Starting an Online Business All-in-One For Dummies, 5th Edition

Chapter 4

Paying with the Right Payment Options

IN THIS CHAPTER

Taking credit cards

Obtaining a merchant account

Setting up your gateway and payment processor

Offering payment options beyond credit cards

Avoiding fraudulent charges and other online credit risks

One indisputable fact about running an online business is that you can’t very well sell products over the Internet if you don’t have a way to accept money from customers. Fortunately, you have a bevy of options.

One common solution is to accept credit cards, just as any bricks-and-mortar store does. With credit and debit cards most commonly used for online shopping, customers expect to be able to pay this way. Fortunately, the acceptance and growth of e-commerce have simplified the process for online merchants. In less than a week (and sometimes within 48 hours), you can be ready to accept your first online credit card order.

Then again, not all customers have credit cards ready at their fingertips. Or perhaps they don’t want ...