Ecommerce Gateways is a confused topic indeed. So the purpose of this article is to outline a few costs, pros and cons of different setups.

Keep in mind that the prices noted change regularly. They may have been accurate at the time of writing this article, but they should be confirmed before proceeding.

Paypal Free Accounts:

Paypal accounts are free to initiate. There are other Paypal accounts that charge a service fee, but we will not cover these in this article.

Transaction Fees start at and 2.4% + 30c per transaction for a buisness account. These fees are reduced depending on the monthly sales you do. If you do over $150,000 a month, teh Fees drop to 1.1% + 30c.

If you transfer less than $150 out of your paypal account into your bank account, you get slapped a fee of

Pros: You don't get charged if you don't sell

Cons: Paypal holds your money until you transfer it to your bank account. If there is a problem - PayPal holds the money. PayPal is governed by US laws - not Australian.

Merchant Accounts with Bank Gateways:

These vary from bank to bank. Some banks have very poor gateways. Fees also vary from bank to bank.

At the time of writing this...

The NAB offers a Transact eComm Merchant account with costs:

• Establishment fee - $199
• Annual Fee-  $28
• Monthly Fee - $ 35 (which is $420 per year)
• Transaction Fee - $0.35
• Merchant Service Fee (per transaction): another%

SSL certifcates are not required (depending on setup).

With most of the Bank Gateways, the customer may end up on the Bank's ugly transation page. These pages don't often intergrate seemlessly with your website.

Pros:

• The bank looks after the security
• Goverened by Australian Laws
• Payments go straight into your bank account automatically.

Cons:

• High Cost
• Credit card transaction page looks ugly
• Website needs to be customised to use the particular bank's gateway which costs more in regards to web development.
• There are usually restrictions with using bank gateways. These are sometimes unknown until later down the track. Finding somebody at the bank who knows the technical details of the gateways is rare.

Shopping Cart Reviews:

Virtual Mart

• Pros:
  • Open Source
  • Order tracking and docket printout
  • Aus Post shipping plug-in
  • Categories
  • SKU's
  • Weights
  • Paypal, Google + custom payment gateways

• Cons:
  • Only Backend into shop admin
  • Layout difficult to format - confusing
  • some formatting problems
  • Ugly

RokCart

• Pros:
  • Open Source
  • Looks Good
  • Easy to use
  • Good for single page, <10 items
  • Paypal and Google payment gateways

• Cons:
  • No Detail View - only one page shop.
  • Only Backend into shop admin
  • No Order tracking and docket printout
  • No Aus Post shipping plug-in
  • No Categories
  • No SKU's
  • No Weights
  • No Custom Payment Gateway
  • No Cost Price

Seber Cart

• Pros:
  • Easy Paypal, Money Brokers, Eway, Camtech Gateway
  • Basic Order tracking and docket printout
  • Aus Post shipping plug-in
  • Categories
  • Weights
  • Paypal, Google + custom payment gateways

• Cons:
  • Only Backend into shop admin
  • No SKU's
  • No Cost Price
  • Have to make an Article for each product