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SSL for an ecommerce store

by crediblezephyre
11 replies
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I am trying to build an ecommerce site and will need to process transactions (of course). I just went to buy an SSL certificate from my host only to find out the charges are yearly (despite being displayed on the page in monthly figures) and would cost $100 to nearly $500 (depending on the level) per year.

I also found that Comodo offers a free SSL certificate. (edit: it looks like it's a trial. my question still stands though)

Is there any reason I need to purchase a certificate? Will a free certificate provide the level of protection I need to process transactions?

I especially don't want to purchase a certificate because I don't know if this will be a successful business or not. I'm hoping to keep costs down and find out...
#ecommerce #ssl #store
  • Profile picture of the author wpsafari
    What you can do right now is, you can abandon purchasing SSL certificate for now and then you can integrate it after you feel that your business is going good and you're earning enough. But I just want to make it clear to you that this also is a ranking factor for websites which collect users information, according to Google.

    Is there any other thing, I can help with?
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    • Profile picture of the author crediblezephyre
      Yeah, it's ranking factor and I'd like to have it for sure but it's a little prohibitive.

      If I'm taking peoples credit card information, isn't it required? Or is it not?
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      • Profile picture of the author Ray Erdmann
        Any time you want someone to go to 'checkout'...that site, no matter what the domain name is (shop.your-domain.com, secure.your-domain.com, etc.,etc.,) needs to be secured and the only way to do that is via SSL.

        If you have a site that is 'hosted' by a 3rd party, then someone who works there will need to handle that process.

        Most Certificate Authorities, such as Comodo, Verisign and/or Thawte, should all offer either 'yearly' SSL certificates..or bi-yearly certificates.

        Don't know of any Certificate Authority who offers an SSL certificate that's valid for more than 2 years.

        No matter how long that SSL certificate is valid for, it will need to be renewed at some point...again, either yearly or bi-yearly.
        Signature

        "Whether you think you can or not...you'll always be 100% right!" |

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      • Profile picture of the author wpsafari
        Originally Posted by crediblezephyre View Post

        Yeah, it's ranking factor and I'd like to have it for sure but it's a little prohibitive.

        If I'm taking peoples credit card information, isn't it required? Or is it not?
        If you're collecting your customer information on your website then It's really important to have an SSL certificate, because it gives a sense of satisfaction to the customer as well as its a ranking factor. So, its really important I guess.
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    • Profile picture of the author globaldealsdirect
      Originally Posted by wpsafari View Post

      What you can do right now is, you can abandon purchasing SSL certificate for now and then you can integrate it after you feel that your business is going good and you're earning enough. But I just want to make it clear to you that this also is a ranking factor for websites which collect users information, according to Google.

      Is there any other thing, I can help with?
      Hello,
      I am a partner and wholesaler reseller of Comodo, I can forward you onto these guys www.skybridgedomains.com and they get you going within 30 minutes with an SSL Certificate, you can buy a basic SSL Certificate from them for $40/year and it's perfect to use.

      With all that said, If you use a third party payment processor like pay pal they use hosted https. You should have an SSL Certificate on your web site, even if it is a paid, basic one. https should always be used on any web site that handles transactions of any kind.

      One can say, use pay pal and the rest of your website is unhackable, etc, but is it? if you just use plain text http then you would be at risk of being hacked. Maybe one in a million but this is my point
      Also because people fill out contact forms etc generally on your web site with personal and private information then of course an ssl certificate is needed to protect your customers data.

      My question would be if all this is fine and not use a ssl certificate, do you really trust your web site server that there is no prying eyes behind the scenes? I suggest to mitigate the risk and close as many security holes as possible. one being the adoption of https.
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  • Profile picture of the author jackiedesign
    SSL can make your website more safe and keeps your data safe from the hackers. So if you want to keep your everything in safe mode. Just purchase SSL for your website
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  • Profile picture of the author FordPrefect
    How are you going to process payments? Will customers be entering credit card numbers on your website? If so then you definitely need an SSL certificate.

    If you redirect your customer to a third party payment website and they enter the credit card details there then it's no as important to have your own SSL certificate.

    Namecheap offer reasonably priced Comodo certificates:

    https://www.namecheap.com/security/s...sitivessl.aspx
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  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    I use Paypal on my Woocommerce sites so I don't have to buy a certificate and don't have to pay any recurring fees at all, other than hosting. You could also use a merchant service and gateway, and the SSL would be handled by the gateway, however many of them lock you into a contract, so if you aren't making money, you still have to pay their monthly fees.
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  • Profile picture of the author gti7
    Check out Dynadot for $16.99 SSL certificates: https://www.dynadot.com/hosting/ssl.html

    Not worth paying extra unless you need the extra features such as extended validation and wildcard domains.
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    • Profile picture of the author Iamseller
      SSL certificate will build trust to your customers as well your website also become secure. Its not mandatory but you will get more benefits through this certificate.
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  • Profile picture of the author CaraMurphy
    Originally Posted by crediblezephyre View Post

    I am trying to build an ecommerce site and will need to process transactions (of course). I just went to buy an SSL certificate from my host only to find out the charges are yearly (despite being displayed on the page in monthly figures) and would cost $100 to nearly $500 (depending on the level) per year.

    I also found that Comodo offers a free SSL certificate. (edit: it looks like it's a trial. my question still stands though)

    Is there any reason I need to purchase a certificate? Will a free certificate provide the level of protection I need to process transactions?

    I especially don't want to purchase a certificate because I don't know if this will be a successful business or not. I'm hoping to keep costs down and find out...
    Here are your question's answer:

    $100 to $500 cost for ssl certificate is very high for year.

    Yes, comodo offers free ssl certificate for 90 days.

    Not necessary to purchase ssl certificate for your ecommerce website if you are using third party payment gateway but still necessary if your website is accepting confidential information from users or customers because most customers will look for their data security on any website/webpage.

    It is ok if you don't want to purchase ssl certificate at this moment as your business/website is novice but if you are finding good opportunity for low price ssl cert then once check http://www.cheapsslcouponcode.com/ for getting money saving discount coupons.
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