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e-Commerce Payment Options

As an overview of 'Payment' options in e-Commerce...for e-Commerce to work, at least one of the payment options must be active.  However multiple types may be active to allow customer checkout options. The 'payment' is how the goods or services offered, are paid for.  Exponent provides several options; some of which perform the actual transaction (transfer of funds) online, while others simply record the type of transaction to be processed outside of or apart from Exponent.

The payment options which perform the entire transaction online within Exponent are:

  • PayPal Express
  • PayPal PayFlow (Payment Gateway)
  • Authorize.Net
  • Worldpay

Each of these require an account with the associated company, and with the exception of PayPal Express, charge a monthly fee.

The payment options which record the transaction in Exponent, but require some external or manual processing are:

  • Pay Later (billed to customer - customer will pay on arrival/pickup)
  • Cash/Check (customer mails in payment before shipment, or plans to pick it up locally?)
  • Credit Card (requires external Credit Card processing)
  • Pass-Thru (method which allows a salesperson to create an invoice, like taking an order over the phone)

The easiest option to set up (and process) is 'Pay Later' which can be useful for reservations, etc...

The most efficient for a first time entrepreneur is probably 'PayPal Express' which charges a small percentage plus a small transaction fee, but NO monthly charge.  PayPal also offers a free credit card swiper/reader and credit card processing for a similar reasonable fee.  They also offer special rates for registered charities with 501(c)(3) status.  PayPal Express

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