Shopping carts and payment processing

[KJay_34]

Good morning all,

I'm on the hunt for a new shopping cart, and have one question about all of them - do they all provide payment processing as PayPal does, or do you have to go to MasterCard, Visa, etc. to setup payment processing through them, and link it to whichever shopping cart I end up using?

I currently use PayPal, and am fairly frustrated with it. I would love to switch to a different shopping cart that gives me more freedom to set up shipping options, but am hesitant to switch until I know exactly how it works.

I hope my question makes sense, and thank you for your help!

[navaldesign]

Re: Shopping carts and payment processing

All other payment gateways require you to create a merchant account with them. Terms may vary, but, generally speaking, if you only have a few transactions per month, this is inconvenient.

Once you have obtained a merchant account, they will process for you (almost) any credit card.

[KJay_34]

Re: Shopping carts and payment processing

For a small business owner who doesn't have millions (or even thousands) of dollars worth of transactions going through my site each month, is there a shopping cart that you would recommend above the rest?

I make, and sell, candles, soaps, lotions, etc., and while PayPal works fine, I'm finding it extremely difficult to setup the shipping to where the customer is paying for actual shipping charges. The way things have been going, the cart has only been charging shipping costs for one item, and I've had to cover the difference. I can't seem to get it set up correctly for multi-purchase transactions, and I've been losing money due to shipping costs I've been forced to cover.

I've been all through the setup process on PayPal's website, and have tried everything I can think of there, as well as the actual Buttons on the BV builder, but nothing has changed. (Unfortunately, PayPal doesn't have a "PayPal For Dummies" guide to help me troubleshoot the problem, so I'm at the end of my rope with this issue.)

If there is any Shopping Cart you can think of that would be more "User Friendly", especially with shipping options, I would be more than grateful for the suggestions.

[navaldesign]

Re: Shopping carts and payment processing

There are many options, from the carts you can install through Fantastico, to many free cart scripts. All of them offer different options for shipping and payment.

However, all of them require some experience as well as some customization if you want to integrate them with your existing website.

[KJay_34]

Re: Shopping carts and payment processing

So, in your opinion, would PayPal be a good choice to stay with since I'm basically clueless when it comes to anything more advanced than a "drag and drop" type of program?

[navaldesign]

Re: Shopping carts and payment processing

As a free option, yes.
if you want something (paid) that integrates with BV and allows multiple shipping options, you can contact me.

[KJay_34]

Re: Shopping carts and payment processing

I'm definitely interested. Is there a specific website that's best to contact you through?

[navaldesign]

Re: Shopping carts and payment processing

You can contact me through my site contact form (in my signature)