Online Business, Shopping Carts and Paypal

Day682
The Paypal sign has become so common, almost everyone has seen it while shopping online. A great many online retailers and auctions sites, such as eBay are using Paypal, even many traditional stores who have websites now use it. It is easy for anyone, whether a business or a consumer, to set up an account and use it.

Though most people who have been on the internet for awhile know what Paypal is, there are still some who don't. Paypal is a payment system that facilitates a person's ability to request and accept payments, send invoices, and withdraw money to savings or checking account. Paypal will also send a check for funds when requested. Another option is to get Paypal's debit card or even their credit card.

Anyone can use Paypal's website with ease as navigation is simple. Basic, premier and merchant are the account types available. The basic account is for those who only plan to make instant transfers from one account to another and to make payments for online purchases. With the premier account, credit card payments can be accepted and the merchant account is for those who use Paypal extensively for business.

There are no fees associated with the basic account, but to accept credit card payments, there are fees. Considering the convenience that the ability to accept credit cards has, these fees are quite reasonable. Subscription services that allow customers to subscribe to have fees withdrawn from their account for monthly services are available, too. Even donations can be set up as a service. A protection service is also offered that protects both consumers and businesses from fraud.

Do you need to invoice for services, multiple purchases or shipping and handling? With Paypal's invoicing tool, you can create invoices that are itemized with the taxes and shipping charges included. The requirements for Paypal are a valid checking account, physical address and email address to set up an account. There is no credit check and it is easy to use. The information required during sign up is, of course, needed to facilitate notifications, money transfers and shipping address for purchased items. It also gives Paypal the information needed if you request that a Paypal check be sent to you. As a safe means of paying for purchases and receiving funds, Paypal is about the best available online at this time.

Many businesses find that using shopping carts makes for greater ease and convenience when consumers make purchases. This doesn't eliminate the use of Paypal, however. Quite a few shopping carts have the ability to interface with the services offered by Paypal. One example is www.1cartplus.com. Customers will still be able to use Paypal for their purchases when using your shopping cart. There are more features with the shopping cart than could be had with Paypal alone.

So customers are not even aware of the redirection to the shopping cart site, it is possible to match the shopping cart to your site in the set up at places like www.1cartplus.com. There are often features offered with shopping carts, such as affiliate programs, customer tracking, quantity discounts, coupons, shipping labels, accounting software interfaces, auto-mail responders and many other things, that Paypal doesn't offer. Easier payments, easier account management, more choices for you and your customers are what you can get with a shopping cart and Paypal interface.

When you use a shopping cart instead of just using Paypal, you are able to offer more checkout options as well as Paypal. There are customers who would rather not go through the sign-up process for Paypal and just buy from one place. Since the checkout process is longer and can be tedious for customers who have to sign up for Paypal, having other payment options saves a good deal of time.

Having a shopping cart with lots of choices that make things easier for customers will keep them returning to make more purchases and bookmarking you site future ease in finding you.

For sending, receiving, transferring of money and for invoicing services and purchases, the ease, convenience and low cost of Paypal is hard to beat. Paypal's reasonable fees and the ability to interface with many shopping cart programs makes it easy for you, the seller, to allow customers multiple payment choices. A shopping cart with a Paypal interface gives you such features as customer tracking, shipment tracking, account management, and coupons, as well as affiliate programs. Think about using a shopping cart such as the one at www.1cartplus.com for your online business. There are several such shopping carts and all have wonderful features. This is about the best course you can take if you do a considerable amount of business. If you do a light amount of selling, just Paypal might be all you need.

About the Author: Nick Hurd is the CEO of 1CartPlus.com, LLC. 1CartPlus.com is complete shopping cart and e-commerce system that supports a comprehensive package of tools that totally automate the marketing and fulfillment requirements for its clients. You can find more information at www.1cartplus.com - a shopping cart and e-commerce system on steroids.