Ecommerce Solutions – Transforming your website into an online retail store.

Setting up an e-commerce site can be expensive and frustrating, or it can be inexpensive and relatively simple. AMI Studios can install e-commerce capability on your site, to your specifications. If you are interested in "doing it yourself", we are providing the following informational resources to help you learn more about internet based sales and ecommerce web sites.

Whether you want "pay per service" capability or a full-blown online catalog with photos and item descriptions, these are the necessary components:

- SSL (Secured Socket Layer) provides a secure section on your website. Confidential Data is encrypted to protect it from being intercepted or stolen; allows you to provide a secure environment for credit card transactions on your website. Learn more about website security.

- Gateway - Enables you to process, authorize and manage credit card and "e-check" transactions from your online store. Usually involves a setup fee and a monthly fee. Pricing varies.

- Shopping Cart - Provides you with the capability to organize and display products on your website. Visitors can browse through your catalog and add items to their purchase.

- Merchant Account - A bank that accepts credit card payments for you. Pricing varies depending on merchant account provider.

The cost of these features along with your Domain name, hosting service and website development fees, can add up very fast. All of these costs, plus the expense of stockpiling your inventory, are out of pocket before you can sell your products online.

Alternate eCommerce methods:

PayPal - enabling your website with a PayPal payment solution will allow your customers to view your products online, add items to their online shopping cart and make secure online purchases from your website, without the cost of having your own merchant account, SSL, gateway or shopping cart.

AMI Studios has developed several applications designed to integrate directly with your PayPal account that will enable you to have all the convenience of an ecommerce website along with the very low cost of PayPal.

This is a much more cost effective solution on the front end, however, there is a drawback. In order to use PayPal, your customers must setup their own PayPal account, which requires a creit card for verification. Some customers are not comfortable with leaving their credit card on file. Also, with PayPal, your e-commerce solution is maintained on PayPal's server, not your own independent server.

The cost to profit ratio far outweighs these issues. Eventually, a store may grow to a point that will warrant a high end e-commerce solution, but until then this is a simpler, more cost effective solution for small businesses to start out.

Online auctions - If you are just starting out and not sure what to do, you can sell your products using an online auction service like eBay!, To learn more about online auctions, or to find some great products resources visit www.onlineauctionsguru.com to help start your online auction business today.