Frequently asked questions (F.A.Q.) for e-Commerce.

FAQ For e-Commerce.

Q. I do not sell products, I offer only two services to my customers. Is there an ecommerce facility to take payment online even though I will not be sending any goods?

A. Yes, the standard Goods & Services Package is suitable for those who wish to take payments for services only. The banking system used will send a receipt for the services paid for. Payment can be made in advance or after the service has been provided and the customer can pay at anytime via the website.

Q. Why do we need a normal website when we buy an ecommerce package?

A. An e-Commerce package needs a website to attach to, standing alone it is not a complete site and would offer a poor experience to the visitor. E-Commerce functions without a full website wrapped around it are never seen on the internet.

Q. Once we have bought an E-Commerce website and are online, what do we actually need to do when a customer purchases a product?

A. When payment is made online the banking system used will deal with all the payment issues and place the purchase amount minus the banking system fee into your internet bank account. The customer will receive a receipt from the banking system for their purchase which also offers them payment protection. You will be informed via e-Mail of the order details such as delivery address and contact details. At this point you simply arrange for despatch of the goods.

Q. Must we set up a special internet bank account before we can have an e-commerce site?

A. A verified account that integrates with the e-Commerce payment system is always needed if you wish to use full e-Commerce functions. Funds paid into this account can be easily tranfered online into another account of your choosing. To prevent fraud the account must be verified by the banking system before they will accept e-Commerce transactions on your behalf. Opening a suitable account directly with the online banking system provider is a simple procedure.

Q. Will I be able to trade under my business name with the e-commerce website?

A. You can if it is already legal for you to do so. If you do not have a legitimate business account already the e-Commerce function will not in itself provide you with one. In this case you may trade under your real name (eg R Smith trading as Companyname.co.uk) which still enables you to accept online payments via credit cards. Should you wish to trade as a business account most high street banks and building societies offer this service.

Q. Do I need to deal with the credit card payments for my website in any way?

A. No not anymore, when e-Commerce first started it was complex, expensive and prevented most small to medium organisations from using it. The very large websites such as Amazon will still trade this way, providing their own financial systems and acting as their own merchant accounts. Now there are all-in-one service providers (Paypal, Nochex and Worldpay are the biggest) which act as an online payment processor, payment gateway, internet merchant ID and merchant account all in one. This new type of account is far easier to set up and enables you to simply receive an e-Mail informing you when a purchase has been made.

Q. Is there a monthly charge for e-Commerce?

A. No, once the e-Commerce website is online SharpPlum makes no additional charge. Please be aware that the e-Commerce banking systems (all of them) offer accounts which feature a monthly charge. If it is suitable for your purposes then SharpPlum will always recommend an account with no monthly charges.

Q. Is it possible to accept US dollars on my website?

A. Yes, currency conversion can be handled automatically by the e-Commerce banking system, you need do nothing.

Q. We now wish to sell our own mp3's on the website. We understand that the bank will deal with the payment but how do we allow the customer to download the file without letting everybody else access it?

A. This is done using a specialist downloading service. All digital goods (music mp3's or even knitting patterns) can then be securely downloaded only by the customer direct from the site of the downloading service not your own website. This is part of the Digital Goods Package.

Q. When a customer downloads an e-book does this come from our website & will it use our sites bandwidth?

A. If you are providing the file for free then it will be downloaded directly from your website & will use your bandwidth. If you are selling the file as part of the Digital Goods Package then the download will be taken from the servers of the specialist download service provider & use their bandwidth, not yours.

Please consider sending an e-Mail outlining your needs. A timely reply will be provided.