vide many more features, such as integration with Quickbooks, list building and much
more. But, start off smaller first and grow from there.
If you just offer a few products, you can get away with a couple of simple “Buy Now”
Paypal buttons. When it’s time to move up, you’ll need a few other things. In order to ac-
cept credit and debit cards, you’ll need an Internet merchant account, which is available
from your bank, although difficult to obtain in many cases. Your hosting company can of-
ten help you through the process and it’s usually a much easier way to go.
An Internet merchant account is different than a bricks and mortar merchant account.
That’s the type used at, for example, a retail store. You’ll also need a gateway account.
The gateway account is what ties your customer’s credit or debit card to your bank ac-
count. It’s the vehicle to get the moolah from your customer’s wallet you’re your bank ac-
count. Your Web designer can help you with these accounts and provide you with further
information. Getting into full-blown e-commerce solutions is outside the scope of this
book.
Should you decide to accept credit card at your merch table, and you should, Paypal
has a great new tool called, “Here™.” It’s a credit or debit card reader that plugs into
your iPhone or other smartphone. From their site, “Use your smartphone to securely
process card payments with our new plug-in card reader. It's a simple way to accept
cards, PayPal, and even checks–anywhere you do business. And unlike other readers,
PayPal Here™ helps protect card information as it's swiped with the highest level of en-
cryption and is highly secure.”