# Webstore that allows Paypal & your own Merchant Account



## hueyonehundy (Nov 24, 2011)

Howdy!

First let me say I'm not expert and am very new to the topic so my knowledge can be lacking. 

I'm new to the industry and am trying to set up a webstore for my clothing brand that accepts 1) paypal but also 2) has my own merchant account where customers can enter their credit card info manually. I just think having only Paypal is kind of ghetto and giving customers the option of manually entering their credit card info can add a lot. 

Basically, I'm looking for a webstore front like Bigcartel that also allows me to set up what I described above. From my understanding and some basic research, this would require me to create an online merchant account and then set up a payment gateway. I read this information @ Ecommerce - How to Take Payments Online

Is there a convenient webstore similar to Bigcartel that allows customers to pay with Paypal but also manually entering their own credit card information? How to big brands have both? (karmaloop, Johnnycupcakes, etc.)

Thanks a lot! I really appreciate any advice or comments you have about the subject! THANKS


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## debz1959 (Jul 29, 2007)

You don't have to set up a separate Merchant account as Paypal gives your customers the option of paying by credit card or from their Paypal account.


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## hueyonehundy (Nov 24, 2011)

Yeah thanks I know Paypal allows this. I'm looking to have a seperate check out besides Paypal.


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## jpaul (Apr 10, 2012)

i was looking on this wesite call tiptopwebsites.com and i was about to post to the forum, if anyone is familar with that website. you might want to check them out and let me know what u think about them. im in the same both u in.


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## hueyonehundy (Nov 24, 2011)

Seems like Shopify provides both check out methods both paypal and a separate check out!


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## royster13 (Aug 14, 2007)

hueyonehundy said:


> Yeah thanks I know Paypal allows this. I'm looking to have a seperate check out besides Paypal.


What would the point of that be?...


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## debz1959 (Jul 29, 2007)

hueyonehundy said:


> Yeah thanks I know Paypal allows this. I'm looking to have a seperate check out besides Paypal.


Also, what would the point be? 
Paypal has very reasonable merchant rates, very easy to qualify for, and provides a free shopping cart.


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## hueyonehundy (Nov 24, 2011)

IMO, having a separate 'non-Paypal' checkout adds more to the customer experience and makes the webstore feel more "legit" Just imagine, for example, you were purchasing something off of Nike.com and when you were checking out it took you to Paypal. It would just make me feel like I was purchasing from like an ebay merchant or something. It just seems like successful clothing companies always have both their own check out and a Paypal option. Yeah, some people prefer Paypal, which I like checking out with sometimes too, but that's why I would like having both options. I hope that makes sense. Oh and have a nice evening!


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## royster13 (Aug 14, 2007)

What you are missing is that many checkouts process credit cards through PayPal without the end user even knowing it is PayPal....It is all how you set up your site....


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## GN (Aug 1, 2011)

I don't think the OP understands that Paypal has 3 options.. *All *options allow Paypal to accept credit/debit cards however the _free_ option directs consumers to another page and the option to use a a debit card is rather hard to see (located under the paypal option)....

OP what you are wanting (I'm sure) is PayPal ADVANCE - it's $5/month and allows customers 2 options/buttons: Check out with paypal or check out with debit/credit card and BOTH options keep your customer on your website. (well actually I think if they check out with paypal they have to log in first). The debit/credit option title can be whatever you decide name it. check out paypal.com and look at paypal advance.

On my site for example:
1. Proceed to check out
2. check out with Paypal or use debit/credit (they select)
3. If debit /credit is selected then all the questions for them to enter thier information pops up on same page.

https://www.paypal.com/webapps/mpp/compare-business-products


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## Arnbabe (Nov 30, 2009)

Why not just begin with PayPal due to it's ease of set-up? There are so many other tasks you need to handle. Plus, people respect PayPal as a secure method of payment. As a consumer, if given the choice on a website, I would use PayPal over a direct credit card just because of that. There is justifiable fear of identity theft in the world today. Remember the KISS method? Good luck with your on-line store!


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## hueyonehundy (Nov 24, 2011)

royster13 and GN, 

Thanks for the info and understanding my confusion/lack of knowledge. Yeah I didn't know you could do that. I'll look into Paypal ADVANCE. Thanks again I appreciate it.


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## GN (Aug 1, 2011)

hueyonehundy said:


> royster13 and GN,
> 
> Thanks for the info and understanding my confusion/lack of knowledge. Yeah I didn't know you could do that. I'll look into Paypal ADVANCE. Thanks again I appreciate it.


No problem.. If u decide to use PP Advance... I recommend you do the application online and then after about an hour call them and they can give you tge API settings (information you will new to set up your account) Your actual application will take a cpl days. 

Also, if ur website was like mine I didn't have the option for PP Advance in my admin but PP instructed me to choose PayPay Pro in my admin and that it would work- and it did. I use Magento btw so urs might be easier.


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## hueyonehundy (Nov 24, 2011)

GN said:


> No problem.. If u decide to use PP Advance... I recommend you do the application online and then after about an hour call them and they can give you tge API settings (information you will new to set up your account) Your actual application will take a cpl days.
> 
> Also, if ur website was like mine I didn't have the option for PP Advance in my admin but PP instructed me to choose PayPay Pro in my admin and that it would work- and it did. I use Magento btw so urs might be easier.


Thanks again  Just to clarify, your shopping cart software (Magento) didn't allow PayPal ADVANCE but you chose PayPal Pro and it worked out to be PayPal ADVANCE? 

Also, I've been looking at Shopify because their examples show both check out methods. Check out this example: CXXVI Clothing Co. — Welcome . Do they just have PayPal ADVANCE or does Shopify allow its' own checkout method? Thanks!


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## GN (Aug 1, 2011)

hueyonehundy said:


> Thanks again  Just to clarify, your shopping cart software (Magento) didn't allow PayPal ADVANCE but you chose PayPal Pro and it worked out to be PayPal ADVANCE?
> 
> Also, I've been looking at Shopify because their examples show both check out methods. Check out this example: CXXVI Clothing Co. — Welcome . Do they just have PayPal ADVANCE or does Shopify allow its' own checkout method? Thanks!


No I chose PP Advance $5 monthly plan... but my cart did not have PP Advance option. It had PP Express, PP Standard, PP Pro, PP gateway Flo (or something) so I called PP and they advised to choose PP Pro and said it would the same. And it does. 

I couldn't pull that website. But my cart for example also gives me the option for "Credit/Debit", Echecks, billing, and a few others. If I chose to use the debit/credit method I would need a merchant account like Authorize.net Instead I dont offer that on my site and just use PP. 

I entered some arbitrary info on my site and took a screen shot at the point where the customer decides which way to pay. The customer has no idea that both ways are actually ran through PP.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/6939050352/


After the customer chooses Debit/Credit then a drop down appears and the customer enters thier info.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/7085135575/


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## printingray (Apr 4, 2012)

hueyonehundy said:


> Howdy!
> 
> First let me say I'm not expert and am very new to the topic so my knowledge can be lacking.
> 
> ...


Hello, i listen you very deeply, i have a great suggestion, you have to install prestashop for this purpose, here you can allow to integrate your paypal account and also you can got the other payment sources if your not agree with this. Then the best solution is to hire a web developing company which develop a module for you, you just need to add products and their prices they also integrate you paypal and set other payment sources. I hope helpful for you.


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

> How to big brands have both? (karmaloop, Johnnycupcakes, etc.)


They setup a shopping cart on their website.

The shopping cart has different plugins for payment providers. You can add PayPal and/or a merchant account if you have one.

Another good way to do this is to setup a shopping cart using wordpress and woocommerce. There is a Stripe.com payment gateway that is easy to signup for and allows customers to pay right on your site. You can also add PayPal as an option for customers with the woocommerce wordpress ecommerce setup.


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## terrisparkles (Feb 23, 2011)

I just found out about a caviat to the PayPal button on a website. If the Customer has a PayPal account associated with the email address that they are using...even if its an old PayPal account..and they haven't even used their Paypal account in years...and most of the time its such an old account that their CC is expired.....PayPal MAKES them HAVE to use their Paypal account. I know there's an option for Cust that SAYS Use other credit card...but it won't let them do it.... I wondered why the prob didn't come up at our 1st tradeshow....per PayPal when you use your Paypal card reader & physically swipe their card....then they CAN use the option of using other card.....but when they try to pay on a website...it won't. Looking for other payment button as well for my site....open to coaching on this !!!!


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## in2infinity (Dec 8, 2009)

There are several shopping carts that allow you to have a separate merchant account, and accept paypal as well. One solution you can purchase and install on most services is x-cart. We use it, but we only go through paypal.

The biggest issue you'll run into is PCI compliance. If you accept, transmit, store or otherwise handle any card data on your network then you must be PCI compliant. (actually, even if you just have a terminal you still have to be, its just must less stringent). There are different level of compliance necessary and you would have to check with your processor as to what level you fall under. 

We used to take credit cards directly through our website, we didn't capture the numbers or store any information but we hosted our own site on our servers which communicated directly with the merchant processor. To get PCI compliance with that set-up there was a 36 page questionnaire we had to complete regarding security policies. If you answered "no" to anything you failed. It was VERY stringent and required you have written password policies, network sniffing and intrusion detection software on all computers attached to the network. All mobile computers that may attach to the network at any time must also be monitored. Virus software has to be installed on all computers as well as all OS/software updates must be installed when they become available. Thats just the beginning. Then there's office staff training, physical security of card data, personnel access to data or locations where data is stored, etc. etc. We have about 10 computers on our network and several hundred thousand a year in revenue and determined it was economically unfeasible to meet their requirements. If you feel the need to have that merchant account I would highly recommend it all be handle offsite through a PCI compliant hosting service.

Definitely do the research on it... failure to comply can result in some devastating penalties. When you read through the requirements you'll understand that the credit card companies really don't want you handling the data unless you can afford the same security as the credit card companies themselves.


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## terrisparkles (Feb 23, 2011)

Dang. Wow. Ouch. Thank you so much for taking the time to give me a very detailed response. I had NO idea. 
I guess that I am too trusting in people. I get it. I actually don't know why anyone wouldn't want to only use PayPal for their own security. But 1 of my customers said that she & her husband have a shared Paypal account however, she "might" have a card her husband doesn't know that she would want to use for things (wink wink).
People are FuNnY. Thank you again ! EXCELLENT Customer Service ! I bet that you are VERY successful ! I appreciate it ! Ter


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