E-commerce

Skeptic1

Seeing as Ireland is the e-commerce hub of Europe, a friend of mine is planning to manufacture and sell small specialist items internationally over this Internet thing.

So I have some questions:

1. What needs to be done to accept payment?
2. Where should hosting be done?
3. Any other information/advice?
4. Any organisations in Ireland to assist with this.

As you can see, it's a fairly standard e-commerce requirement. I have a reasonably good technical background but I am unable to find decent information over the web for this sort of thing. If you are American, there's plenty but it seems quite hard to do from here without spending a fortune.

Manual validation of the credit card numbers would be fine and I've heard it's possible to have encrypted email sent from the server to an email address for later processing. So what I was thinking of doing is setting up a merchant account here and then getting cheap hosting in the US. The important thing is cutting down on initial outlay.

Thanks.

hmmm

One pitfall about manual cc validation that I have heard of is that the banks don't appreciate internet based businesses doing it, as there's a different risk profile. So I'd check to see whether your bank would find that acceptable at an early stage. You might find something like Paypal or an alternative cc processor better than using a local bank. (will take a % of sales, but save you the hassle of secure certificates, processing etc). Encrypted email would be good, whatever you do don't store cc numbers on the webserver or any similar mad practice

I'd have to be told a good reason why anyone would put up with the pathetic service offered by Irish hosting companies. I wouldn't think twice about hosting in the US.

Enterprise Ireland I guess would be the best bet to get some advice here. They host an ebusiness mailing list which would be a good place to lurk on.

dahamsta

Hi Skeptic1,

Seeing as Ireland is the e-commerce hub of Europe

I'm guessing that was sarcasm?

What needs to be done to accept payment?

You have a lot of options really, but considering you want to keep expense to a minimum, I would recommend WorldPay. It's a flat fee of (I think) UK£125 a year, and a flat 3-4% (can't remember which) percentage of revenue after that, using a merchant account they will supply. The interface is easy to build, you just need to create a form in the correct format with WorldPay's server as the target, and they do their transaction there, coming back to your site when they're done. There are a few alternatives out there, but most of them work out rather expensive unless you're selling expensive products with a reasonable transaction rate. WorldPay is a good way to get started.

Where should hosting be done?

Doesn't matter with WorldPay anyway. You can collect as little or as much information you want with WorldPay, but the actual transaction takes place on their server. If you *are* collecting data though, you would be advised to collect it over a secure connection, and store or transfer the data securely too. Geographic location has no bearing though.

Any other information/advice?

Lots. Too much to post here.

Any organisations in Ireland to assist with this.

Well, I've been through the wringer a lot with this, and I know what's what. Drop me a line if you'd like to have a chat about it. (storage@iewebs.com)

I am unable to find decent information over the web for this sort of thing.

That's because it isn't there. eCommerce isn't as big as it should be in Ireland (considering our eCommerce hub status!), and most people and organisations who know what they're talking about tend to keep it to themselves, because knowledge is power. You could write a book about it, believe me.

If you are American, there's plenty but it seems quite hard to do from here without spending a fortune.

Not necessarily Skeptic, it's just a case of putting in a lot of research and settling for a solution that isn't the best. The best solutions are very expensive though.

Manual validation of the credit card numbers would be fine

This is tricky, as hmmm suggests. If you have a merchant account already, or you've been with your bank for a few years, or you can get a good reference from your current bank, it's not too much trouble getting a MOTO (Mail Order Telephone Order, aka Cardholder Not Present) merchant account. The percentage they charge on transactions will be higher though, and you have to make sure that you are in fact allowed process transactions on the Internet (it's a separate contract).

I've heard it's possible to have encrypted email sent from the server to an email address for later processing

Yip, you can use PGP or GPG to generate the email with a public key on the server, the corresponding key which will of course be on your local machine. It's not 100% effective but it does the job admirably. Of course you have to protect both your machines from compromise, but you should be doing that anyway.

HTH,
adam

Hi hmmm,

You might find something like Paypal or an alternative cc processor better than using a local bank

PayPal is a bit troublesome in Europe though, because European users need to have an account with PayPal to pay someone using it. Well, last time I looked anyway. Cool service though.

I'd have to be told a good reason why anyone would put up with the pathetic service offered by Irish hosting companies. I wouldn't think twice about hosting in the US.

Ah, we're not all bad hmmm. I know what you're talking about, but there are a few of us out there who actually give a toss about our users...

Enterprise Ireland I guess would be the best bet to get some advice here. They host an ebusiness mailing list which would be a good place to lurk on.

It's a good resource, but I wouldn't advise lurking there. Just ask your question, get your answers and get off again.

adam

Skeptic1

Lots of good information there. I'll be looking into all this over the next few days.