eCommerce Tycoon

**Jempast** · 06-19-2007, 09:39 PM

I am currently working on opening a store using eCommerce and I have a question about accepting credit cards. I want for buyers to be able to use their credit cards I was wondering does eCommerce process credit card payments? I do not want to use PayPal (since a hacker hacked into my step-father's account) I just find Paypal unsafe.

I would appreciate any help.

**gluck06** · 06-20-2007, 07:16 AM

Are you talking eCommerce or osCommerce? Is your store low risk or high risk? Everyone knows you can't use Paypal with a high risk store.

**herbert** · 06-21-2007, 08:02 AM

Paypal is not really safe - not even for a low risk store!

**vossman** · 06-21-2007, 10:50 PM

If you mean osCommerce, then yes you can accept credit cards as long a you have a merchant account. This merchant account will process the payments for you and charge the customer's card.

**JohnDerrick** · 06-22-2007, 05:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by herbert

Paypal is not really safe - not even for a low risk store!

Would you care to elaborate on that?

I certainly don't doubt you, I would just like to know more on this subject.

Thanks,

John

**Cush** · 06-23-2007, 11:11 PM

I can fill you in. PM me

**danfinney** · 06-27-2007, 12:05 PM

There is nothing wrong with using PayPal as a credit card processor, even for large sites. A hacker being able to guess your grandfather's password is no reflection on the service. If you are processing a low volume, or low dollar amount, or have inconsistent monthly sales, PayPal can be a viable option.

If you are doing high volume and have a proven sales record, you should check out Authorize.net or USA ePay, or if you process credit cards in your physical store location your existing credit card processor might have some options for you.

**Riane** · 12:41 PM

I'm going to concur with danfinney here. The easiest way for someone to take over your account is if you use a easily guessed password (you should always do alpha-numeric with some characters that is at least 12 characters long.) The other "easy" way is if someone falls for a phishing email.. Which happens a lot more than most people realize.

PayPal would be the best way to be honest. With using a merchant to process the cards, you'll have a lot more fees to deal with. One for example, is 2checkout. 2CheckOut is such a whore with fees. You pay $49.95 to get the merchant account, and then they still charge you fees, that are higher than what PayPal's are.

For example, I had $93 worth of transactions come in, and $11.78 in fees came out from that.

Not only that but you won't get paid out until you reach $100, and $600 if you want direct deposit. It may be fine for you if you can that much in a month, to be honest, I didn't really like that method. I still have my account, but I don't use it at all; I still have about $35 stuck in that account.

**ADAM Web Design** · 06-27-2007, 12:36 PM

eCommerce refers to payment processing in a general sense itself, and isn't a company as a result. That's for starters.

danfinney is about the only one who has posted anything that makes sense. The hacker getting at your grandfather's password is more than likely the result of a PayPal phishing email and doesn't reflect on PayPal's service. Chances are that your grandfather is of the age bracket (60+) that would be more susceptible to a phishing email that looked legit. That's not PayPal...that's just the work of random idiots.

Having said that, there are problems with PayPal as an e-commerce provider, most notably that PayPal was never really intended to be an e-commerce provider for the masses originally. PayPal was set up to allow a payment mechanism between eBay buyers and sellers. Their API is horrible and allows for next to no customization. It's okay as a "plan B" payment processor, but not as a "plan A."

As far as your options go, they really depend on whatever country you're in. If you're in the US, you'll have a lot more options than you will in Canada, for example.

EDIT: Riane gave good advice too. I was typing mine at the same time, though.

**Shoptistic.com** · 07-06-2007, 05:50 PM

I agree that if Paypal are dealt with securely (by the user), then it is a very safe payment option. We have a high number of e-commerce sites using Paypal and we simply don't get any problems.

Good luck with your site!

**saurabhj** · 07-13-2007, 09:21 AM

I think Paypal will be better and safer option as I am using paypal since 3 year s and didn't get any problems yet...

**fitnfree** · 07-13-2007, 11:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ADAM Web Design

eCommerce refers to payment processing in a general sense itself, and isn't a company as a result. That's for starters.

I have to add here that I've never had an issue with PayPal and have been using it for 7 years now. Perhaps it has to do with the type of sales I use it for, not sure (not eBay) but I've been very happy with their service; it's been a tremendous, cost-effective alternative to a standard merchant.

I agree that the account that was hacked into must have been via a phishing -- I get those and nearly fell for one once, in spite of my knowledge and experience because the danged thing looked so realistic! I was in a hurry and just clicked the link then realized something was funny. Thankfully I caught myself before any damage was done!

I just started with Google's Checkout, also, but am still learning more about their set-up. It seems pretty good from what I can tell so far...

**konanmotihar** · 07-17-2007, 11:07 AM

Paypal isn't a bad option but it does have a couple of drawbacks:
1. Users have to leave your site to pay. This isn't great for either branding or the consumer journey. You want to try to keep people on your site as far as possible.
2. PayPal actually works out more expensive in the long run as the fees add up to more than those you'd pay with a merchant account/payment gateway combination.

If it's fraud protection you want then payment gateways (not paypal) offer far superior fraud detection/protection than paypal.

In my opinion, if you can get a online merchant account, get one. I use FAC (http://www.firstatlanticcommerce.com...t_gateway.aspx) and am very happy with their service.