for future reference
Merchant Account and e-commerce Site
A merchant account allows you to accept credit cards when you sell goods and/or services. You may be able to get such an account through your bank; if not, there are an amazing number of such services listed on Google.
The problem is you’ll usually be charged a monthly fee, even if you make no sales. And even if you find a service that doesn’t charge monthly, you sill have to set up a website that’s e-commerce enabled so you can sell and deliver your eBook. Some of the companies offering merchant accounts also offer such sites, at an additional monthly fee. Private developers can cost literally thousands to get your site up and working properly.
If you already have a merchant account it may make sense to go this way.
Using Someone Else’s Merchant Account
No, I don’t mean using your neighbor’s merchant account; I’m talking about services like Click Bank, StormPay, PayPal and PayLodz, which works through PayPal. Both ClickBank and PayPal allow you to sell eBooks using their merchant account – which means no monthly fee.
PayLoadz
PayLoadz is a bit different. They both make it fairly easy for you to incorporate their services into your website – in general, you create an offer page, a thank you page and an autoresponder that sends the purchaser an email telling them how to download the eBook after their payment has cleared.
ClickBank
ClickBank is used by many of the most successful eBook promoters in the world. Their setup also allows you to create your own affiliate network easily. Currently, there is a one-time $49.95 fee to become a ClickBank vendor. You can set your own retail price; ClickBank charges $1 plus 7.5% for each transaction. As long as your sales are at least $25 per pay period, they send a check every two weeks.
In a nutshell, you build a web page that offers your ebook, that links with your code to the ClickBank purchase process, and second page that thanks the buyer and gives them the download link.
ClickBank also allows you to easily setup your own affiliate program so other websites can sell your ebook – and you get the commission.
PayPal
Paypal has no setup fee. You do have to register and associate your PayPal account with a bank account. Their transaction fee for vendors is currently $.30 plus 2.2%, and changes often as interest rates change. They also pay a bit of interest on any money you’ve got in your PayPal account. They offer a debit card that you can use when you’ve got funds, but if you collect a lot of money you’ll probably want to transfer it to your own bank account because money in a PayPal account isn’t insured.
The basic procedure for selling a single eBook is going through several steps on the PayPal site to generate code for your website. Once you place the code on your sales page you’ll have a buy now button. You will also need a thank you page with the download link.
PayPal also offers a shopping cart for multiple items. In fact their merchant tools keep getting better and better.
PayLoadz
PayLoadz piggybacks on PayPal to make your life a bit easier. If you’re selling less than $100 a month the service is free, after that it costs $15 a month and there are some additional features.
StormPay
StormPay is another solid system you may want to use.
There are other services but at the moment, ClickBank is my personal recommendation for eBooks, with PayPal coming in second.