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osCommerce

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Understanding the basics of accepting credit cards.


TheLastWord

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I want to be able to accept credit cards on my web site. Mostly MasterCard, Visa, American Express, and Discovery. To my understanding you need to setup a merchant account. My question is what works with osCommerce? I only sell in Canadian dollars and want to bill in Canadian dollars. How do I withdraw money to my Canadian bank account; CIBC? Do I process the orders myself by typing in the CC number? I want it so that my customers only enter in their name, CC number and expire date. I also need a solution that does not charge monthly fees. Only charges when I actually process an order.

 

The only online payment solution I am familiar with is PayPal. I guess what I really want is something that will process credit cards without the customer being redirected to another site.

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Paypal IPN is the only one that I'm aware of that doesn't have a monthly fee. Their Payments Pro service costs $20/month + (2.9% + .30 per transaction). With their pro service, you don't have to get a separate merchant account, so on paper it seems to save a fair amount of money. If you expect to be making less than ~$800 a month, WPP is a good option (it only works with US customers!).

 

For a traditional approach, you'll need a merchant account and payment gateway. Combined monthly fees will be around $45 + (2.5% + .20 per transaction) If you plan on making >$800 - 900, the costs start to even out and a traditional merchant account is the way to go. The payment gateway is what your shopping cart queries when trying to charge a card. The gateway then contacts your merchant account and responds to the shopping cart about the status of the order. The merchant account temporarily stores the money from the credit card before depositing it into your bank account. Both services are required.

 

You do have the option of only getting a merchant account and having the customers' credit card information stored so that you can hand enter it, but this is a big security liability and isn't recommended.

Edited by dynamoeffects

Please use the forums for support! I am happy to help you here, but I am unable to offer free technical support over instant messenger or e-mail.

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So far everything with Paypal seems to be working the way it is supposed to. I do have a Bussiness Account though. There was no modification I had to do at all. It worked the first time, I don't know how, but the shopping cart knew to send payment to my paypal account.

 

The thing I am wondering is when I make a payment with a credit card (not Paypal) it goes through just fine and I get an e-mail, but where does the payment go?

 

If an item sells for $10 and the customer dooesn't want to use the Paypal option and chooses to pay with a credit card where does that $10 end up. I have not entered any kind of Banking info in osC.

 

There might be a forum for this, but I can't seem to find it.

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So far everything with Paypal seems to be working the way it is supposed to. I do have a Bussiness Account though. There was no modification I had to do at all. It worked the first time, I don't know how, but the shopping cart knew to send payment to my paypal account.

 

The thing I am wondering is when I make a payment with a credit card (not Paypal) it goes through just fine and I get an e-mail, but where does the payment go?

 

If an item sells for $10 and the customer dooesn't want to use the Paypal option and chooses to pay with a credit card where does that $10 end up. I have not entered any kind of Banking info in osC.

 

There might be a forum for this, but I can't seem to find it.

 

 

I also have a PayPal business account. When customers pay, they have the option of using PayPal or using their own credit card. If they use their own credit card, the funds are placed into my PayPal account - just as they would be if the customer used a PayPal account. The problem I encounter is that if the customer is paying with a non-paypal account, there is a payment limit of US$2000.00 per month. So if the customer buys something that costs more than US$2000 then he has to make separate payments a month apart. The same situation arises with PayPal accounts that are NOT verified. This limitation maybe a reason to look into a traditional merchant account....this is what I am looking for now, a traditional merchant account that will work with OsCommerce.

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Paypal IPN is the only one that I'm aware of that doesn't have a monthly fee. Their Payments Pro service costs $20/month + (2.9% + .30 per transaction). With their pro service, you don't have to get a separate merchant account, so on paper it seems to save a fair amount of money. If you expect to be making less than ~$800 a month, WPP is a good option (it only works with US customers!).

 

For a traditional approach, you'll need a merchant account and payment gateway. Combined monthly fees will be around $45 + (2.5% + .20 per transaction) If you plan on making >$800 - 900, the costs start to even out and a traditional merchant account is the way to go. The payment gateway is what your shopping cart queries when trying to charge a card. The gateway then contacts your merchant account and responds to the shopping cart about the status of the order. The merchant account temporarily stores the money from the credit card before depositing it into your bank account. Both services are required.

 

You do have the option of only getting a merchant account and having the customers' credit card information stored so that you can hand enter it, but this is a big security liability and isn't recommended.

I'll have over $1000 in sales each month. Is there a merchant and payment gateway you recommend or is widely used or something that works with osCommerce. Also my business is in Canada so I plan to sell mostly to Canadians and Americans.

 

Thanks for pointing out the rest I didn't understand.

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So far everything with Paypal seems to be working the way it is supposed to. I do have a Bussiness Account though. There was no modification I had to do at all. It worked the first time, I don't know how, but the shopping cart knew to send payment to my paypal account.

 

The thing I am wondering is when I make a payment with a credit card (not Paypal) it goes through just fine and I get an e-mail, but where does the payment go?

 

If an item sells for $10 and the customer dooesn't want to use the Paypal option and chooses to pay with a credit card where does that $10 end up. I have not entered any kind of Banking info in osC.

 

There might be a forum for this, but I can't seem to find it.

PayPal only offers this service to people located in the United States.

I just hate it when my customers need to enter information twice.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi, I'm trying to understand everything about taking credit cards. I already have the traditional method with a machine -which I'll handkey in the cc#, print a receipt, etc. I'm set there but my question is: Can I still take Paypal payments called "website payments standard?" I want to avoid any kind of monthly fees. Is the PayPal WPP Direct Payments & Express Checkout contrib by Dynamoeffects the only method of getting a connection to paypal? (sorry if this is answered, but it's a jungle so many forum posts for paypal).

 

Thanks in advance for all replies!

Sincerely,

Sharon

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