Hello LizzeyDripping... (that sounds tastey)...
Be careful.. that's the first thing. Being your first pro-site (with credit cards) should be done carefully. You need to make sure at no time will you be breaking any state laws, or credit card merchant rules, such as storing credit card or CVV numbers on your server un-encrypted... or such.
Shopping Cart:
Off the shelf packages are abundant. One which I regularly use and hack up is osC (OS Commerce, aka tep, aka The Exchange Project). A little overwhelming at first, but a very powerful tool.
Credit Card:
You'll need a processor & a gateway to accept live credit card transactions. I sugges going to http://www.modernauthorize.net/ to get their combo deal which includes both of these. Best deal I've found for the very popular 'Authorize.net' gateway, and uses E-Online Data for their Processor. (I use them for every client that needs credit card purchasing ability that does not already have a merchant account).
SSL:
You'll have to be secure -- well technically you wont have to be for some credit card processors, but ethically you should. You'll need to purchase an SSL for secure hosting. You'll also need to check with your hosting provider to be sure you can host an SSL site (that requires a seperate IP address, which may sometimes be an extra cost for you. Some hosts even provide 'shared' SSL's, which means you use their SSL that they purchased. Prices range from $49/year for 128bit SSL to upwards of 600. http://www.sslfactory.com is a good start or http://www.ev1servers.net/ to purchase GeoTrust SSL's.
Other than the design, those are the basics that go into any 'standard' ecommerce site.
Hope this helps get you on the right path.
-- ML |
