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by Teri Robnett
(published in Brainstorm! July 2004)
You might not want to be thinking of Christmas now, but
if you'd like to capture some of those holiday sales or end-of-year donations,
the time to get started is now! Getting your web site up and running,
particularly if you'd like to be able to accept credit cards online, takes
time. Plus, you'll need to factor in what you'll need to do to get your
site noticed and to draw visitors.
If you'd like to accept payment through credit cards, there
are several options available.
If you already accept credit cards off-line, you can continue to do so
with your online orders. The biggest issue here is security. Personal
information should be stored in a secure database where you can go to
retrieve it. Never allow credit card numbers to be sent directly to your
e-mail box because e-mail is not secure and can be viewed by any savvy
hacker. Once you've retrieved the information, you can process it through
your normal off-line system.
You can have credit cards processed automatically in real-time using an
online merchant account and payment gateway (more
on those next month). This option can be a little more time-consuming
and complex to set up, but it allows you to skip the steps required for
off-line processing. Plus, your customers will know immediately if their
transaction has been approved and you won't have to manually send any
follow-up confirmations. If you have many transactions to process each
day, the time-savings can be enormous. Again, security is always an issue
when it comes to handling credit cards, so be sure to talk with your web
developer about it.
This payment vehicle, owned by eBay, allows you to accept credit cards
and other forms of payment without going through the hassle of setting
up your own merchant account system. You pay a small transaction fee and
a percentage for every sale. Paypal is equipped to handle online donations as well. Plus, they take care of
all the security issues. Keep in mind that Paypal is a membership account
system, but in recent months, has become more user-friendly to those without
an existing Paypal account.
A popular vehicle for making money on the Web is through affiliate programs
like Amazon. Often they take care of everything, including processing
credit cards and security. You get bonuses for promoting their products/services
and sending people from your site to theirs through a special link. You
should get regular reports on how your sales are progressing, along with
a check in the mail.
If you need help deciding which payment processing option
is best for you, please feel free to contact
us at Whole Brain Technologies.
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