Accepting payment through your website is an absolute
essential part of doing business on the Internet. If you're
not accepting online payments and processing orders online,
you're losing a massive amount of business. Studies have
shown, you can increase your online sales up to 400% simply
by accepting credit cards. In addition, by offering a
combination of payment options, you can increase your sales
even further.

With today's advanced technology, you can start accepting
payment through your website almost instantly (depending on
the service you select). Preparing your website to process
orders online can be as simple as pasting some HTML code
within your web page. 

There are many professional companies online that will
enable you to accept payment through your website without a
merchant account. These companies are known as third party
payment processing companies and provide an invaluable
service for homebased businesses.

Most companies will enable you to accept all major credit
cards and electronic checks. Some companies will also
provide telephone billing and recurring billing for paid
subscription and membership sites. There may or may not be a
set up fee and there are usually no monthly fees. Some
companies charge a "percentage" and a "per transaction" fee.
While others simply charge a set percentage fee per
transaction. They will process your orders and send you
payment for all your orders processed, minus their fee and a
reserve fee. 

A reserve fee is withheld to cover any charge backs you may
have. If you have no charge backs within a period of time,
your reserve will be refunded to you. Each company has their
own guidelines in regard to reserves. 

Once you've applied with a company and/or have been approved
and paid the setup fees, you can immediately begin accepting
payment. You will then be provided with special coding to
place within the HTML of your order page. When your customer
clicks on your order link or image, they will be taken to
the processor's secure server to process their purchase.
Once their order has been processed, they will then be
directed back to a page on your website that you specify.
This page may be a download page, or even a "complete your
purchase" page that you can use to collect your customers'
name and email address and then direct them to your download
page.

Once your customer places an order, you will instantly
receive an email notification letting you know that you've
made a sale. Your account will be instantly credited,
minus the company fee, and you will be paid according to the
company's payment schedule.

Third party processing companies are great for startup
businesses, as if you don't make any sales, you won't be
charged a fee. You are only charged a fee when and if you
make a sale.

The following third party processing companies will enable
you to accept payment through your website: 

=> iBill 
http://www.ibill.com

IBill will enable you to accept Visa, MasterCard, American
Express, Discover, JCB and online checks. They also offer a
telephone billing service (900 toll phone number). There are
no setup fees. They charge 12%-15% per transaction fee for
credit card and check purchases and 20%-30% per transaction
fee for phone purchases. Services available for US and non-
US merchants. 

=> PayPal 
http://www.paypal.com

PayPal will enable any business or consumer with an email
address to securely send and receive payments online. You
can also accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover
and electronic checks. You can sell with PayPal through an
online auction, on your own website, or as part of an online
marketplace. They also offer recurring billing. There are no
setup fees. They charge 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction. Services
available for US and non-US merchants.

=> ClickBank 
http://www.clickbank.com

ClickBank will enable you to accept Visa, MasterCard,
American Express, Discover, Eurocard, Visa-Debit,
MasterCard-Debit, Novus cards and electronic checks.

They charge a one-time $49.95 activation fee, and a $1 +
7.5% fee per sale. There are no monthly fees. The great
thing about this company is that they'll enable you to run
an affiliate program. Services available for US and non-US
merchants. 

=> Revecom 
http://www.revecom.com/

Revecom will enable you to accept Visa, MasterCard, American
Express, Discover and JCB credit cards in real-time. They
also offer Check Processing in Real-time and recurring
billing. There is a $49 set up fee. There are no monthly
fees. They charge 3.95% + $1 fee per sale. Services
available for US and non-US merchants.

=> 2Checkout.com 
http://www.2checkout.com/

2Checkout.com enables you to accept Visa, MasterCard,
American Express and Discover. They also offer recurring
billing and a free shopping cart. There is a $49 set up fee.
There are no monthly fees. They charge 5.5% + $0.45 fee per
sale. Services available for US and non-US merchants.

Accepting payment through your website is an essential part
of your online success. Don't put it off another day. Take
your time and select a company that will best suit your
needs. It will be well worth your effort.

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Copyright © Shelley Lowery 2003.

About the Author:

Shelley Lowery is the author of the highly acclaimed ebook
series, Web Design Mastery -- An eight volume (500+ pages)
in-depth guide to professional web design. Web Design
Mastery is being hailed as the "Bible" for professional web
design. http://www.webdesignmastery.com