E-Commerce

Here is a directory of hand-selected e-commerce websites.

Notice

I have chosen these links based upon the informational value found at each of these web sites. In no way is this an endorsement of any products or services . We cannot be held liable for any of the information found at these sites.

E-commerce Information

The eCommerce Guidebook  provides many resources, including a directory of online transaction providers, a tutorial, and many other resources. It is a comprehensive guide useful to both the beginner and the expert.

E-Commerce Times describes it's site as "Everything You Need To Know About Doing Business Online".  Well, we can't vouch for that, but it does keep us up to date current trends and events in e-commerce.

Merchant Accounts

Start out right by learning from the credit card companies themselves:

Visa

Master Card

Below you will find some of the very best places that will help you accept credit cards for your website or place of business. From these two leading merchant account providers to the third party processors I recommend here. These companies have consistently gotten great ratings from consumers since I started tracking merchant account providers nearly two years ago.

Charge.com offers a 110% lowest price guarantee. They even offer a free shopping cart with their real time processing. The only downside I could find with this company is a long term contract, other than that they seems to be the hands down winner.

Costco offers merchant accounts through Nova Systems. For those unfamiliar with Costco, they are a buying club similar to Sam's Club. You must be an executive member of Costco in order to get one of their merchant accounts. The cost is $100 per year, but it's well worth it. My merchant account is through Costco and I can highly recommend it. 

Nova has great rates, low set-up fees and are one of the largest providers of merchant accounts and the customer service is superb.

The drawback for me was that I had to physically drive to Costco in order to apply for my membership. This took me a few hours as there is not one in my state. I am not sure if they still have this limitation or not, but even so I feel it was still worth it. By the way, the discounts for merchandise bought at Costco is also great, much better than you'll get at your local retail stores. 

Third Party Processors

Not ready for your own merchant account yet? These companies will allow you to accept credit cards for a commission of each sale. Of course it will cost you. Between 7-15% of each sale. It's a steep price to pay, but if you only plan on making a few sales each month or you are just starting out, then this might be the way to go.

CCNow allows you to accept credit cards for tangible items that you are going to ship to your customers. They have no set-up fees and seem to have a pretty good reputation. Commissions were 9% of each sale last time I checked. 

ClickBank is set-up for people who sell access over the Internet for their products or service. If you are selling an ebook or access to a membership only site, then Clickbank is the answer to your problems. They even allow you to set-up your own affiliate program at no extra cost. There is a $50 set-up fee and the commission you pay is 7.5% plus $1 per sale.

PayPal is the leading method of payment on ebay. The reason is that it is completely free. Yes you can accept credit cards at no charge. The drawback is that you must send customers to PayPal in order to accept their cards. Your customer must then sign up for their own PayPal account. This is a bit of an inconvenience and you could lose a customer, plus you won't look very professional, but it is a viable option. I use it on my ebay auctions and it works great.

Real-Time Processing

Authorize.net is one of the leading names in real-time payment processing. They offer a wide range of products and services.

CyberCash is another leading names in real-time payment processing. They also offer a wide range of products and services.

CyberSource is a developer and provider of e-commerce transaction services. Providing  merchant-controlled, real-time services, including payment services, tax services, risk management services, distribution control services, and fulfillment management services. 

Security

Netscape's Security Center provides information on security products and services for internet users and web site developers. Building secure sites, digital certificates, public key infrastructure, e-commerce, secure email, online shopping, and privacy are all discussed in this comprehensive web site.

Thawte is one of the largest Internet Certificate Authorities for SSL, IPSEC and S/MIME certificates. Thawte claims their certificates are recognized by more browsers than certificates from any other issuer. (Update: Thawte is now owned by VeriSign, but is still run separately, see below)

VeriSign is another leading issuer of digital certificates. This site has loads of  security and private encryption information.

---

All Content Copyright © 1999-2005 RunTheWeb.Com
Email: support@runtheweb.com

Are you accepting credit cards yet?
Charge.com is one of the most inexpensive providers RunTheWeb has found.
You need to be able to accept credit cards - You need Charge.com
Click on this banner to find out Why Charge.com is #1