Once you have a store and products to buy, you need to be able to accept payments.
Taking online payments has become a very easy process and we have put together some of our recommendations below. Most of the systems integrate with your store so they handle everything such as security and fraud checks.
Once someone orders, they will confirm the payment and then you are good to send!
It is also important to keep an eye on the charges associated.
The places we recommend don’t charge setup costs or monthly fee’s which is most suitable for new stores. If you already have a payment processor in place for your offline store you may wish to use this to keep everything in one place.
What are my options?
Depending on the platform you use, the options available to you can be different but the two main providers we always suggest to people are:
- PayPal – It’s well known for a reason as it’s easy to setup and easy for people to use. If someone has a PayPal account, they can often checkout very quickly with all of their details already filled. The easier you can make it for people, the better, so we would always suggest PayPal as one of your main options
- Stripe – If you want people to use their credit cards, Stripe is one of the easiest to setup. With a small charge of 9%, you can set it up quickly and it’s the easiest system we have found for platforms such as WooCommerce.
Once turned on, payments can be taken seamlessly. However, they do take a few days to send across the payment so keep this in mind. It is so simple and cost effective to put in place and is one we recommend and use ourselves. - Inbuilt processors – Platforms such as Shopify and Etsy often have their own payment processors in place which are already integrated. If you’re using one of these platforms, the payment is already taken care of.
- Offline methods – Cheques, cash and bank transfer are all normally available but to keep things safer we have kept to contactless methods of payments. They are easy to setup, track and also handle their own security so take out the risks for you.
Keep it Simple:
- For Shopify, use their inbuilt system. It takes minutes to setup and get up and running.
- For eCommerce sites, use both PayPal and Stripe. It gives people options and is a winning combination we always recommend.
