Payment Gateway for my website Carefree Parenting

[Vinita]

Hi Satish,

I have written 2 ebooks which I am selling off my website http://carefreeparenting.com. I got the shoppping carts from ejunkie (http://bit.ly/AnL4W5) and used PayPal as my payment gateway.

Now I have found that readers in India, and this is a large part of my readership are unable to buy these ebooks because Indian government regulations do not allow payment from one Indian account to another using PayPal.

What payment gateway do you use for technotip? How long does it take to set up? What does it cost? I would really appreciate your help with details and suggestions of what is the quickest and lowest-cost method to resolve this problem. Also, which website gives you the shopping cart buttons?

In the future, I plan to coome out with more ebooks, ecourses, and a premium membership as well, so the payment gateway and shopping cart buttons need to be able to handle the extra volume as well.

Thanks and regards,
Vinita

[Satish]

yes you are right:

Indian government regulations do not allow payment from one Indian account to another using PayPal.

In this case you can use some other payment gateways and get money directly to your Indian bank account.
You can make use of service like: ccavenue.com for this.

Using this gateway, you can accept payment from both India and international clients/customers.
Customers can use their debit card, credit card, through their online bank account, mobile banking system etc.

Major players like ICICI, SBI, Axis Bank (formerly UTI Bank), Citibank, United Bank of India, Done Card, SBH, State Bank of Mysore, Andra Bank, Tamilnad merchantile bank ltd, Indian overseas Bank, ING Vysya Bank etc.

[Vinita]

Satish,

I have been corresponding with CC Avenue and yesterday I received an email for them that they considered my business too risky!! God alone knows what they meant by that.

In any case, the support team at CC Avenue that I had been talking to had already told me that they did not provide payment gateways for downloadable e-books.

I have also been checking with ICICI Bank for a credit/debit payment button as well as for netbanking. Yesterday, they got back to me. For the credit/debit card, they will charge a one-time fee of Rs. 50,000/- and for netbanking, a one-time fee of Rs. 30,000/-. This is too much!

I also wanted to know which payment gateway you use at Technotip for creating / designing websites. I would greatly appreciate any other options / solutions.

Thanks a pile,
Vinita

[Satish]

Vinita,

You could make use of Google Check out. I use PayPal to accept payment from my foreign clients; To send money, I have to use my credit card. Indian clients either send me a Demand Draft or Cheque or they transfer the payment directly to my bank account by getting my account number.

I have SBI credit card, and I would recommend it:

You have to keep a minimum fixed deposit of 20,000 Rs; for which I got 9% interest. That is I’ll get interest for the amount I keep as fixed deposit. And using my credit card I can access(pay) this 20,000Rs and pay to other people / services.

I’ll have upto 60 days time to clear the credit.
And you can apply for online banking for free in SBI. Even if there are hidden charges, it wont exceed 500Rs!

Make sure to clarify all these things with your local SBI branch.

And I’ve heard that ICICI also has similar plans available. So you can communicate with these two banks.

ps: Just now saw that Google Checkout has been changed to Google Wallet, where people can pay for all the things Google Sell -> android apps ( android marketplace ), Google Videos, and their Online Store etc.

Sign up for Google Wallet account and follow this link to provide Google Checkout button for your customers to buy your products http://checkout.google.com/seller

[Satish]

Transaction of Rs. 49.06 made on SBI credit card xxx xxx xxx xxxx xxxx at GOOGLE on x xxx xx.

So a fee of Rs 49.06 will be deducted from our credit card once we signup for Google Wallet.

Just to let everyone know.

[Vinita]

Thanks, Satish! I do have a credit card, but given that my products are low amounts (so far, $12.95 and $4.95), and that I am hoping to sell hundreds of thousands of these ebooks, I don’t know how motivated people would be to send me a cheque or a Demand Draft.

I am assuming that you will not be dealing with so many cheques and demand drafts. Also, the motivation to have a website designed is totally different to the motivation to buy an ebook. I feel that if people have to go to the trouble of signing and posting cheques, they may choose not to buy the book at all!

However, netbanking seems a viable option. I will check it out, and Google wallet as well.

Thanks a ton,
Vinita

[Vinita]

Thanks! :-)

[Vinita]

I’m back with another question, Satish! The country options in Google Wallet do not feature India – there’s just the US, Italy etc. What country did you fill? I went to “Merchants” and then “Digital” for sign up.

Thanks,
Vinita

[Satish]

hmm.. I could select INDIA while adding my credit card.

I’ve not signed up for http://checkout.google.com/seller

I signed up for Google Wallet.

[Satish]

Yes. as you rightly said, people won’t be motivated enough to go out and drop a DD or cheque to buy a digital product like an ebook yet: atleast in India.

Also look at Citi Bank payment gateway options too http://www.online.citibank.co.in/portal/cpg/ecomm-faq.htm

But I would recommend going with ccavenue by somehow convincing them.

[Vinita]

Hi Satish,

I wrote to Google Checkout (now Google Wallet, as you mentioned), saying I can’t see India as an option in the countries. I’ve just got a reply saying they’ve forwarded my problem to the concerned department which should get back to me soon. They sure take a long time! It’s been 5 days since I last mailed them!

This is to keep you posted about what’s happening.

I’ll also try speaking with CC Avenue again.

Cheers,
Vinita

[Author]

Posts