Accepting Credit Cards & Checks

[karenclark1]

Re: Accepting Credit Cards & Checks

Thank you both. I will be in touch, Muzicman, when I get sorted out.

[Vasili]

Re: Accepting Credit Cards & Checks

Easier to bump like this (to keep this at the end of the thread, since most people look at last posts only) as it answers many questions outright....

Having a Merchant Account of your own, either as part of a previously established business or a brand new one (if you submit a Support Ticket to VodaHost, they will reply with a Preferred Vendor for you to apply for one), you can opt to use this instead of PayPal in a shopping cart foundation (which has it's own advantages over a Blue Voda created website) and keep financial continuity overall in your business, as well as enjoy lower discount rates from what PayPal charges.....which are not the lowest, despite the simplicity of using them and their well-known and trusted Brand name.
> If you look in a post or two above, a fellow VodaTalk member is actually a credit card processor, and has offerd some rates and fees to consider and to give you a better feel for the big picture!

A SSL certificate is a "Seal of Approval" in the eyes of consumers, as they are only granted to bona-fide businesses which have maintained the compliance of providing proof of identity and so on that provides the consumer with the assurance that the website they are going to buy on is not a scam or that their info will not be stolen or mis-used. A SSL cert on your site certainly makes the distinction that you can be trusted and do business right, and is the rock-solid credibility you are looking to build with visitors from the get-go.

So, you can have the complete design ability preserved by using Blue Voda to create a site the way you want to, but as you might begin to realize, Blue Voda only can integrate a payment system like PayPal. Shopping carts or other eCommerce solutions allows you to use a true Merchant Account (in addition to PayPal) that generally has lower fees and rates than PayPal and more opportunities on the back end to manage your business with the various applications each Processor provides, but customizing the look-and-feel of carts is more difficult than using Blue Voda.

Either solution ideally should have an SSL cert applied, and keep in mind that you need a dedicated IP account (added cost), and that the SSL cert is applied to only 1 domain name, which needs to be the Primary domain name of that account (1 dedicated account, 1 domain name per account). There are other solutions for multiple domains, but they are not economical for most users, called "Wildcard SSL" so I won't go into that.

How to choose?
A. If you plan on doing more than $2000/month, you should really look into getting a Merchant Account, as the rates and fees PayPal charges are ridiculous.
B. If you want to be totally free to design a website the way you want to, then Blue Voda is the way to go, and adding PayPal is simple.
C. If you want the rich features of a shopping cart and still have the control of the design aspect, then you will need to find a 3rd party cart like MALS or eCart that you can install into Blue Voda, a possible additional monthly cost for subscription/license.
D. If you want the solid foundation and rich features of a true shopping cart that you can easily "customize" I suggest you start with Soholaunch (offered free at VodaHost), and use either PayPal or a Merchant Account.
E. If you are looking for a secure, robust, and complete shopping cart eCommerce solution, then I would steer you to osCommerce which also allows either Paypal or a Merchant account, but will take a considerable amount of commitment and effort to learn and manipulate.

Both Soholaunch and osCommerce have Templates (a few Free) that you can use to change the look of the cart, and which you can further customize as well. Again, this is not the easiest of tasks, and is another investment of your time and learning you must consider.
(There are ways to pay to have it done for you, but not everyone has budgeted for this)

Best Advice?
Sit down and really make not only a website Plan, but a Business Plan, and using these you will see clearly what you will need to incorporate in your design and how your operational design emerges as well. You will find with this refined understanding that you may have the choice actually dictated for you!


Good Luck!