Accepting payments online seems pretty straightforward. And it can be but there is more to it than you think. At least as far as choosing your payment providers.
When you are selling anything online from your website, you want to make sure that there is the right processor for the right person. Not everybody uses credit cards after all. This is especially true if you are selling your art or services to customers from other parts of the world outside the USA.
Having an assortment of payment options for your customers will help you earn more money so you can make a better living selling your art.
illustration by Muriel
In this article, I will go over several things to keep in mind when choosing a payment provider.
Get their trust
People shop at Amazon not only because they have just about everything you could ever need in life, but also because they trust the site. They know that there won’t be any issue of a fraudulent transaction.
You’ll have to gain that same trust and part of that is by providing trustworthy payment options. Another part of that is to make sure your site is encrypted with an SSL certificate.
Having multiple ways to pay ensures trustworthiness. If you only accepted credit cards and only a certain kind, then that might put people off and make you seem untrustworthy.
Accepting cryptocurrency like Bitcoin is also a good way to gain trust. People that use a BTC wallet to pay for things understand that the safest way to send money is with Bitcoin as all the transactions are immutable and can’t be changed.
Make it easy to pay
A sure way to leave revenue on the table is to make it difficult to pay. If you require people to send a check or money order, then you shouldn’t be selling online.
It needs to not only be safe to pay you via your website, but also easy for the customer. This ties in to the concept of taking multiple payments.
If somebody only uses PayPal because they like having the option of disputing a payment and getting a chargeback, then they may not buy if you only take credit cards. Other apps are also becoming popular now so people can use their phone to buy things. With more and more people using their phones to browse and shop, it makes sense to have a way for them to pay with one of their mobile apps.
And, once again, accepting Bitcoin is a good way to get customers from outside your country. Since there is no currency exchange they have to worry about, or any hoops to jump through, they can quickly and easily make a transaction from anyplace in the world.
Ask your customers
If you have a following on your social media channels or an email list, then you can ask them how they prefer to pay. You may get some interesting answers that help you identify providers that you hadn’t considered before.
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