If you do not already have one, sign up for a Paypal account. It is free, and it links your ecommerce website to your checking account. Your customers will use Paypal to pay you with their credit card. Best of all, your customers don't need to sign up like you, so your business gets more transactions.

Using the free Paypal account forces your customers to leave your website momentarily. Alternatively, you can set up a custom payment gateway with Authorize .NET for $20.00 a month. Your customers stay on your website for the whole duration of the transaction.

Making Paypal work with your ecommerce website is a simple matter of filling in the appropriate field in the control panel with your Paypal e-mail address.

To link Paypal to your website and start accepting transactions:

1) Log in to your control panel.

2) Navigate the menu to Initial Store Setup -> Paypal Account Setup.

3) Enter your Paypal account e-mail into the only field on the page and press "Save".

4) You have successfully activated your merchant account and are ready to start accepting transactions through your ecommerce website!