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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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Additional Help Topics

Pay Later Payment Setup

(CAUTION) This payment type is intended for either POS (Point of Sale) type installations (where the customer interacts with a cashier who interacts with the web site), or where the customer pays by check/cash through the mail or when picking up the item or arriving for the event.  It requires manually processing a credit card if it is used when picking up the order.  It differs from the Cash/Check payment option by not allowing an entry of an amount paid since this will take place later.  Here's how to setup Pay Later as a payment option.

Cash/Check Payment Setup

(CAUTION) This payment type is intended for POS (Point of Sale) type installations where the customer interacts with a cashier who interacts with the web site.  It differs from the Pay Later payment method by allowing the person submitting the order to enter the amount of funds they are presenting for the purchase. Here's how to setup Cash/Check as a payment option.

Credit Card Payment Setup

(CAUTION) This payment type may not be available or may not work correctly.  It requires manual payment processing.  It is intended to split the credit card information between the web site database and and email sent to a selected administrator to provide the utmost in security (the card info is not stored in any one location).  This payment type is intended for either manual processing locally or as a POS (Point of Sale) type installations where the customer interacts with a cashier who interacts with the web site.  Here's how to setup Credit Card as a payment option.

PayPal Express Payment Setup

PayPal Express is probably the easiest, most cost effective option to begin automatically processing and accepting online payments. Here's how to setup PayPal Express to use a payment option.

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Pass-Thru Payment Setup

(CAUTION) This payment type is intended for POS (Point of Sale) type installations where the customer interacts with a cashier who interacts with the web site.  It requires manually processing the payment.  Here's how to setup Pass-Thru as a payment option.

PayPal PayFlow Payment Setup

PayPal PayFlow is an automated payment processing gateway.  You can find information on their web site. https://merchant.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/?&cmd=_render-content&content_ID=merchant/payment_gateway

Authorize.Net Payment Setup

Authorize.net is an automated payment processing gateway.  You can find information on their web site http://www.authorize.net/

WorldPay Payment Setup

Worldpay is an automated payment processing gateway.  You can find information on their web web site http://www.worldpay.com/products