There is more than one way to take payment for products or services online. Your choice depends on your situation. Each choice has its pros and cons which you should discuss with someone with experience before you make your decision.
At the simplest end is a PayPal shopping cart as shown on Doris Halstead’s site, Reach into Life Books (above, left) and Do Re Me and Maria‘s site (above, right). If you have only one or a few items to sell, in a limited or specialized market, the PayPal solution could be best for you. It also works for donations, as on Barefoot Acupuncturists (above, middle).
Also using a PayPal shopping cart but on a larger scale is Bluenose II Company Store (left). I inherited the cart when I redesigned the site, but it really should be using another option, given the size of the store.
Timber Tools (right) uses a third-party cart with “Add to Cart” buttons from CanadaCart, but is considering migrating to a full shopping cart that would make it easier to change prices.
Timber Frame Houseplans (left) sells one item at a time, and includes tax and shipping in the sales price, so we got away without a shopping cart. The site is, however, integrated with a full-fledged Moneris gateway. If they add other items to their store, they will need to move up to a full-fledged shopping cart.
Finally: a mystery client, for whom we are working on a full-fledged shopping cart. Watch this space for news!