Alternative E-Commerce Solutions


Over the past several years, the Internet has emerged as a breakthrough technology that has and will continue to transform the way we live and communicate, and especially the way we do business.

No matter if you are selling a product or a service, the Internet is a means of reaching markets that had otherwise been unreachable in the past. And, it also provides ease of purchasing and selling almost anything online?also known as E-Commerce.

But, for many businesses, especially start up and small to mid size businesses, having a website that includes the usual E-commerce capabilities is just not in their budgets. Setting up merchant accounts and secure servers can get quite costly.

So, if you are really wanting or needing to have e-commerce capabilities on your website to sell your products, but your budget just won't allow it, there are a variety of alternatives to the expensive online route that you can consider.

Your first choice allows you to accept credit card payments but without a secure server. Some financial institutions, which offer credit cards, also offer Traditional Merchant Accounts. This allows you to manually verify credit card information from those that want to purchase from you. But, you should be aware, if you ask for credit card information from your website without the guarantee of a secure server, you may run into hesitation from potential customers.

Another alternative to the expensive merchant account is to accept cheque payments online. For this you will need to acquire software or a program that will allow you to print MicroPrint (the small numbers and characters at the bottom of a cheque? ie. routing #, account #, etc.). There are several cheque writing programs available, including those found at Checker.net and Checkman.com.

The procedures involved to use this payment method are to first set up a form on your website. You then send an invoice to your customer with direction to the cheque-form page, which they must fill out and submit, via your cgi program. You then verify the funds and information and then the software prints the cheque on special cheque paper, which you can purchase at most business supply stores.

You can also have the above type service online, via such sites as Paybycheck.com.

Another alternative, which is rapidly becoming the choice of many online product and service providers, is Online Payment Systems. There are several of these systems available but I have only found one that has features available to Canadians. Called PayPal.com, this service allows you to set up an account with them and they verify the credit information of those buying from you. Now, many features that this system has to offer are still limited for Canadian retailers but you are still able to set up an account, bill your clients, and receive payments into your Canadian bank account or credit card account with only minor service charges being applied.

Taking advantage of the expansive market of the World Wide Web does not mean that you have to go bankrupt. You can still get on the E-Commerce bandwagon and accept payments with the above listed services and other alternative payment systems that may be available. Actually, most of these services are all that the average small business, especially those in the service industry, really need. And they don't cost a fortune.

About The Author

Janice Byer is a certified Master Virtual Assistant and owner of Docu-Type Administrative & Web Design Services.


More Resources

Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting

More E-Commerce Information:

Related Articles


7 Suggestions for an i-Mom Friendly Web Site (e-commerce news and statistics)
The Internet began as a male dominated medium, but those days are long gone and merchants are advised to make sure their websites are female friendly to faciliate the rising surge of busy i-Moms shopping online for their family and friends.Women now account for 51.
Selling Online for Newbies
If you are interested in selling online, it is quite easy to get started. First of all you must have a product or service to sell.
Rules for Achieving Online Success
The Internet brought a great deal of benefits to our life. Access to a lot of free and useful information is, probably, one of the most important out of them.
Why Our Site Was Removed From The ODP
Our website, Best Of The Home, has been listed in the Open Directory Project for over a year. Recently, I conducted a search of the ODP for my site, to update it, and found that it was no longer listed in any category.
Accepting Credit Cards For Your Online Business
Did you know that one of the best ways to increase sales for any online or offline business is to offer your customers the convenience of paying by credit card? As a merchant, you have several options available when it comes to becoming part of the credit card acceptance and processing chain. Here's a quick guide to get you thinking.
Intranet Project Names - Some Ideas
"What's in a name? That which we call a rose By any other word would smell as sweet."In this famous quote from Act II of Romeo and Juliet, Juliet tells Romeo that a name is an artificial and meaningless convention, and the fact he is a Montague and she a Capulet (warring families) means nothing to their love.
Mr and Mrs Smith Go Online, as Internet Technology Moves from Fantasy to Normality
According to NOP World, 48% of all Internet users have researched or purchased financial products such as insurance and loans on the internet, or used online banking facilities. In April, NOP World had already recorded estimates of 28 million people online in Great Britain, with 13.
Website Marketing: 10 Resourceful Things You Can Do With A Product That Doesnt Sell
Do you have any product that has not been moving well?Would you like to learn what to do with it?Here are website marketing secrets to help you:1. Sell the reprint/reproduction rights to the product.
Turn Your Rusty Junk Into eBay Gold
Often times people to stop to realize the income potential of their "junk". And, when they DO decide it might be worth selling, they never give eBay a second thought.
How to Gain Your Visitors Trust
If you are serious about selling on the world wide web and being successful, your number one priority must be gaining your visitor's trust. Without trust you won't sale much and that's really being optimistic.
Dont Get Ripped Off Getting A Merchant Account
Far too many people get ripped off when setting up a merchant account for their online business. The biggest reason is that they don't understand their options and are intimidated by the whole process.
When Do You Ask For A Refund?
Have you ever asked to have your money refunded after buying something online? Do you do this often? What are the reasons you've asked for refunds? Savvy marketers will try to find out why without making you feel you should not have asked. This would be valuable information to them.
The Top 10 E-Commerce Ways to Follow up with Clients - Part 2
Did you know that 80% of all sales are made after the 5th contact? The biggest mistake we make is not following up with our clients regularly. We not only lose the chance to offer other services and products, we lose the chance for satisfied clients' referrals.
Implications Of E-Commerce For Tax Legislation
As e-commerce develops ambiguities in the current tax code in which it may be exposed. It would not be regarded as too early to take premature steps for undertaking such a review at a time when detailed international legislation are going on to promulgate acceptable standards laws for imposition taxation in this regard.
Google Catalogs - Old Gashioned Mail Order Meets High Tech Search
In addition to Google's Froogle shopping service (still in beta), which features a searchable database of online merchants, Google is also beta-testing their Google Catalog service. Google Catalogs provides a searchable central repository of hundreds of mail-order catalogs.
5 Tips for Online Shopping
Shopping online has become more and more popular in America as we are all looking to save a little time and money. E-commerce sales are growing at astronomical numbers ranging from 20-25% per year.
How To Find the Best Merchant Account For Your Business
What a great idea! Start accepting credit cards and watch your profits soar. Nothing could be simpler.
Building eCommerce Websites That Work - Part 1
You want to succeed at eCommerce? Welcome to a very big family. Right off, let's be clear - there are lots of ways to do business on the internet.
Shop: Is Shopping Online Secure?
Is shopping online becoming popular and safe enough for you and I to do the vast majority of our shopping on the Internet?As I contemplated, when I initially set up my website: www.shopshopshop.
The Check is in the E-mail
Have you ever had someone who owed your business money say, "the check is in the mail." Well now there is an answer to that old tired way of brushing you off and not seeing that check come in the mail week after week after week.