Merchant / Payment Gateways

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M

Magoomba

Junior Member
Nov 19, 2002
20
0
0
I'm wanting to build a simple eCommerce site and want to know what is the most affordable Merchant Gateway or Payment Gateway?
I know PayPal offers this service. What other options are out there?

Also, should I get hosting service that includes eStore features or should I just use some of the eShopping PHP modules out there?

Thanks.
 
GeekDrew

GeekDrew

Diamond Member
Jun 7, 2000
9,100
13
81
duckdown, you're disqualified due to recent join date. You've posted plenty already, if those numbers are correct.

As for the OP:

I have no experience with hosts that have eShopping modules, etc. - I've only written php scripts to do this - but I know there are plenty out there that will also do it, and are already set up to do so.

Avoid Paypal. Paypal is the devil. Paypal encounters malfunctions and failures much more than any organization should, much less one devoted to financial transactions. Paypal should cease to exist. Please keep that in mind.

I've heard that the two best gateways for a lot of people are Authorize.Net (used by TONS of people, very popular, not as expensive as Wells-Fargo, etc, most of the time), and eProcessingNetwork. If you'll be writing the integration scripts yourself, eProcessingNetwork is easier to integrate, but you receive less response information from their servers than you do Authorize.Net (that is, IIRC). You'll be good to go with either of those Gateways, IMHO.

Check out CDGCommerce - I have heard excellent things about them, and never anything bad. They're really popular over at WebHostingTalk.
 
B

Blazin Trav

Banned
Dec 14, 2004
2,571
0
0
Originally posted by: GeekDrew
duckdown, you're disqualified due to recent join date. You've posted plenty already, if those numbers are correct.

As for the OP:

I have no experience with hosts that have eShopping modules, etc. - I've only written php scripts to do this - but I know there are plenty out there that will also do it, and are already set up to do so.

Avoid Paypal. Paypal is the devil. Paypal encounters malfunctions and failures much more than any organization should, much less one devoted to financial transactions. Paypal should cease to exist. Please keep that in mind.

I've heard that the two best gateways for a lot of people are Authorize.Net (used by TONS of people, very popular, not as expensive as Wells-Fargo, etc, most of the time), and eProcessingNetwork. If you'll be writing the integration scripts yourself, eProcessingNetwork is easier to integrate, but you receive less response information from their servers than you do Authorize.Net (that is, IIRC). You'll be good to go with either of those Gateways, IMHO.

Check out CDGCommerce - I have heard excellent things about them, and never anything bad. They're really popular over at WebHostingTalk.
Click to expand...

If not paypal then what? Stormpay?
 
GeekDrew

GeekDrew

Diamond Member
Jun 7, 2000
9,100
13
81
Originally posted by: Blazin Trav
If not paypal then what? Stormpay?
Click to expand...

That depends on what your goals are. If you simply need to accept credit card payments, then a true merchant payment gateway the best option, IMHO. Most payment gateways provide ways to transparently integrate their services into your website - so that the user never leaves your website, you control what they see, etc.

However, if you need to accomodate to the people (man it takes some restraint to not use name calling right here) that feel that the only way they can possibly pay via the Internet is through Paypal, then you'll have to use Paypal's merchant "tools" (either as a replacement for or in addition to any other payment gateway(s)). If you need help on setting up a paypal merchant integration on your website, there are tutorials in various locations around the internet, just google for them. I'm sure that there are carts/scripts that already have Paypal integrated into them, but I honestly can't speak about that, as I've never used a prebuilt shopping cart as an integrator/developer. Paypal requires that the user of your website be redirected to their website, where they actually pay, and then they are returned to your website. I strongly dislike that method, because #1 - the user is not paying transparently - they know that they are being sent to a third party, and #2 - the user does not have to click PayPal's "Return to Merchant" (or whatever it says) link when they are done paying. Depending on your website, and how you need to handle the payment data, that could be a fairly bad thing to happen.

I've not heard good things about StormPay, though I do recognize the name as one I would avoid; I honestly cannot remember specifically why, though. I probably read about multiple bad experiences on other forums, or heard about them from an associate.
 
M

Magoomba

Junior Member
Nov 19, 2002
20
0
0
Thanks for your replies so far. I'll be checking them out.

I just want to be able to accept credit cards at an affordable fee.
Plus I need some kind of turnkey PHP package which supports store catalog, shopping cart, and checkout.
Some hosting packages readily supply this if I'm not mistaken. Any comments?
 
nakedfrog

nakedfrog

No Lifer
Apr 3, 2001
58,128
12,314
136
Our clients have used authorize.net for five years and we've had a pretty good experience with them.
 
GeekDrew

GeekDrew

Diamond Member
Jun 7, 2000
9,100
13
81
Originally posted by: SALvation
Take a look at 2Checkout.com. Their percentages are a bit higher than most, but there are no monthly fees.

http://www.2checkout.com/
Click to expand...

Make sure that you read the fine print with their contracts... I've heard a couple of bad things about them, but not a lot. Do make sure that you've noticed the wording that they require to put on your website (such as 2CheckOut is an authorized merchant for this company, etc).
 
T

Transition

Banned
Sep 8, 2001
2,615
0
0
Hands down the best service you can use is through Costco, believe it or not. They go through Linkpoint. I can almost guarantee you that you will NOT find lower rates with all the features Costco can offer.

Check it out and save yourself some time.
 
A

alien42

Lifer
Nov 28, 2004
12,636
3,032
136
e-com support is my job and i hate paypal, linkpoint, and authorize.net for various reasons.
 
B

Blazin Trav

Banned
Dec 14, 2004
2,571
0
0
Originally posted by: GeekDrew
Originally posted by: Blazin Trav
If not paypal then what? Stormpay?
Click to expand...

That depends on what your goals are. If you simply need to accept credit card payments, then a true merchant payment gateway the best option, IMHO. Most payment gateways provide ways to transparently integrate their services into your website - so that the user never leaves your website, you control what they see, etc.

However, if you need to accomodate to the people (man it takes some restraint to not use name calling right here) that feel that the only way they can possibly pay via the Internet is through Paypal, then you'll have to use Paypal's merchant "tools" (either as a replacement for or in addition to any other payment gateway(s)). If you need help on setting up a paypal merchant integration on your website, there are tutorials in various locations around the internet, just google for them. I'm sure that there are carts/scripts that already have Paypal integrated into them, but I honestly can't speak about that, as I've never used a prebuilt shopping cart as an integrator/developer. Paypal requires that the user of your website be redirected to their website, where they actually pay, and then they are returned to your website. I strongly dislike that method, because #1 - the user is not paying transparently - they know that they are being sent to a third party, and #2 - the user does not have to click PayPal's "Return to Merchant" (or whatever it says) link when they are done paying. Depending on your website, and how you need to handle the payment data, that could be a fairly bad thing to happen.

I've not heard good things about StormPay, though I do recognize the name as one I would avoid; I honestly cannot remember specifically why, though. I probably read about multiple bad experiences on other forums, or heard about them from an associate.
Click to expand...

I've heard only good things about Stormpay. I guess I'll have to look into it furthur. I have had no problems with Pay Pal so far.

-Trav
 
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