Web Transaction Processing

[Tens]

Dont know where this is meant to go but.....

I am to own a online shop soon and am wanting some simple advice.

Whats the situation nowdays with setting up a payment point online for my own online shop. OCUK pass on the payment to a company that do it for them for a cut i presume but whats the ideal situation, i have a business account on paypal and am unsure if they will just take a simple card payment without the buyer having to sign up to an account.

Whats the best thing to do.

 

[daz]

You've got several options:-

• Paypal business account (transactions are processed by Paypal) - free plus something like 3.6% + 20p per transaction
• Worldpay (transactions are processed by Worldpay on your behalf) - setup fee + 4% or so
• Protx and a seperate internet mechant account from your bank - bigger setup, less charges, more flexible, customers never leave your site (unlike paypal and worldpay).

 

[Beansprout]

i have a business account on paypal and am unsure if they will just take a simple card payment without the buyer having to sign up to an account.

They will indeed, upto $2,000 per transaction

Protx will likely charge you from £20/month (though contact them for more accurate pricing) and a merchant account from your bank will be a few hundred quid to setup.

Basically, you need to decide:

> Who am I selling to and how does this sector normally pay
> What is my average transaction amount and volume
> Therefore, which method is the cheapest and most reliable for me

For lots of high-volume transactions a proper merchant account setup will probably work out cheaper and easier than Paypal, with the added bonus of appearing more professional.

Paypal have launched their own "the customer stays on your site to pay" system now, Web Payments Pro, which has a monthly fee and could be useful as it's potentially the 'best of both worlds' - but last time I checked it was only available in the US.