Ecommerce Hosting - How To Choose A Merchant Account

Ecommerce Hosting

Choosing a Merchant Account

The first thing you'll need to do is choose a type of ecommerce hosting for your site. Payment processing can be done at many levels within the hosting setup, from selling products outside of the website, such as on Amazon or Etsy, as well. You will also want to pay close attention to invoicing and marketplaces in addition to payment processing if you plan on having multiple vendors involved in your business. There are many different types of ecommerce hosting variations with varying features and price points - these are the most popular:

1)  Indirect - Some companies use an automated system that does not require customers to go through them for checkout. Instead, the credit card information is passed through to a third party processor (such as Authorize.Net) who then sends an email message or text to the customer. The customer does not have to use the website, referring only to the email that brought them there in the first place. These types of hosting accounts are typically used for direct selling and they typically do not offer any type of shopping cart system.

2) e-Web Marketplaces - These are websites designed to hold the inventory for a variety of different vendors while maintaining control and pricing information for their customers. The vendor will set up his/her own store on the website and purchase a dedicated domain name before going live with ecommerce services. You will be able to upload products, manage inventory, and use a shopping cart to checkout with these types of hosting accounts. By using some of the more popular marketplaces such as DigiMarket and Etsy you can receive payments, have direct contact with customers, and keep track of your inventory. e-Web Marketplaces are typically synced up with the payment processor so that changes directly affect your invoice.

3) Full Merchant Services - This is where the hosting provider sets you up with a merchant account specifically dedicated for ecommerce purposes. Typically you will know exactly what you're getting in advance – all invoicing, marketplaces, shipping information (if applicable), etc. are all handled by the provider. There is no need to setup any of the above types of hosting services as you will be able to use your new account immediately.

4) Hosted Merchant Accounts - The name sounds like it should be an oxymoron, but these types of accounts are becoming more and more popular for merchants who do not want to dedicate a lot of time or money into setting up their own merchant account. Once they have chosen a payment processor such as Authorize.Net or Vantiv, they will receive a hosted merchant account which can automatically take payments from their customers without having to input any customer information (applicable only if you're using a credit card).

5) Managed Ecommerce - This is where you'll either have a dedicated service provider that will handle your payment processing and invoicing for everything, or you would be able to take care of all aspects yourself. This may sound overwhelming, but if you're doing ecommerce on a website with very few customers, it may not be too much to ask for somebody else to handle the data entry and accounting. With most companies charging around $100-$300 per month for this service you can expect to pay approximately $2,500-$7,500 per year in hosting fees plus the cost of the merchant account which should cover all business related expenses.

Conclusion

Once you've selected a hosting provider to support your website and you have a payment processor, the rest will fall into place. Now it's time to build your website so we can get started!

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