You can leave it as it is
or add features within the existing PayPal-based payment system. But when the site gets serious,
you??™ll want to start processing orders and credit cards yourself. This is the part where things
get complicated, and you need to be serious and careful about your site??™s security.
Phase III: Processing Orders and Adding Features
The core of e-commerce??”and the bit that really separates it from other web-development
projects??”is handling orders and credit cards. PayPal has helped us put this off, but there are
many good reasons why??”eventually??”you??™ll want to part company with PayPal:
Cost: PayPal is not expensive, but the extra services it offers must be paid for somehow. Moving
to a simpler credit card processing service can mean lower transaction costs (this is not
a rule though), although developing your own system will obviously incur upfront costs.
CHAPTER 1 ?– STARTING AN E-COMMERCE SITE 8
Freedom: PayPal has a fairly strict set of terms and conditions and is designed for residents
of a limited number of countries. By taking on more of the credit card processing
responsibility yourself, you can better control the way your site works. As an obvious
example, you can accept payment using regional methods such as the Switch debit cards
common in the United Kingdom.
Integration: If you deal with transactions and orders using your own system, you can
integrate your store and your warehouse to whatever extent you require.
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