PayPal

You don't need a merchant account to sell online, just SynchroMesh Retailer and a PayPal Business Account. There's no set up fee for either. PayPal fees are transaction based, starting at a maximum of 3.4% plus 20p per transaction.

PayPal's Website Payment Standard shopping basket is already integrated with our SynchroMesh Retailer software: all you have to do is upload product images using the simple file management tool and put in product descriptions. It's as easy as typing a Word document. You can add any number of products options (e.g. colours, sizes, prices) for each product. See SynchroMesh Retailer for a full list of features.

How does it work?

PayPal send you email notification when a customer buys from your site, giving details of the order, including shipping information etc. Payment goes directly into your PayPal business account, less the transaction fee.

The Website Payment Standard shopping basket allows you to accept debit and credit card payments via your site quickly and securely. Customers don't need to have a PayPal account, but for those that do, SynchroMesh Retailer includes the option which allows them to pay using this rather than a credit card. This speeds up the checkout process by using stored information.

Useful merchant tools available to you include:

• VAT management
• customisable delivery options
• comprehensive online reports
• postage management tools which allow you to print postal labels and track delivery.

PayPal Virtual Terminal

If you want to give your customers the option of paying by telephone, fax, post or in person, you will need PayPal's Virtual Terminal service, for which their fee is £20.00 per month. You don't need to buy any special hardware, but you do have to go through an application and approval process.