E-Commerce

Is there a bettter alternative?

Yes there are always alternatives. But at what cost?
Here is the alternative we highly recommend which needs no software, hardware or secure server on your web site. Only a simple HTML form post is required for each product and we can take care of that for you when we design your web site. There are no product or service category restrictions. You will be able to sell in Canadian or US dollars depending on the service option chosen and accept payment by four major credit cards - Visa, MasterCard, Amex & Discover.
Choose from any one of many options to meet your specific needs.
The Canadian Dollar package option allows you accept credit card payments from VISA, MasterCard, American Express and Discover in Canadian Dollars. From the 3 packages you cand decide wheter to pay a setup fee or not. Your choice will also effect the discoupt rate which varies from 3.75% to 9%. (The 'Discount Rate' is the percentage of each transaction taken off by the applicable credit card company)
See chart below for what you can expect for setup fee and charges.

• Fee for Approvals ONLY - You are charged ONLY for transactions that are approved. (i.e. no fees for declined transactions). • No Risk Signup - If your application is declined, your Setup Fee will be refunded in full!

All fees including Setup, Monthly and Transaction are billed in the currency of the account (i.e. Cdn Accounts are billed in Cdn $'s, US Accounts are billed in US $'s)
Setup and Monthly Fees are subject to 7% GST.
8% of merchant credit card sales are held in a "Rolling Merchant Reserve Fund" (RMRF) for 6 months and are returned to the merchant.
¹Minimum Monthly Charge of $25 on Packages 5 - you pay 9% or $25 whichever is greater.
Payment Frequency - Packages 1, 3 plans funds will be deposited to your account twice per month. Packages 5 funds will be deposited to your account once per month three business days after the 12th.

Advantage of this E-Commerce type of operation are:

customize your web site and don't get stuck with a set web store front
"Canadian Dollar Option" allows you to begin with a plan for merchants who are not sure how their online business will take off
allows you to 'test the water' inexpensively with a very low initial start up cost
provide not one but 4 credit card acceptance capabilities
easily upgradeable to other options when on-line business grows.

The transaction process for any of the above online credit card acceptance options flows something like this

Working with this recommended organization, you will even have the ability to process voice or fax orders. The advantages in this are that all merchant sales (regardless of origin) are captured, processed, reported and funds deposited to your bank account. This eliminates the need for separate merchant numbers, bank accounts and sales reporting. This feature applies to all of the ecommerce options above

If this is not for you, there are other organizations that charge a flat percentage rate on the product sale price. You link your web site to their server on which you set up a store front with their ready made templates similar to other store front operations. These organizations allow you to accept some of the popular credit cards. There are of course some product and or service category restrictions which may proclude them as a possible alternative for your E-Commerce operations.
Got questions and need some answers, click here for Frequently Asked Questions
Read enough and ready to make a "no obligation" merchant status credit card application? Click here to join the Internet and online E-Commerce revolution.
At Topic we continue to support businesses by staying approachable and by providing customized Internet web site design, development, promotion, marketing, maintenance and hosting.
Not only do we design web sites from scratch, but we often get contracted to do face-lifts and upgrades for existing sites, or daily through to annual updates and maintenance.
While keeping everything simple and staying on topic we consider the strategic importance of web design and usability to enhance OUR CLIENT'S ability TO ATTRACT, MAINTAIN and INTERFACE with existing plus the millions of potential customers on the Internet.
Our knowledge base extends into all aspects of the Internet, which is used to the benefit of all our clients.
For more help on your E-Commerce and web site solutions, feel free to email us at info@topic.on.ca.

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