Page 153 - 597 Business Ideas You can Start from Home - doing what you LOVE! (Beginner Internet Marketing Series)

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One main difference between a personalized shopping cart and
PayPal is that PayPal handles the financial transaction-you never
see customers' credit card information. It goes directly through Pay­
Pal's system. However, if a consumer doesn't have a PayPal account,
he or she will need to set one up before purchasing through PayPal
on your website. It's easy to set up, but requires the consumer to
leave your website, go to www.paypal.com. set up an account, then
go back to your website to purchase. The good news is that many
people have established PayPal accounts.

If your product is available through brick-and-mortar retail­

but you also want to sell it on your website, too, never

IIn,"I..r,... 1I your retail partners. If your product sells in stores

for $50, keep your price at $50 or higher.

Paym ent "Gateway"

Your online store will also need what's called a payment "gate­
way." A payment gateway is the link between your website shop­
ping cart, the credit card companies, and your Internet merchant
account. The gateway is completely behind the scenes and uses
encrypted information (SSL) to secure the transaction information.
Authorize.net, VCS (Virtual Card Services), WorldPay, VeriSign,
and PayPal are examples of payment gateways.

Be Sure to Be Secure

It is critical that your website is secure for e-commerce transac­
tions or customers will not feel safe buying products from your site.
Naturally, customers are worried that if a website is not "secure,"
their credit card information will be available to others on the Inter­
net. Having a secure website means that your customers can pur­
chase products confidently and trust that their information is safe
with your company. Without security, your website may experience