On-line credit card payments are the most sophisticated method of supporting payments on your web site. This involves the site visitor entering their personal details and credit card number, then getting a real-time authorization of the details. A highly complex series of backend tasks need to run in order to make this system work.

 

Off-line credit card validation payments are more straightforward. This involves the site visitor entering their personal details and credit card number, then an email is sent from your site directly to you. You now need to manually telephone your bank to authorize the credit card. This is a more time consuming method and would only be suitable for low-turnover scenarios.

 

Checks and Money Orders are the simplest way of starting out. You confirm the order over email or phone and the client mails you a check or money order. This is not a very high tech system, but it works for small scale sales.

 
Cash-On-Delivery and Credit Term sales order can also be processed. This involves the site visitor entering their personal and company details as well as their purchase order number. An email is then automatically sent from your web site confirming the order. You can now process the sale order in the normal way.
 

PayPal is the easiest and cheapest way for small businesses and websites to accept payments online.