online payment query and website design

bibbetybobs

Hi, I'm setting up a new business and really need some help.

1st, I'll need to have the facility online to accept lots of very low value card payments (£2 and £5, and equivalent to be paid in euros). Does anyone know if there is a particularly good & cheap service for this?

2nd, I've never designed a website before and wondered if anyone has any advice about where to learn about good designs or any websites with good templates? I'll also need free/very cheap images to upload.

Any help would be hugely appreciated.

Thank you!

property.advert

If you do not already not know how to design a superb website, then pay someone else to do it or offer a partnership if you have no cash. This is not a hobby and not something you can learn. Internet design packages are useless compared to professional designs.

I have had some done in Asia but I hear now there are websites where you can put your needs up for people to bid on and some Chinese kid will do it for you for little cost. Of course you need to be careful about security and for this I would caution this route but a UK student who can do it might help you out for some beer vouchers and a little ongoing money. You must retain copyright though.

It is like Excel. I can design mega complex spreadsheets in hours but to learn how to do that would take you thousands of hours. It is not worth trying to learn.

property.advert

Sorry, just to add, you might like to look at micro payments from mobiles. Very Asian and Australian and with high fees but an idea for convenience. Obviously look at online places which sell for small money. Apps for mobiles etc.

bibbetybobs

I hadn't even thought about copyright, will sort that out. thanks!

paulwf

OP what will you be selling?

bibbetybobs

"OP what will you be selling?"

I hope you don't mind my not saying in an open forum but it's something that doesn't already have a market in the UK so I'd prefer not to say until I'm ready to go live. Thanks.

paulwf

I understand...just bear in mind that the best website system will depend on the number of products that you will be stocking and how often they will change.

Personally I'd go for a site running content management system (CMS) software, examples are phpWebsite and Drupal. Or there are many free ecommerce software packages. What this means is that you can update the site yourself without much experience...it's as easy as posting to this forum. If on the other hand you go for a totally custom written site you might have to pay the developer each time you want a minor update which is a pain as web content soon gets dated.

I'd be tempted to get a local uni/college student to go and set it up for you if you are on a budget. If you already have a logo then sorting out everything on the server and designing the site layout could easily be done in 2-3 days (ok you could do this in an hour but it depends how complex and professional the site needs to be).

Domain names are less than £10, I pay £40 a year for a server account with everything you could ever need, and £25 a year for installation and maintenance of phpWebsite. Say £100 a day for a student and you'll easily be below £500. Of course you can get a site done for free or you could pay thousands, I'm giving a halfway example.

jexygirl

Have a look at vistaprint.co.uk, their websites are easy to set up, have everything there for you to choose, can upload pics or use their stock images, even someone with no experience can get their head around it in no time, there are loads of options, and its cheap (about £8 a month) loads quickly, does everything for you, is stable and doesnt go down, and you are in control of it. You can also check any emails through it if you are away, and its not hard to redirect to your domain name.
It may not be the thing for you, but it will give you an idea of what is available and if you want to give it a go yourself initially.

As for taking payment, sorry cant help on this one, perhaps paypal? though I know their fees are not cheap :S

hth
Jex

drunkensod

For a quick and easy way to set up a payment system without too much fuss, I've been looking into Paypal Business. Just go to paypal.co.uk and click on the Business tab.

The fees seem similar to a lot of other credit card terminal systems and clients can either pay online directly, take mailorder / telephone payments, or what ever.

bibbetybobs

Thanks for everyone's suggestions, much appreciated