Input from OS Commerce users on Payment Module??

[Pablo]

I need help on the ability to accept credit cards online for my other business. I mean we can accept credit cards and generally don't have a problem, but the way it's configured it all goes through Paypal. We all know Paypal sucks, so please save that for another thread.

Again this is NOT a Paypal sucks thread. What sometimes happens is when a customer selects to pay with a cc, Paypal will not allow the card because this is the card the customer's Paypal account is set up with. Again this is NOT a Paypal sucks thread, start your own thread for that.

So what I need help with is maybe installing:

"Authorize.net Credit Card AIM" or "Authorize.net Credit Card SIM" OR ???? from OS Commerce's "Payment Modules" list.

I just know nothing about this.

Will a credit card clearing place be able to help? Anyone recommend one?

 

[StevieC]

Pablo can you use a Yahoo E-Commerce store setup and drag that code into your website and have them do the authorization for you?

 

[Pablo]

Hmm....I also know nothing of Yahoo E-Commerce. I don't see how that would work with OS commerce.

 

[uc50ic4more]

Pablo - If you can accept and process credit cards, then you need *not* use any electronic means of processing your transaction using osCommerce.

(I have administered several online stores using osCommerce, and have modified most of them *heavily*, and am quite familiar with the code base.)

PapaBear on these forums, who is my dad, runs http://theteddybearabbey.com with my mother using (one of my heavily modified installations of) osCommerce. When they receive an order, they get a notification email. They log into the administrative area of the site and collect the transaction information, and then process the order *exactly* as though it had been phoned in. I am not famliliar with the processes that follow regarding verifying the card and actually charging it; only that the process is identical to that of a phone order.

Regarding the Yahoo, or even Google Checkout and other payment processing services, you can always check with the osCommerce site, as they have a massive area where users contribute add-ons and modules. Perhaps there are modules that interface with these payment processing services if you choose to do things "the hard way". If you already have a merchant account with a credit card company, though, using one of these services seems unnecessary.

There are also two considerable advantages to this approach:

1) Users never leave your site to conclude a transaction elsewhere. Your site's user interface/ user experience remains consistent throughout.

2) Users account info remains with *you*, instead of the user using an account with someone else to process transaction.

Note, though, that if you receive a lot of overseas or international orders, using one of these services, I suppose, might lessen the headaches of validation and currecy conversion.

 

[Pablo]

No the ONLY current way is through Paypal.

So I just signed up for Authorize.net. Let's see where this goes.

 

[uc50ic4more]

Originally Posted By: Pablo
No the ONLY current way is through Paypal.

So I just signed up for Authorize.net. Let's see where this goes.



What I am trying to tell you, though, is that you do not need either. You can simply have all of the transaction information just "sit there" until you manually process the order.

Maybe you could PM PapaBear, or he could chime in here to clarify.

 

[Pablo]

I understand that - but I have no way (currently) to manually process the order.

 

[uc50ic4more]

Originally Posted By: Pablo
I understand that - but I have no way (currently) to manually process the order.


Oh - In the first post of this thread I saw this:

Originally Posted By: Pablo
I mean we can accept credit cards and generally don't have a problem,


If you can process a transaction in person, or even over the phone, you can use osCommerce transactions without the need for a payment processing service.

If I've misunderstood, and you are going to have to use a service, I cannot highly enough recommend that you head over to the osCommerce community contributed module site - http://addons.oscommerce.com/ and also set up an account for their forums - http://forums.oscommerce.com/ -- The people there are very, very friendly; ranging from total n00b's to professional PHP coders. If modules for the services you wish to use are not already included with a stock osCommerce install, there is very likely a contributed module for it (especially for mainstream providers like authorize.net, and especially when you're in the U.S.). Any questions you'd have about setup and usage would be well answered at the forums.

In summary: PayPal sucks! :^)

 

[Pablo]

Quote:
I mean we can accept credit cards and generally don't have a problem, but the way it's configured it all goes through Paypal.


Needed all the junk after the comma.

We don't do phone orders (yet) - pretty much unmanned. We just fill the orders......

Thanks. It looks like authorize.net shouldn't be TOO bad.

 

[uc50ic4more]

Originally Posted By: Pablo
Quote:
I mean we can accept credit cards and generally don't have a problem, but the way it's configured it all goes through Paypal.


Needed all the junk after the comma.

We don't do phone orders (yet) - pretty much unmanned. We just fill the orders......

Thanks. It looks like authorize.net shouldn't be TOO bad.


Here is a search for "authorize.net" at the osCommerce add-on site: http://addons.oscommerce.com/category?search=authorize.net

I remove everything I don't use in the way of payment methods, so I am unsure about what options a stock install gives you, but I think authorize.net is pretty standard and comes highly recommended by those who use it.

I think that if you're going to offer only "3rd party" payment processing options, authorize.net might be the better bet anyhow as it is will be transparent to the user, unlike PayPal or Google Checkout; Google Checkout being, in my opinion, a far superior user experience for users relative to PayPal, although more limited in its functions.

If we were sitting around discussing this over a beer, though, I would one last time suggest tinkering with your merchant account to allow or accommodate "phone" or (whatever you'd call) orders NOT placed in person. I know this carries some inconvenience as some card issuers will ask for a deposit or charge higher rates to mitigate against the risk of not having a signature.

 

[Pablo]

I've come to the conclusion that I don't know what the [censored] I am doing.

I called authorize.net to see if I can get the bloody thing working. The bored woman tells me the error is at the Merchant Service Provider.