"The future is spinning before your eyes"
Costs for Online Commerce
Fees are also payable to payment processors if you want to deal via credit cards in real time. For example, there are charges for merchant status and for the ability to operate secure credit card transactions (as with any Mastercard or Visa operation).
Merchant status for internet (ie "Customer not present") transactions is difficult to obtain, and almost impossible without a merchant track record in "traditional" credit card sales.
Because of this, organisations like "Netbanx" and "Worldpay" are growing rapidly. Here, transaction processing is undertaken on your behalf, and you pay a one-off setup cost and then a percentage of each transaction (typically between 4% and 10% depending on value, volume, and choice of transaction processor).
Depending on how you set up yopur online commerce, there may also be higher costs from your ISP for the use of a secure server, and software costs if you want to create a proprietary storefront with shopping basket/cart. These charges vary considerably and can be anywhere from £500 to a several thousands depending on the size of the operation. E-commerce costs can only be realistically assessed on an individual basis.
You will find more details in our E-commerce section, but the best way is to tell us your ideas or needs and let us help to find the right solution for you.
Don't forget that you can avoid these charges altogether by marketing and taking orders online, with payment via the traditional existing methods.
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