How To Incorporate PayPal Into Your Site

Posted on September 29th, 2009
A blog post by DN (1 Comment)

With the huge number of shopping carts and e-commerce solutions available to web site owners, it’s nice to know that you can simplify your choices down to some very easy to use tools available at PayPal.  As millions already have PayPal accounts, what better way is there to offer a quick payment method than through PayPal?

Get set with a business account

The very first thing that must be done is setting up a business account with PayPal.  To do this, log into PayPal under your personal account, click on “Upgrade Account” (located in the “Enhance Your Account” box), select “Upgrade Now,” choose Business account and then press continue.  You will need to fill out your business information at this point, select continue and you will be set as a business account.

Choosing the right solution

Once your business account is all set, it’s a matter of choosing which PayPal solution works best for your web site.  When looking under “Merchant Services,” you will see four basic choices – a “Buy Now” button, an “Add to Cart” button, an invoice solution and a virtual terminal solution.  All of these choices are geared to specific levels of e-commerce.

Simple site

If you have a very simple site that has just a few items for sale, your best option is the “Buy Now” Button.  With this option selected, you select what you are selling (product, service, subscription, etc.), whether you wish to allow your customers the option of purchasing more than one item (this will enable the “Add to Cart” button), the name of the product or service and an assigned identification number (optional).  You’ll also enter the price of the item, shipping options, and tax information.  A very nice additional option to the button is being able to customize the button.  You can opt to add in a drop-down menu or a text field.  While this is one of the simplest options available on PayPal, don’t think it’s without some extra features.  You can track your inventory and even add in a special instructions area for your customers.  All in all, the “Buy Now” button is very simple and very handy.

Service-oriented site

For those online businesses that specialize in services rather than products, the invoice solution is the best choice.  Using either a brand new standard template or one that you have created and saved, you’ll be presented with a page allowing you to enter your business information, your customer’s information and all your invoice information.  The page is very easy to use and is outlined much like a regular paper invoice.  There are columns set in place for quantity, item Ids, description and unit price.  You can also choose whether or not specific items are taxable.  Add in your shipping and tax percentage and you have a completed invoice that PayPal will automatically email for you.  PayPal’s invoice solution takes the headache out of written invoices.

More robust solution

Lastly, if you have a rather extensive site with many products or services, you’re best to choose PayPal’s virtual terminal solution.  The virtual terminal works just like the credit card swipe machines used at retail stores.  You will need to sign up for the service and once in place, it’s a matter of allowing your customers to order by phone, fax or mail with their credit card.  Once you have received the order, you input the order information into the PayPal virtual terminal.  PayPal does all the work behind the transaction, ensures you are paid and the customer is charged appropriately.  There are fees involved but they are the same as the regular per-transaction prices charged for any major credit card.

Conclusion

It can be a confusing and daunting task to try to mesh together e-commerce solutions and your online web site.  Fortunately, PayPal has a few services available to make that task a much easier one.  You can spend more time adding products and services to your site and less time worrying about the payment process.