The whole e-business site set up?

[svoltmer]

Hello,
I am very confused as to what I need to have an e-commerce site. Lets say I have a website on a server allready. What are the next steps to being able to make sales transactions with credit card processing?

Ex. I am using GoLive. I can make the form data and insert it into the pages with the products, but what comes next? How do I process that information. I know I need a Merchant account and a payment gateway, but if I make the forms how does that tie in with the server that holds my site?

[GA Media]

First and foremost, you do not need to have a merchant account to process your transactions through your website.

There are plenty of third party payment processors (now called IPSP's or, Internet Payment Service Providers by Visa) that will be able to assist you.

You might like to take a look at some of the services offers by http://www.ccbill.com http://www.ibill.com http://www.paycom.com (could be http://www.paycom.net can never remember with those guys lol) and also you might like to look into http://www.paypal.com or http://www.stormpay.com as alternative solutions.

Most of, if not all of the aforementioned companies are going to be able to set you up with a shopping cart system (which it seems you do not require) and, more importantly, the means and method to bill your clients / customers transactions.

Usually what will happen is they will first of all need you to provide them with your information in order to set up your processing account then, they will give you several link codes which you can use to send your customers to the payment form.

Usually if you have some form of shopping cart system you are able to have the data that your customers entered into your site stored both in a secure database at the processors and / or on your own server so that you may fulfill the customers order.

Regards,

Lee