Selling online is a relatively simple and effective way of doing business. There are plenty of bonuses and very few drawbacks. Offering your goods and services via website, blog or on social media platforms like Facebook allows you to:
- Reach a lot of people from across the globe
- Run a small retail business on a tight budget
- Sell digital media directly without worrying about distribution
An online store can be integrated into your website or blog to provide merchandise for your fans and you can integrate the business and creative ends of your work. For example, bands and singers can provide great merchandise for their fans, writers can self-publish books and entrepreneurs can start their small business venture without spending a fortune on additional costs involved with securing a location for a shop and day-to-day maintenance. Now, one of the most popular online payment options is PayPal, but it isn’t necessarily the best choice for everyone. All the reports of people running into problems with PayPal aside, the main issue someone looking to sell online can have with it is that it is not a quick and easy payment option and you generally want to make the exchange of money for goods as painless as possible for the customers so that they keep coming back. Here are some great alternative payment options that can serve you well.
Google Wallet
Google Wallet is a simple payment system that creates a veritable virtual wallet where users can store their credit cards, debit cards and other cards that they can then use to buy merchandise both online and in a traditional store. Paying for and downloading digital content can be a pretty quick affair when using this system and the transaction fees are fairly low. It can be used as part of a fast and effective eCommerce solution and it allows you to access your bank account on the go, as well as to process credit cards and send invoices. The biggest drawbacks are that it works only on Android and the fact that peer to peer money transactions are limited to the US market.
Skrill
Formerly known as Moneybookers, Skrill is a very popular and widespread payment platform with over 20 million users worldwide and with over 130k merchants accepting payments using this method. It is easy to set up an account and it allows you to send and receive money globally in a wide range of currencies. There are standard fees for withdrawals, but transaction fees will vary depending on things such as location and currency exchange rate. You will need a credit card, but using Skrill allows you to keep your credit card information private when making transactions.
Selz
One of the simplest online payment options out there, Selz is quick and easy to set up – copy/paste the buy buttons – and allows customers to stay on the website when making the purchase. It doesn’t take any programming to implement this eCommerce solution and you can be up and running within minutes after a quick registration. It is particularly good for selling downloadable materials as the delivery of digital content is fully automated and the minimalistic design allows for easy browsing and lightning fast purchases. There is a fee of 5% + 25 cent per transaction, making this a fairly cost-effective option. Selz is best suited for smaller online shops, specifically those integrated with an artist’s portfolio website, a blog or a Facebook fan page.
Braintree
Braintree is great payment processor that allows customers to stay on your website when making transactions and it ties in nicely with popular e-commerce solutions such as WooCommerce and Shopify. If you already have a WordPress website with an adequate plugin that effectively turns the website into a full blown online store, then integrating Braintree is a very good idea – it is very competitively priced with 2.9% + 30 cent per transaction, has fast transaction times and is available to people from Australia, Canada, Europe and the US. Integrating Braintree is, however, a tad more technical than many people would be comfortable with and it basically requires some form of online cart to be already implemented on your website.
Wepay
Wepay is fairly easy to implement – copy-pasting payment buttons – lets the customer stay on your website when making a purchase and offers excellent fraud protection. You can also use the fully developed shopping cart for more complex online stores, as well as process credit cards by entering the information by hand. The downsides are that, as with some other payment systems, it is only available for US consumers and there is the fact that, unlike Braintree, it is not suitable for integration with other e-commerce solutions, e.g. WooCommerce.
These are just some of the online payment options available, but they are pretty good at what they do and can fill a variety of different online selling needs – from quick implementation of buy now buttons for several items directly on a blog as with Selz, to integration with existing WordPress-based e-commerce websites as with Braintree, or even using a custom shopping cart as with Wepay.