basic ecommerce questions

[danheskett]

Hello world,

I am long-time software developer and web-user. I have done a fairly large number of web projects that involved heavy programming and database integration.

My wife is also a nerd, but not on the same level. A few months back she asked me to set her up with a bulletin board based-site. We are trying to concieve our first child and she found that there are many women out there with the same frustration and angst she is experiencing.

After only a few weeks it became apparent that she was doing something right. At the end of the first month she had claimed over 150,000 page views and probably a hundred daily active users. We outstripped our first webhosts capabilities and have now moved to a dedicated server that we lease.

The site is 100% ad-free, and is not in any way commerical. Unsolicited donations from users have funded the project, as well our full-time careers.

A number of the users expressed interest in setting up a membership system with added benefits. My wife is very enterprising and has worked out alliances and a number of tangible benefits that at least 25 users have firmly committed to paying for.

I have absolutely no idea how to make this work. I don't even know where to start, and it's very confusing due to all the conflicting information out there.

What I am looking for is:
1. Credit Card payments. I can implement the software on my side, but once I collect the information that is where my experience ends.

What I dont need is:
1. Point-of-sale equipment.
2. A lame-redirect paypal style to an outside site. I really want the users to never have to leave our site to make it work.
3. More than 50% of our initial charges to be used up in feed.
4. Shopping cart software.
5. Recurring payments. It is 99% likely we would charge a yearly fee.

I really have no idea what to do next. My best honest guess is that if everything was ready to go on October 1 we would take in $500 in the first month. I expect us to max out at no more than $1000/month.

We are not setup for business in anyway.

Anyone have any help to offer?

[StevenAllen]

Nearly all webhosting companies are compatable with Authorizenet. Authorizenet provides a virtual terminal and access to the First Data gateway. Once you have access to the gateway then you will need a merchant account. A merchant account will allow you to charge clients utilizing this gateway. If you need help drop me a line and I can assist you.

[rondo]

You want to choose ready-to-go membership script which will plug in any of the major payment processors(eg paypal,2checkout,authorise etc)
A very popular one is amemberpro, about $150
http://www.cgi-central.net/scripts/amember/

Get them to install it to save hassels and you're ready to create mebers only content!

Also ad some relevant advertising for extra revenue.
You could do very well with this traffic advertising related products for commission. Also ad goolge adwords for guaranteed income.

Good luck,

Rondo

[Corey Bryant]

You might want to look at 2CO. That is if you do not mind being the customers being taking off for payment.

It depends on how much each transaction is. If it is only $10, 2CO might not be the answer. At 50 transactions, you are only bringing in about $200.

Now it is possible with a merchant account to probably bring in around $425 or so.

Authorizenet.com has been having some problems lately with their DDOS attacks. We are hopng those have all subsided and they are back on track.

[rondo]

Originally Posted by Corey Bryant

If it is only $10, 2CO might not be the answer. At 50 transactions, you are only bringing in about $200.

Corey how do you figure this amount?
Thats just 40% of the product price.


Rondo

[Corey Bryant]

I must have still been asleep this morning. I looked at those fiugured when I typed them & they did not look right. And I did it a few times. My decimal point was always moving & my fingers never put it into the right place :)

Actually with 2CO - $10 a transaction, 50 a month, it is about 10% (you would be getting about $450). Looks better / sounds better, right? :)

[micky@rivieraarts.com]

Hi, I use Mals shopping(mals-e.com) cart with paypal as my banker.
Mals is great because you can put in price to weight zones or just a pay for services box(this can be used for membership fees or donations as well. The secure pages give a smooth transition for customers and payment pages can be made to look like your site so it doesnt look like they have left it. I'm going to be using a company called authpro.com for my own membership part of my site. They do a free account with limited member accounts but also do an unlimited members account for only $4.95 per month (less yearly) I only pay 1.9% to 2.4% per transaction.

Cheers Micky