[thelist] Merchant service for online bookseller?

Mark Groen mark at markgroen.com
Sat Jul 5 20:20:03 CDT 2003


On July 05, 2003 at 23:44, unruly mongrel wrote:

> Hey brilliant people.  I've got a client who's going mad, 

heh, heh

and I 
> unfortunately am so busy ..........
> ................... without having to set up a
> shopping cart, etc, which I believe is too complicated an endeavor
> given that she won't be selling much, just a few items.

If you aren't going to be selling very many widgets and your ROI doesn't justify a 
real shopping cart with a gateway/merchant account etc. then you're pretty much 
stuck with a micro payment service such as PayPal etc. 

Suggest new thread/Google maybe:

latest and greatest micropayment news.

There's other services out there besides PayPal, none of 'em are banks or credit 
card companies though and they aren't subject to the same laws as such - make 
sure your client understands the risks involved with doing e-commerce "on the 
cheap" (don't keep any more money in the micropayment account than you're 
prepared to lose/litigate).

Other micropayment services that come to mind right away are:
http://store.yahoo.com/
http://www.2checkout.com/

> to buy one they'd do so thru Paypal or somesuch).  Or if there're
> websites out there that provide good services of this sort, especially
> for online ebook selling, especially ones that might help with
> marketing. 

Sounds like something for nothing, isn't going to happen. Try to educate your 
client to the fact that there isn't any magic bullets to marketing on the web and 
it's the same as marketing anywhere else, you have to work at it and no one gets 
a free ride. Of course you'll be glad to help with the technical and consulting side 
of things at your going rate if you're into marketing too eh.

Regards,

	Mark Groen

MG Web Services
Web Site Hosting and Development
www.markgroen.com
mark at markgroen.com
604-780-6917


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