

http://www.perlbill.com
http://www.phpmanager.com
http://www.modernbill.com
http://www.clientexec.com
http://www.phpcoin.com
http://gcdb.sourceforge.net


To start with

[tazd9t9]

we use perlbill and then use worldpay, paypal and nochex as online payment options.

[cdgcommerce]

You can get a truly automatic system setup with ModernBill or WHMAutoPilot along with CPanel (or several other systems available, a bunch of which were listed in the first response to this thread by Adrian).

So --- step-by-step, here's what you need:

1. Billing software - like WHMAutoPilot or ModernBill.

2. GUI Control Panel - like CPanel, this one MUST be compatible
with the billing software you select above in order to have the
end-to-end automation.

3. Merchant Account / Payment Gateway - the third part is to try to get a merchant account & gateway bundle. There are many options available for this that will give you both a good merchant account plus Authorize.Net or another compatible gateway.

This gateway MUST be compatible with the billing software in #1 above. So if you get Authorize.Net you'll be covered in virtually every circumstance.

One item of note - once you set your system up to do the true automated signups and billings, make sure to still keep a close eye on it to avoid fraudulent orders as best you can.

A lot of Web hosts in this forum don't use the 100% automated signups for that very reason. One thing you might want to consider is to have it where it will actually set it up but wait on you to hit "activate" to actually e-mail out the info and turn the account live.

Whichever method you decide to employ, best of luck on getting your new solution into place!

Also make sure to thoroughly interview any prospective merchant processor that you talk to and get a rundown on all fees, especially things like cancellation policies, annual fees, monthly minimums, etc. and -very importantly- get information on how they handle their risk management and chargebacks.

[Patiek]

Originally posted by cdgcommerce
One item of note - once you set your system up to do the true automated signups and billings, make sure to still keep a close eye on it to avoid fraudulent orders as best you can.

A lot of Web hosts in this forum don't use the 100% automated signups for that very reason.

I have never understood this fully. I could understand being wary of processing orders if you were shipping something physical, but as a service ... it can be susended. The only possible cause for concern would then be security, which is a possible threat without giving the person an account.

[achost_ca]

One reason for doing this is if the account is auto activated, it only takes the person, usually in these cases a spammer, as long as to upload a file if its a file based script or hook up his email client to start sending spam. So less then 5 minutes and you could have a situation where your IP's may end up being blacklisted.

[cdgcommerce]

The other reason is that if you allow a fraudulent transaction to take place and you don't monitor it for that kind of thing... it can turn into a chargeback.

Sure, you can (and would) suspend the account but it doesn't reflect positively on your merchant track record and it costs you money each time that happens.

[Patiek]

Yes, I suppose you are right. However, spam protection control could prevent such activities. There are many scripts and replacement sendmail links to protect a host from having spam sent from his/hers servers. But I can see how it would be easier just to manually process new orders.