Online Credit Card Processing
for Your Jewelry Website

© by Rena Klingenberg; all rights reserved

Online credit card processing offers your customers a way to pay for the jewelry they buy from your website. If your site doesn't permit customers to pay with credit cards, you may lose sales, because people who shop online expect that they'll be able to buy immediately and pay easily online.

(For information on accepting credit cards in person at shows and home parties, please see Accepting Credit Cards.)

Accepting credit cards can increase your sales by making your website and jewelry business appear more "professional".

And don't forget that customers who pay via credit card often purchase more items (or more expensive items) because they don't have to actually fork out the cash right away.

Although it's easy to get started with online credit card processing, I recommend researching several providers of this service, to compare features.

Look especially at the monthly or annual fees they charge you, and the percentage they take from your sales; these figures can really vary, so it pays to take the time to shop around here.

Online Credit Card Processing
Features to Compare

• Sign-up fees.


• Monthly and annual fees.


• Percentage the provider takes from your sales (transaction fee).


• Whether the provider works with small businesses, or is geared mainly for large businesses.


• SSL (secure sockets layer) technology for online credit card processing security.


• State-of-the-art encryption of transaction data.


• Customer service: Do they offer 24/7 support, accessibility to a live person for assistance, quick turnaround reply for email questions from you?


• Credit card fraud prevention measures.


• Compatibility with your website's shopping cart or other software, or whether they offer an all-in-one shopping cart and online credit card processing service.


• Ease of setting up and integrating online credit card processing into your website.


• Which credit cards (Visa, MasterCard, etc.) the provider processes (the more different cards you can accept, the more online sales you are likely to have).


• How soon you get your money after the transaction.

See the online credit card processing providers I recommend.

Another Online Payment Option

Another option for enabling customers to pay for their jewelry purchases on your website is PayPal.

PayPal is a secure and increasingly popular form of online transaction that enables customers to pay via their PayPal balance, bank account, or credit card.

Many online shoppers prefer to pay via PayPal, and you wouldn't want to lose these sales by not offering PayPal as a payment option.

However, even though PayPal offers the ability to pay via credit card, not all online shoppers are familiar with PayPal (or want to take the time to learn about it - and decide whether they trust it).

Many online shoppers prefer to whip out their credit card, and pay via your shopping cart. So you may lose some online business if you don't offer them direct online credit card processing without PayPal too.

Reassure Your Customers About
Secure Online Credit Card Processing
on Your Site

If you offer online credit card processing, your site should have a statement about the security and privacy of the electronic transactions that are conducted on your website.

Many folks are leery about the safety of submitting their credit card information over the Internet, and a few words from you can reassure these customers.

Consider offering them offline forms of payment as well.

Here's a statement I've used on my own jewelry website, regarding the security of my online credit card processing. You're welcome to adapt it for your own use:

"All transactions on my website are guarded by a secure server with the latest encryption technology.

This secure server codes all of your information, including your credit card number, so that it cannot be read or used by any party other than the credit card billing company.

Even I can't read it, or access your credit card number in any way!

However, if you still aren't comfortable with entering your credit card number, please e-mail or call me to arrange to pay using a check or money order, or to submit your credit card number to me over the phone.

You can also pay using PayPal, a state-of-the-art secure form of transaction that protects us both."

The bottom line is that the more payment options you offer your customers, the more sales you are likely to make!