Hello All,
I am new here and will probably visit frequently. I have stared a new on-line venture and am very new at creating my own sites - I have always paid others to do it. This time, I decided I might as well learn and do it myself so I can change my store at my own will.

Merchant Services - I have searched the forums and read the help areas, visited vendors websites, etc.

If PayAmerica a gateway - or do I need PayAmerica AND Authorize.net?  I know there are many difference merchant services out there - but are they all gateways? Do I need a gate way AND a merchant service account?

See how I confused myself? I am just not connecting the differences.

In the end I need - a quality shopping cart AND a merchant services account to accept credit cards payments (other than via paypal).

Your help is appreciated.

Thanks!

VaNessa

Right - that is part of my plan but do I need a gateway also? Or are they the gateway too? That I guess is the question. Thanks Mitch for the prompt reply.

THANK YOU - that was all I needed. Off I go.

Hi, I am new to the programming aspect of websites as well and have similar questions. I have a VPS server, with a Secure Certificate, and I need to build a login/signup application for subscribing customers, plus an e-commerce solution for digital merchandise (photos, movies, audio). I've spoken to customer services about this and they keep telling me there's no software included in the VPS accounts and I should use Joomla scripts. I've researched it, studied a bible on PHP and MySQL but I don't feel confident enough with the solutions I've found so far. Can you advise me about the merchant accounts (do they include the software?) and software + security issues? Thank you so much!