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WP eCommerce Store w/ Online Merchant Account - ADVICE NEEDED!

by skorpion
5 replies
Im building an eCommerce store with wordpress for one of my offline clients who sells physical products that they ship themselves. They sell old large church windows, probably about 10 per week total.

I know there are many ready made solutions out there for ecommerce sites with wordpress but I am building a custom theme for them from scratch. So an out of the box solution is out of the question.

They have an online merchant account and want to use that for the ecommerce store.

Would you recommend using something like paypal website payments pro or just using paypal as a gateway with their merchant account?

If they decide they dont want to use paypal, will I need an SSL?

Can I use something like WP-eCommerce and customize it to work with their merchant account?

I've never created a site for someone with a merchant account and am kind of clueless at the moment. In the past I've just used paypal Buy it Now buttons or an out of the box solution like WP-eCommerce.

Thank for any help I can get on this.
#account #advice #ecommerce #merchant #needed #online #store #w or
  • Profile picture of the author tomcam
    Normally I'd say this: If they actually update the catalog with current pictures and descriptions for each window, WP-eCommerce might be worth it. If it's more of a brochure site, where perhaps a payment button would be used only for, say, a deposit, the simplest PayPal solution would work.

    Have you discussed their customer base? Do they already have a merchant account provider? It's possible that their customers are sometimes a little old skool and just want to call in a credit card number, for example. In that case a merchant account may be preferable. Getting a merchant account can be tricky for web-based businesses but it's a cakewalk for places with a storefront delivering physical objects.
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  • Profile picture of the author Quentin
    I have done this for a few clients and use Mals Ecommerce for it.

    You can easily use your own merchant account and also incorporate paypal into the mix if you want.

    Not only that you can run your own affiliate program.

    Examples:

    Promotional Mugs and Glassware Straight from the Printer

    PLR Private Label Rights Articles

    It is very easy to use wordpress as all you do is add a button so you can design the site however you want.

    You can also set up your customer with software so they can check their sales etc.

    https://www.mals-e.com/morders.php

    Quenti
    Signature
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  • Profile picture of the author skorpion
    Originally Posted by tomcam View Post

    Normally I'd say this: If they actually update the catalog with current pictures and descriptions for each window, WP-eCommerce might be worth it. If it's more of a brochure site, where perhaps a payment button would be used only for, say, a deposit, the simplest PayPal solution would work.

    Have you discussed their customer base? Do they already have a merchant account provider? It's possible that their customers are sometimes a little old skool and just want to call in a credit card number, for example. In that case a merchant account may be preferable. Getting a merchant account can be tricky for web-based businesses but it's a cakewalk for places with a storefront delivering physical objects.
    Yes, they update the catolog with pictures on a weekly/daily basis. Each piece is unique.

    There customer base is primarily people in their late 40's to 60's.

    Originally Posted by Quentin View Post

    I have done this for a few clients and use Mals Ecommerce for it.

    You can easily use your own merchant account and also incorporate paypal into the mix if you want.

    Not only that you can run your own affiliate program.

    Examples:

    Promotional Mugs and Glassware Straight from the Printer

    PLR Private Label Rights Articles

    It is very easy to use wordpress as all you do is add a button so you can design the site however you want.

    You can also set up your customer with software so they can check their sales etc.

    https://www.mals-e.com/morders.php

    Quenti
    Wow, thank you. I will check this out.

    Originally Posted by zoneinfinite View Post

    See my replies in bold above.
    Originally Posted by zoneinfinite View Post

    Oh and anyway I don't recommend wp e-commerce...wordpress as an e-commerce online shop solution has never been satisfactory IMO. It's way too buggy and limited. But if you're comfortable with the wp e-commerce plugin then by all means go ahead. There's also another plugin that is supposedly better than wp e-commerce.. It's called Shopp.

    Why not go with the many php shopping cart scripts available?
    Thanks. They want wordpress for all the features that come with it...blog, plugins, easy to update maintain etc...
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