The Benefits * Expand your market Sell to the world, not just locally * Find new channels for marketing Online marketing allows you to reach customers who do not use or have tired of other media Target your marketing specifically to your ideal customer * Increase Sales * E-Commerce allows you to take credit card orders without manual processing and only a relatively small upfront cost The Pieces Website * Hosting (where the website is "located", who "runs" the website) * Domain name (e.
g.
mybusiness.
com) * Security Certificate/Encryption - needed to take credit cards (or take credit cards offsite) Credit Card Orders * Gateway - takes credit card information from your site * Merchant Account - a bank account Issues Cost * Website * Hosting for e-commerce - starts at around $20/month * Domain Names: around $15/year * Web Design/Development * SSL Security Certificate: around $100/year * Gateway/Merchant Account vs.
PayPal Gateway / Merchant Account typically charge between2.
2-2.
5% for Visa and Mastercard, which is less than PayPal's standard 2.
9% rate.
A merchant acct is typically about $20/month (often waived if enough transaction fees), plus setup.
Payment gateways usually run $20-30/mo.
, plus setup and are more convenient, as well as usually being better integrated with your website.
* Remember selling online can increase your sales! Legal Compliance * Privacy * California Law requires a Privacy Policy * Sales Tax - Required for in-state transactions usually only on products (includes any state where you have a "physical presence") * Terms of Use * Disclaimer (of Liability) * Vary by Jurisdiction (e.
g.
promotional contests could be considered gambling) * Enforceable Online Contracts - vary by jurisdiction also * MCM Web Solutions, LLC does not provide legal services or advice (this document is not to be considered either) Fraud * The merchant is legally liable for fraudulent orders placed on their site.
This means that if someone fradulently orders a product or service from your website, you will likely lose the money or time you spent on filling that fradulent order.
* Fraud is about 1% of all Internet orders, that means the other 99% are legitimate * Prevention What you can do - Don't ship to PO Boxes Match billing and shipping addresses Don't take orders from outside of the "developed" world (stick to N.
America and W.
Europe) Theft of Intellectual Property * Give notice of copyrights, trademarks, etc.
on your website * Registering them also helps in the event of legal battles such as domain name "squatting" (e.
g.
someone else registers a domain name with your company's name) Account Freezes * If using PayPal, consider getting a separate bank account solely for PayPal use or at least avoid linking your sole bank account to PayPal as PayPal accounts can be frozen when charge backs (e.
g.
a purchaser tries to get a refund from his/her credit card issuer) occur.
Other Options for Selling Online * Yahoo Storefronts Downside: commissions (1.
5%), monthly fees, lock-in * Amazon Downsides: commissions (6% or higher), only products (no services), lock-in Upside: exposure (also for eBay) * eBay Downside: Only products (no services, though this may change in the future), transaction/listing fees, lock-in