Accepting Credit Cards From Your Website

The big question I get is: "What do I need in order to start accepting credit cards through my website to sell my products?"

This article is designed for that question. I'll describe each step in setting up your website for accepting credit card transactions.

Step 1: Get A Business License or DBA Certificate
If you have a business name already, be sure to get an Assumed Name Statement (or "DBA" - Doing Business As Statement). If you are a sole proprietor and do business under your name only, this is not necessary. However, if you are a sole proprietor doing business under an assumed name (for example: Kathy Smith is doing business as "Smith Computers"), then you'll need an Assumed Name Statement in order to continue with step 2. Generally this costs an average of $80 (filing fee + publication fee). Contact your County Clerks Office for information on obtaining Business Licenses or Assumed Name Statements.

Step 2: Get A Business Checking Account
Step 1 above is especially important if you want to be able to accept checks and other deposits for your business name. It appears much more professional if someone can write out a check to "Smith Computers" instead of writing it to "Kathy Smith". Customers trust businesses more than they do individual people.

If you are working under a business name (for example: "Smith Computers"), your bank will need to see a copy of your Assumed Name Statement, Business License or similar certificate in addition to one or more forms of identification. Some banks check your credit report, others don't. Some offer Business Credit accounts with your checking account, and some don't. Shop around to find the best business checking account in your area. If you'd prefer getting a business checking account over the internet, I recommend WellsFargo Online. Very professional people with great understanding.

Step 3: Get An Online Merchant Account
The best merchant account I've found is from Authorize.net. It generally costs about $250 for the initial setup, $40 per month plus a $0.30 transaction fee. Many of the Authorize.net resellers will offer you specials or discounts on the initial setup cost. I got my Authorize.net merchant account through WellsFargo and the setup fee was waived as a special offer that was going on at the time.

Another prominent and highly recommended merchant is Charge.com.

This can even be simplified by getting a PayPal Merchant Account. Using PayPal used to seem cheesey for ecommerce stuff, but nowadays PayPal doesn't even require a PayPal account to make purchases. Check it out.

Step 4: Get Shopping Cart Software
In order to display your products on your website, and for your visitors to be able to purchase them live over the internet, you'll need a good Shopping Cart Program. I've created another article about shopping cart software, the "Shopping Cart Comparison Guide". Good shopping cart programs start at about $99 and go up from there depending on the customizations. The best shopping cart software I've found is called NooodleKart. You may see offers for "free" shopping cart programs, however, be aware of the pitfalls of these programs: 1. they may have an obligation to pay a monthly hosting fee, 2. they most likely will not have enough of the features that you need to sell your products easily and successfully, or 3. they place advertisements on your page from other companies that are beyond your control. View my Shopping Cart Comparison Guide for details on the most popular shopping carts, their features and costs.

Step 5: You're Done!
Set up all of the above steps and you're off to a good start on selling your products and making money with your website. If you have any further questions about e-commerce or about web design or hosting, I recommend Nooodle.com. Their service and prices are un-beatable, their programming is great and their support and interest in you as a customer is on-going and friendly. If you are interested in hosting accounts, Jumpline.com is a great host.

About The Article:
Article reprinted with permission from Peanut's Website Eutrophy.