Ecommerce Payment Gateway Primer
Choosing Your Gateway
At a glance it may seem as though every gateway is alike and you should base your decision only on price. As we've discovered above the differences between gateways can vary tremendously and can mean that one gateway is a better choice for your business then another. But how do you choose which one is right for you? First you need to determine your needs and prioritize them. Once you know what is most important to you, the facts will make your decision easy.
The Cost Conscious Webmaster
Many new businesses typically do not have a large sum of money to dedicate to their venture. In fact, a shoe string budget is quite the norm. When every penny counts setup fees, monthly fees, and transactions fees all loom large in the decision making process. Below is a chart for quick reference as to the basic costs associated with each gateway.
The "I Need Features" Webmaster
Do you plan on being more then just a typical merchant that just sells and ships a product? Would you like to offer memberships or digital downloads? If so you might find some of the features offered by some gateways to be very beneficial. Below is a chart that shows which features are offered by each gateway.
The Simple Webmaster
Not every webmaster is an expert programmer. Trying to integrate a gateway through its API can be extremely challenging and, for some, even impossible. Below is a chart to help outline which gateways offer an easy-to-implement system and which don't.
Conclusion
In the pages of this article we've taken a stroll through several aspects of gateways and how to choose one that is best for your business. We've seen how we should compare them, reviewed the offerings from some of the more popular providers, and broke them down into tangible pieces for easy comparison. Hopefully this guide has given you a clearer picture of where each gateway stands in the big picture and has helped you better understand how to determine which one best suits your needs.
Appendix - Other Gateways
Don't limit yourself to researching and comparing the six gateways I've mentioned in my article. There are a lot of gateways to choose from and one of them might be exactly what you're looking for. Here are some more popular gateways to consider:
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