Setting Up A Merchant Account

What is a merchant account? it is an account that you set up to accept payments on your website. It sounds complicated but is really simple to do. It is just copy and pasting  HTML into your website. If you can put your affiliate banners and text ads into your web pages, you will have no problem pasting the payment buttons.

When you set up your website to sell your own products/services you will need a merchant account. It is very important to have one that will accept credit cards as this is the most common form of payment. If you offer multiple products then you will need one with a shopping cart, option. Any payment system that you have should have a secure payment page, this is very important as many buyers are wary of buying on line and need all the reassurance you can give them.

Both the following programs and most good merchant accounts will offer a secure page for payments to be made. This is very important to your buyers. People will generally only buy from a secure page. This term “secure” means that the transaction cannot be seen by others and makes sure your buyer’s credit card information is safe from prying eyes. This also protects you from problems with credit card theft. Good merchant accounts should also help you in case of credit card fraud. This is not a common problem when you first start out. Especially if you are not dealing with a pricey product/service.

The first step is to start a merchant account, this is an easy process. Some will charge a fee others are free. There are many choices out there. Here are 2 that I use:

PayPal is free to set up and has good instructions for inserting the payment buttons and a Shopping cart option if you need it. It will not cost you anything except fees when you receive money. PayPal is good to start with but try to keep an alternative form of payment. Many people do not like PayPal, because they require all users to join. There is also some animosity towards PayPal by internet users. However it is a widely accepted payment system so it is good to keep it as one of your alternatives.

merchant account has a 49.00 set up fee and then all you have to pay is the fees when you get paid. The advantage is that your visitors can pay by credit card and do not get pressured to join the program. It will offer a smooth secure system that will allow your visitors to pay you quickly and easily.

When you set up your account try to have your own thank you page as this will look more professional, especially if you are using PayPal. This is not hard to set up. It will also allow you to give bonuses and instructions for downloading products. A word of caution to prevent theft of your product. Try to give your email address for a download to prevent those who have not paid from downloading your product. Thank you pages are easily hacked into.

With these points you will be able to set up your website to receive payments, and be ready to make money with your own products. A good payment system will not only help you make money but will give your buyers confidence to buy from you and boost your credibility as a business person.