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Posted by Gamma on 10/30/06 01:17
In article <q869k29le70tk098joq78b3fhh4gn45sbp@4ax.com>, Adam
<anon@nowhere.com> wrote:
> On Tue, 24 Oct 2006 01:51:57 -0400, Koncept wrote:
>
> >In article <RAK_g.24833$lT5.4961@fe2.news.blueyonder.co.uk>, John Paul
> ><Johnny@NOTTELLING.nope> wrote:
> >
> >> I'm thinking of building an e-commerce site in php.
> >>
> >> Anyone got any advice in building one?
> >>
> >> What is the best way to implement a payment system?
> >>
> >> Are any legal issues involved?
> >>
> >> Thanks,
> >>
> >> John Paul.
> >
> >I advice is "don't bother". There are millions already pre-made e-com
> >scripts out there you can tweak. Check Google. Check sourceforge. Check
> >phpclasses.org. Seriously! You are wasting your time reinventing the
> >wheel here. Why not take advantage of what others before you have
> >already built and contributed?
>
> And *my* advice to your advice ... is to *steer totally clear* of O/S
> "solutions" (for e-commerce at least). I've tried a few and they're
> the biggest P.O.S. I've ever seen. Security nightmares, most of them -
> spaghetti-like code which often looks 10yrs old, with patches made by
> amateurs that require subsequent patches ... code that requires
> register globals to be ON to work ... yadda yadda ...
>
> If you're feeling particularly masochistic, try OSCommerce.
>
> Don't get me wrong - there's tons of totally excellent O/S code out
> there - written by unbelievably talented people - but I've yet to find
> a decent O/S (or very cheap) e-commerce solution that works well in
> today's environment - though I'm open to suggestions!
>
> I'd say it's far better value (from a client's point of view) to spend
> their money on a solid commercial product (that has good support) than
> you "reinventing the wheel" (I agree on that bit ;-) )
>
> Adam (flame suit ON!).
Koncept, let me cover another aspect. The fellows in here were very
helpful when I posted a question so now it's my turn to give something
back.
I run pay-to-view web sites which is another way of saying I run
e-commerce sites.
You ask what is the best way to implement a payment system. This will
be your biggest headache.
When I set up my first PTV site, I was back in my native New Zealand.
(These days, I'm in the northern hemisphere.) I was the first person in
New Zealand to receive permission to transact credit cards online. My
bank and the card companies invited me in for coffee, it was a sort of
mini-celebrity thing. Wow how times have changed!
Starting last year and continuing today, the card companies have been
introducing new protocols for card-not-present transactions. This has
caused and continues to cause major disruption, inconvenience and
frustration to webmasters.
For many industries, it can now be difficult or impossible to structyre
a payment system. Oh, there are many (hundreds. Thousands!) of web
sites that proclaim "we can have you online in 48 hours." Bullshit!
Here is my advice on how to get a contract with a payment gateway, as
painlessly as possible.
You should put your site online first. A site that is "under
construction" or offline, will not be given much consideration.
Make sure you have a checking account with a regular bank. Ask them
will they offer you a merchant account.
Set up a simple spreadsheet. You will want to keep an easy-to-use
record.
Do a google for "payment gateway". Start the long boring process of
visiting a site, reading what they offer, entering details in your
spreadsheet for future reference and posibly applying for an account.
50% of the sites you visit will be just agents for Authorise.net.
Another 25% will be bullshit sites that want to sell you some expensive
software the sort of software your correspondents wee discussing
above. Another 20% will be thieves, out of business or whatever. The
nuggess, that last 5% you will follow up on.
Many many industries will not be well-received. Some make sense, others
do not. Read the exclusion list before wasting your time replying to a
gateway that does not want your business.
Don't be too optimistic when filling in the field "how much do you
think you'll process per month?" They like you to be small. Tell them
under $20,000 per month is my recommendation.
Some of the gateways you apply to will reply "congratulations. You have
been accepted. Now you can start processing cards." This is another in
the chain of lies.
What they really mean is "ok we're prepared to THINK about it. We did
you a big favor by not droppin g your application straight in the
rubbish. Now you must jump through this hoop, kiss that ass, fill in
these papers, send us copies of all these other documents then wait
wait wait"
Don't pay any up-front fee. Many gateways do not ask for a fee. Others
do. I've seen one that asks for a four-figure fee! Are they mad? Pay
them before they do anything for me?
Once youy've filled in all their forms and sent them copies of this and
that, you will wait while they crawl over your site to make sure it
meet their arrogant demands.
Only then will they email you that you have been accepted.
You now must think "ok...what happens next?"
Actually connecting your site to the gateway is a nightmare because,
now that you've been "accepted" they have forgotten about uyou and
moved on to the next prospect. You must beg and nag to get some tech
guy to tell you exactly how to make the connection.
They will hold your monedy or some of it for 30, 60 or more days. Some
of your customers will be dishonest assholes. The will try a
charge-back. Your gateway needs to protect itself against these
unexpected refunds.
After six months, with luck you will be online and receiving income. 48
hours? They should be shot for deceitful advertising.
Legal issues? Depends on what you're selling. If you're in the US you
are under the oppressive thumb of one of the world's most malignant
dictatorships. Even if you're outside the US, remember the Shite House
still tries to impose its will on the rest of the world.
Don't offer gambling services, online medication, under-18 pretty
pictures...oh the list is so long I will leave youy to do the research.
Consider hosting your site outside the US.
Don't forget about taxation. Income, sales, local.
Avoid the temptation to spam the poor unsuspecting buggers on a mailing
list you might think about buying.
Think Macintosh. Secure, fast, bug-free, hack-free, reliable,
inexpensive (yes. Despite all the lies from Microsoft, a Mac is cheaper
than a comparable Windows box).
Keep proper records. As business picks up, you don't want to be
constantly searching for this or that tidbit of data that was not filed
properly.
You WILL get email "I can't log in" or "where is my order" or "you
bastards are cheating me. Give me my money back or I'm going to the
cops". You need to have pre-formatted answers for these morons
I think that's all I can offer. Right now, anyway.
Have fun!
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