E-Commerce Web Site
Price:  $42/hr
Venturing into E-Commerce can be confusing but it is essential if you truly want to grow your business.

I will make it easy for you by walking you through the entire process of setting up your on-line business and building your store. I can build a website into your store or customize the store to your preferences and connect it to your existing website.

Services:

Set up an E-commerce MIVA Merchant 5 hosting account (shopping cart)
Set up your web site name (domain name)
Advise you in obtaining a Merchant Account
Configure MIVA Merchant 5 store to accept on-line payments
Customize shopping cart to your design specifications
Build a website into your shoping cart software.
Prepare and install product photos & descriptions
Teach you how to access sales information through your cart

Note: Once your MIVA Merchant 5 store is customized and set up, you can easily maintain it yourself. Or, if you prefer, I can maintain it for $42/hr.

Also, MIVA Merchant 5 store offers MIVA MAILER, a dynamic e-mail newsletter program for an additional monthy fee of about $20/month. This system allows your customers to subscribe to your newsletter. To create your newsletter, you have a choice of pre-designed templates to use. Just fill in the content and hit send!


Total Costs of doing business on-line:

To Set up a web site store that accepts on-line payments, you need:

• Web Designer : $42/hr
  A Web Designer customizes the appearance of your shopping cart, installs your products and configures the cart to accept payments on-line. On average, a small store of about 20 products requires about 20-25 hours of labor.
  
  
• Web Site Name (Domain Name): about $20/yr
  Your store needs an address so people can find you. This address is your "www" Web Site Name or Domain Name.
  
  A domain name is purchased from Domain Management companies.
  
  I will set up a domain name with the Domain Management company of your choice. You will be billed separately by this Domain Management company.
  
  
• E-Commerce Hosting Account: about $419.88/yr
  Your store needs to be placed on a special computer that can be viewed by people using the Internet. This computer is called a server or a hosting account. You can "rent" space (a hosting account) on servers through Internet hosting companies.
  
  Additionally, you need to use a specialized server called a secure server that encrypts credit card numbers (puts them into a secret code) so hackers can't get your customer's credit card numbers from your store.
  
  You also need access to special software called shopping cart software in order to display your products and accept on-line payments. All of these features are available in a special type of hosting account called an "E-Commerce Hosting Account".
  
  I will set you up with an E-Commerce Hosting Account through American Data Technology. This account includes the use of their secure server, a MIVA 5 Shopping cart, an e-mail account and web stats. I use this company because they provide superior customer service and I trust them. You will be billed separately by American Data Technology for your E-Commerce Hosting Account.
  
  
• Internet Merchant Account: about $30/mo +
  
  To accept payments on-line, you need to set up a special account to collect these payments. This is called a Merchant Account.
  
  Because you are accepting credit cards without physically seeing them, banks consider this a higher fraud risk therefore they require you to use an Internet Merchant Account which charges a slightly higher fee.
  
  The fee for an Internet Merchant Account varies by company but generally, the cost is about $30 per month plus a transaction fee of around $.30 + 2.5% of the product cost.
  
  MIVA Merchant offers MIVA Payment Silver, their own low cost Merchant Account with built-in Cybersource Payment gateway for only
  $25.00/month and transaction fee of $.30 + 2.39% of the sale.
  
  The loweset cost option is to use a 3rd party merchant account such as Pay Pal. They don't charge a monthly fee but charge a slightly higher transaction fee of about $.30 + 3.0% of the product cost. The downside to this is that customers need to leave your site to pay for your product which can generate a feeling of mistrust.
  
  I will assist you in choosing a Merchant Account company but you will be billed separately by your Merchant Account company of your choice.
  
  Click here for a Merchant Account/Payment Gateway Comparison Chart
  
  
• Payment Gateway: about $0-$20/mo
  
  A Payment Gateway "shuttles" the payment information from your store (shopping cart) to your Merchant Account.
  
  Imagine that you are closing shop at the end of the night. You have counted up your money, now you need to get it into the bank. You need to get to the bank somehow by perhaps driving your car. Think of your car as your payment gateway.
  
  Many merchant accounts include the cost of your Payment Gateway with their monthly fee. Others charge a little extra.
  
  PayPal includes the Payment Gateway with their services so there is no additional cost.
  
  I will help you select a Payment Gateway that is compatible with MIVA Merchant 5 shopping cart. You will be billed separately for your Payment Gateway through your Merchant Account of choice.
  
  Click here for a Merchant Account/Payment Gateway Comparison Chart
  

Total Cost for a 20 product web site:
1st Year: About $1,850
Costs: Web Design + Domain + Hosting + Merchant Account

Subsequent Years: About $800/year
Costs: Domain + Hosting + Merchant Account

Hesperus E-Commerce Clients:
Sweet Shoppe Candles-gift shop retailer
Adaptations by Adrian-clothing retailer
KDA Custom Embroidery-embroidered apparel
Anna Molino Lof-Piero Guidi handbags (payments are off-line)

Resource Links:
MIVA Merchant 5
MIVA MAILER
American Data Technology
MIVA Payment
Merchant Account/Payment Gateway Comparison Chart