Internet
Marketing Strategies
Part Five: Accepting Payment Through Your Website
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
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