Selling on-line

boxa

Hi there,

just a quickie & I don't know whether this is on the best 'board' however ..... just in the process of setting up a new business, selling products on-line. Have had a quick look at what is the best way to accept payments eg World Pay, Nochex etc. Just wopndered if anyone had any experience regarding this matter & any particular recommendations, Do's Dont's ......

Many thanks in advance,

Paul.

GoofyGAT

I suggest you post this in the Small Biz & Charity Organisers MoneySaving board. Good luck , G

Edit: Thanks to the mods for moving this from the Techie Stuff board where it was posted originally

boxa

Sorry bout that, as I said in the post wasn't sure whether it was the right forum & obviously missed the small biz one.

Cheers again,

Paul.

Astaroth

To be honest there is no "correct" answer and it also depends on your target market/ anticipated turn over etc.

Worldpay is the closest to a traditional merchant service, has the lowest per transaction fee on average but is the most expensive to set up and often has reoccuring monthly fees - obviously if you sell enough this is offset by the lower per transaction fees... they are also the most scalable for integration to your site if things take off.

Paypal are a globally known brand, good for younger audiences/ ebayers who probably have money sitting in their paypal account. For others however, like myself, it screams unprofessional and makes me run a mile. Single transaction limit may be an issue subject to what you are selling

NoChex are not as well known but do protect you from card fraud/ charge backs. May have an issue with single transaction limits again. Does have the option to partially integrate with your site via their "merchant" account

boxa

Cheers astaroth, I'm only looking to be selling chocolates, so I don't think I'll have a problem with single limit transactions! I agree about paypal also & wouldn't be using them.

Cheers again,

Paul

seankingdah

I like paypal, and now I am opending a credit card for it, I wish I can get it this time. And also I want to sell on line, any suggestions

patwa_2

In the previous company that I ran, I used NOCHEX and integrated it into my website without difficulty. I also know a lot of companies that use it, even a popular parcel courier company used them without problems. The thing with nochex is that you don't need your customers to register for an account, they have a much more user-friendly website and there have not been the major problems with nochex that paypal has had. With paypal, you can set it up to not require registrations, but I personally found it more complicated and ultimately a waste of time to try it. Also, paypal opens the gate to hassle, stress and ultimate doom in my (and many other business owners) opinion.

At the end of the day, as long as customers realise their details are secure, they won't really care which company you're using. Just make sure you're using a secure connection (most gateways provide this) and of course have some sort of policy on your site confirming the security aspect, it makes it more legal if it's in print.

Worldpay is probably the most well known payment gateway, but at £200 for a typical setup plus per transaction fees, plus an additional £100 for terminal payment requests, it's expensive. You could also try protx which is another popular gateway with lower pricing, and then open up a merchant account with your bank, Lloyds and Natwest are popular for this.

Some do's and don't's:
DO: Check carefully the bank transfer times and withdrawal limits/charges for your gateway
DO: Check the daily/monthly deposit limits as well as those per transaction. It's no good having a £5,000 monthly limit if each transaction is limited to just £100, when you're selling laptops and other expensive equipment. No-one wants to have to make three, four or more payments for their item.
DO: Ensure that your gateway uses a secure connection for, at a minimum, the data transfer part of the process.
DO: Ensure that your gateway has an option to refer the entered information back to your site AND to the buyer. He/she will want confirmation of their purchase showing the details they entered (although expect to not have the full payment info submitted for security reasons).
DO: Check which cards are accepted depending on your business's scope - e.g credit/debit cards, and check charges appropriately. Remember that American Express is not accepted in a vast number of stores, but that doesn't mean that people don't use it here in the UK.
DO: check your tax situation as well as VAT regulations. If you're just starting you won't need to worry about VAT registration, but if you're going to have the business as a 'business' then there are various legal and financial responsibilities to consider.

DON'T: Forget to clearly explain that the transaction is secure. Make sure the standard padlock sign is displayed during data transfer, and also back this up in print on your site.
DON'T: forget to put clear contact information for yourself on your site and in all e-mail/postal correspondence, including a reachable telephone number.
DON'T: use a mobile number for your main contact number. It's not 100% trusted by the majority of buyers, and many consider businesses using just a mobile to be 'come and go' type businesses with 'dodgy' practices, even if they are not.

One thing that you will want to consider is accepting payments over the phone or by post. Worldpay is one gateway that provides a dedicated option for telephone payments, for an additional fee. However, you can also 'simulate' a payment through your gateway, you basically take the place of the customer and enter their details on their behalf. However, if this is not strictly permitted by the gateway operator, you could be open for trouble if something goes wrong, their details are used fraudulently, etc, as the customer will naturally have stronger grounds to blame you for the error - after all, they gave you their details, they didn't enter them themselves and therefore have control of what was happening (to an extent). If accepting details over the phone, ALWAYS complete the transaction with the person present, DO NOT just take the details and hang up, telling them that confirmation will be sent. If possible, get the person to check their e-mail for the confirmation, so you can confirm that they have received it.

NOCHEX is another gateway where this simulation process can be done, and I used to do it with customers over the phone. fortunately this worked fine, until one day a customer whom I was doing this with happened to work for the fraud prevention office, or some such. He gave me some pointers on doing this. Apparently, as I wasn't licensed as a company, i.e registered and such, I had to explain to customers exactly what I was doing, i.e about the NOCHEX simulation, and give them the choice of continuing their payment with me or doing it themselves. Apparently there is some rule or such that allowed registered companies to do this, it all boils down to cover should anything go wrong as well as liability for errors which would rest with me even if I were not culpable. Basically, from what he said, if something went wrong with their card after paying with me over the phone, I could be accused of theft even if I had genuinely done nothing wrong. I don't know of the validity of this, but since then I am a lot more careful when doing this.

I hope this helps, sorry for going off the topic a bit but the whole issue of taking people's money, especially via electronic means, and acting as an unregistered company is very contentious and a minefield as far as the legal side goes. Just be careful, not everyone is a saint (as I've found out).

buglawton

There is another thread running about NOCHEX's policy of emptying dormant accounts without informing the account holder. I have/had an account with NOCHEX but that policy has put me off them for good. Main reason I didn't use them much is the £100 limit, or if you want to go 'Premium' for larger transactions there are complicated conditions plus an upfront £50 fee. Don't know if it would work well and don't plan to spend £50 finding out.

Nordictat2

boxa wrote:

Cheers astaroth, I'm only looking to be selling chocolates, so I don't think I'll have a problem with single limit transactions! I agree about paypal also & wouldn't be using them.

Cheers again,

Paul

I use paypal for my webshop as well as direct payment via bank account and our customers don't have a problem ordering from us. Plenty of online businesses have/take paypal doesn't always mean it's a crappy business and a business for selling sweets..paypal should be ok!

boxa

Firstly patwa, thanks for the reply, very informative & will bear in mind your do's & dont's, buglawton for the nochax post, I have read that & seems like they have a few disgruntled customers around & finally Nordictat2, I take your point re only selling 'sweets' but I don't know, I associate Paypal obviously with e-bay & I know a few people who will not buy stuff from e-bay for fear of getting ripped off - that doesn't apply to me as I have a paypal a/c & buy loads of stuff from there, it's just my perception is that it doesn't seem as professional. It doesn't matter how small the the transaction was once someone's got your credit card details!! I just feel people may be a little sceptical if paypal is being used.

Thanks all for the replies, much appreciated & all helps out in my decision making process!!

Cheers again,
Paul.