Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Ecommerce Hosting & Discussion : Opinions Needed

[Labtec]

Hello, I am a lurker here & wanted your opinions. I am thinking about starting a small e-commerce site on the side for now.

As of now, I'll be using OSCommerce with my own customized template. I already have a Server I'm going to use & paying $2 extra a month for a dedicated IP. For SSL I'm gonna probably get the $50/year Geotrust from ev1servers.

Now for payment processing I wanted your opinion on what would be the best option for me, who'll be starting small.

A) Get a merchant account with my bank (Wachovia or Suntrust) & use Authorize.net?
B) Get a merchant account at CDGCommerce, Charge.com, or Costco.
C) Use a 3rd Party Payment Processor like Paysystems.com (hmm just did some research & they seem horrible) & directly put the funds into my bank account (no merchant account) or 2checkout.com.
D) Other option that you recommend & not listed.

Which would be the most cost effective method & best option for someone starting out small? Thanks.

[Labtec]

Another option would be to use Paypal's merchant tools.

Anyone recommend any good shopping carts? Anything better storefront option then OSCommerce?

[portalplanet]

I use 3 options on my site, check or money order, paypal, or credit card. For credit card I use freeauthnet.com. I would say 98% use straight credit card, 1% use paypal, and 1% use check or money order. I also use osCommerce for my store.

Justin

[andren]

Go with Paypal if you don't have the money for a merchant account yet.

[portalplanet]

I agree with andren. Almost all merchant accounts come with an annual contract and monthly fees.

Justin

[cdgcommerce]

Most, but definitely not all - merchant accounts have annual contracts, early termination fees and monthly minimums.

If you shop around, there are definitely options available that have none of the above drawbacks and there are many free setup programs available as well for a merchant account & gateway combination.

If you are completely just testing the waters and have an audience that would be completely receptive to PayPal, that's fine... and having PayPal as an option regardless is never a bad thing.

But if you are trying to market a new online store, product or service you will probably want to offer a direct means by which a customer can pay via credit card without using PayPal in order to accomodate as many customers as possible... and some consumers get concerned if the only option a merchant offers is PayPal from a perception standpoint.

You will definitely want to minimize your costs, of course, but I think you can get the total solution desired within your budget from the sound of your post.

Best of luck with your search!

[Labtec]

Originally posted by portalplanet
I use 3 options on my site, check or money order, paypal, or credit card. For credit card I use freeauthnet.com. I would say 98% use straight credit card, 1% use paypal, and 1% use check or money order. I also use osCommerce for my store.

Justin

Nice, have you tried the new Paypal Pro tool? Where people don't have to login to paypal or even go to the paypal site... everything is done on your site, there's a beta module for it for oscommerce. I was thinking about using this method, since it'll probably be the cheapest? But regular paypal & freeauthnet maybe another option I might consider.

[abchosts]

authorise.net have very high start up costs best to go with paypal to start of with .lso cube cart is a nice easy cart to use

[jasonBV]

If you're just starting out I would go the PayPal route before spending the money for a merchant account. Haven't tried the new paypal merchant solution though.

[foress]

PayPal is a great option.

If business is good, go for WorldPay without any hesitation. Definitely worth it