Do I need my own Merchant account?

I realized before I get too much in the ways you can make money online, I should probably explain the different ways you can collect the $$!!!

If you just a small fish like me, then you don't want to have your own merchant account at the banks. A lot of times they require you have a certain amount in your account (last I checked it was 40 grand!) to cover any refunds or issues.

Here is a list of some of the
third person merchants I recommend

• clickbank

I mentioned clickbank as an affiliate program in a previous post but it is worth mentioning twice because if you have your own digital ebook to sell it makes for an easy time. Clickbank allows you to promote digital products (sorry only digital for now) and use their merchant account. They give you a simple html link (remember your html lessons?) to put on your site which leads to their own "check out" page. They fulfill the sale by sending the purchaser directly to the download of your product. They take a % of each sale (and a transaction fee) for themselves and send you a check for your profits. I believe they also link up to a bank account now if you wish. I use clickbank and so far it's been painless! You don't have to sign-up for their affiliate account but it does have a built in affiliate program if you choose to give others a % of the sale if they also promote and sell your ebook.

• paypal

Paypal is a little more involved then clickbank, but it's great for people selling tangible items that need to be shipped or subscriptions to web access. You need to know a bit of html (ahhh see I never lie!) but paypal takes you through an easy process of generating the html code for your site. You just have to add it to the page your promoting. Paypal takes the transaction for you, sends you an email of the sale so you can ship it out (or manage the subscription). You can set your shipping or use the postal service calculator. You can transfer payments directly into your bank account. Paypal is owned by Ebay (or vise versa) so if you plan on selling on ebay it's already built into your account (making it even easier).

• click2pay

I haven't used this myself but I know people who swear by it. They almost have me convinced to switch from paypal (paypal does have it's problems - everything does) If I start selling a new product I'll try it out and let you know what I think.

• Google Checkout

Again, I haven't used this myself, although I am dying to try it out. But alas...I'm a Canadian (shhh) and it is only available to Americans right now. Maybe one day they'll think of us Canadians I know Paypal makes good money off of my sales and Google and Paypal are arch rivals.

• Authorize.net

Another one competing with paypal. I have seen many websites use it so I feel safe recommending it as I may use it myself in the future. If or when I do, I'll let you know what I think.



There actually are numerous internet merchants now-a-days (There wasn't when I started! Like I said my local bank wanted 40 grand in a merchants account) and some are even recommended by your local banks if you want to ask them. Some are easier to use but all offer you the basic tools you need.

1. Flexibility
2. Real time transactions
3. Fraud Protection
4. Easy Refund Options
5. A way to offer customers a secure order form without having a secure site.