New to Shopping Carts - Need Some Advice

[Guest alecbradley]

Hello,

I am new to setting up shopping carts and doing the whole payment gateway thing. I have a merchant account and a PP account setup, but I have no idea what Im doing when trying to set it up for CubeCart.

Can anyone give me a quick guide on what API, IPN mean and which gateway is best for me. And what is wanted when they ask for a description.

Thanks for the help!

[Ausy]

there is a guide on setting it up here http://www.cubecart.com/PayPal-UK-Integration

[Guest]

API stands for "Application Programming Interface" and is a set of defined functions that allow 2 software applications to communicate with each other.

IPN stands for "Instant Payment Notification" and is PayPal's way of telling CubeCart that a payment has gone through. While it's called 'instant', sometimes it takes more than a few seconds, which is why some folks experience the "your payment has failed" message even with successful payments.

Descriptions for payment gateways is simply what you want the customer to see on the payment gateway page where they choose which gateway to use to make their payment. Some people don't understand what PayPal is, and you may want to describe it as your "backup credit card processor". Most people use a description such as "Pay with your PayPal account or credit card." While most descriptions are simply labels, you have the option to interject your personality here and even take several paragraphs to explain to your customer what to expect when using the various options you present to them.

As far as which gateway is best for you, there are too many variables to give a blanket recommendation. PayPal is a good option to have for anyone. Google Checkout is becoming popular, at least with merchants. I have no data regarding how many customers use it. I think most folks prefer to use an on-site credit card form, such as with Authorize.net. If you have a significant number of non-US customers, be forewarned that Authorize.net AVS (Address Verification System) has difficulty with non-US postcodes and often returns an error saying the address provided doesn't match what is on file with the issuing bank.