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-- Log on HNA121698 started at Wed Dec 16 11:56:34 PST 1998
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| homeparentsADM: | I think a tax chat would be good..in Jan... |
| Anita: | absolutely |
| CJ: | ugh, don't remind me |
| CJ: | I got such a mess to straighten out |
| homeparentsADM: | maybe we could all just share some ideas...I hate taxes too..self-employment tax, espeically! |
| CJ: | almost tempted to just gather up all my records and dump them on an accountant |
| Anita: | I have a guy that does my accounting for taxes |
| Anita: | But I still do the everyday bookkeeping and if |
| Anita: | you don't understand the basics, you could get into trouble |
| CJ: | fortunately I do understand them but tend to put them off |
| Anita: | What is self employment tax now, something like 30%? |
| CJ: | I took accounting for a year in college |
| homeparentsADM: | want to start, Anita? |
| Anita: | We planned to talk about some of the more detailed aspects of online shopping. |
| Anita: | I guess before we get started it might help to know everyone's point of reference. |
| Anita: | For example, I write and maintain some commercial web sites |
| Anita: | but am by no means any kind of expert. |
| CJ: | same here... |
| Julie: | I shop a lot :) |
| Anita: | Barb? Kylie? |
| Kylie: | I shop and design sites -- never had to do shopping cart or online payment yet |
| homeparentsADM: | I know nothing about the details, like how you set up online shopping..is it a program? |
| CJ: | it is most often a Perl Script |
| Anita: | Janet? |
| CJ: | sometimes other languages are used besides Perl |
| Anita: | I think there might be a wide range of ways isn't there? |
| CJ: | yes |
| Julie: | Web carts use either Java, Javascript C++ or Perl |
| Anita: | at a very basic level you could use an unsecured non-cgi form |
| CJ: | ASP and Cold Fusion can be used as well |
| Janet: | I am working on a javascript/cgi one now |
| Anita: | and then scale it up from there |
| Anita: | Candace, quit talking over my head! LOL |
| CJ: | |
| phaedra: | gigggle |
| Julie: | Ugh.. NT.. I'm not even going to go there |
| Kylie: | Janet, tell 'em how many wheels it's got! |
| Anita: | Yes! tell us! |
| Janet: | my shopping cart has about 2 wheels at this point.... |
| Julie: | wheels? oh hahaha |
| CJ: | wheels? |
| Janet: | non-tech speak :) |
| Anita: | LOL!! |
| homeparentsADM: | do you have to pay for secure shopping? |
| CJ: | now your talking over my head...I dont understand non-tech speak |
| Anita: | We just started and were talking about each of our points of reference. |
| CJ: | hehe |
| Kylie: | it always cracks me up thinking of Janet wheelign a two wheeled shopping cart around her loungeroom |
| Anita: | LOL! |
| CJ: | Barb, depends on what your using |
| CJ: | the carts I work with, you have to purchase the script |
| CJ: | but there are also a couple of sites where you can get free access to a shopping cart for your site, but it is remotely hosted |
| Anita: | Barb, I believe there are services out there that are turnkey, merchant processing, cgi hosting the whole gammit. |
| Julie: | the range is from free to purchasing your own certificate which is between $150-300 depending on the company who provides it |
| Anita: | Julie, that brings us to a point I hoped to discuss. |
| Anita: | IE 3.0 has a glitch that causes security errors depending on your certificate and your url |
| Anita: | have you heard of it? |
| CJ: | lord, I know it...its a pain |
| CJ: | I've run across it |
| Anita: | Has anyone else? |
| Julie: | Anita: what is the error? I have seen several that are just setup errors. |
| homeparentsADM: | what happens? |
| Anita: | CJ, can you help me describe it? |
| CJ: | oh geez |
| CJ: | you get a security warning that has nothing to do with the setup for one thing |
| Anita: | I use my host's certificate, Thwarte |
| Anita: | and I guess what IE 3.0 does is recognize that my domain name doesn't match the name on the certificate. |
| Anita: | CJ, does that sound right? |
| Julie: | Thwarte is a very good one, and I've used I.E. 3.2 for debugging for a long time. You have to be sure all images are also on the secure site. That is a common error |
| CJ: | something like that |
| CJ: | it happens with sites that are using their hosts certificates |
| Julie: | Oh... did you buy the certificate, or are you sharing your hosts certificate? |
| homeparentsADM: | what are certificates? I'm very unknowlegeable about this! |
| Anita: | I share my host's certificate. |
| CJ: | yes Julie, images are the first thing I check for when there is that type of problem |
| Julie: | A certificate is good for only one domain. All secure pages must be on that domain or it is invalid |
| CJ: | Barb, to have SSL a Security Certificate must be purchased |
| CJ: | and run either by the host or the site |
| Julie: | I would check with your host to make sure they set you up correctly. |
| homeparentsADM: | so, let's pretend someone has a site, but has no secure shopping. What's the first step? |
| Anita: | Barb, that is what Julie mentioned earlier that costs $100-$300 |
| CJ: | the site must use the hosts url though to use it |
| Julie: | correct |
| Anita: | Julie, you wanna answer that one? |
| Julie: | Sure, first check with your host to see what they offer. Then it's a matter of comparison shopping. What features you need, what your budget is, etc |
| Julie: | A clothier's needs are different that someone selling products with no size or color selections for example. |
| Anita: | Also, Barb, from the get go I guess you need to be able to accept credit card orders |
| homeparentsADM: | so, would you just do a search on the net? Or where do you get started? |
| Anita: | give us a scenario Barb |
| CJ: | you could do a search and come up with a lot of results |
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| CJ: | but one thing that is most helpful is to ask others who have carts |
| CJ: | find out what they use, what it does, etc |
| Julie: | Barb, there are a number of list members that do this |
| Anita: | or even just forms for that matter CJ |
| CJ: | forms are your simplest way to do it, but it also means your customer must remember what they wanted when they get to the form |
| Julie: | Yes, the best referral is from another business who is successfully selling online |
| Anita: | Barb, if one of my clients asked me that, I would first find out if they are set up to accept credit card orders. |
| Anita: | Julie, I agree |
| Anita: | Then I would look at how many products they have like Julie said |
| Anita: | Say you only have one product |
| Anita: | Then a secure online form is probably all you need, not necessarily a cart |
| CJ: | yep, Anita have set up both kinds |
| CJ: | Anita and I have set up ones for large number of items and also one for just one type of item |
| CJ: | they both have different needs |
| Julie: | Lots of people I have talked to recently use Yahoo Store.. They are terrific, and the business owner can maintain their own site easily |
| Anita: | Candace helped me set up a Danise Cart for my Harley-Davidson client |
| Anita: | full of all kinda of products some of them sizables, and various shipping and tax calculation |
| homeparentsADM: | now, what about oversea orders..I mean out of country..how do you handle that easily? or is there an easy way? |
| CJ: | LOL, I dont think there IS an easy way...customs can be a b**** |
| Anita: | That's interesting Julie, I've not heard about that! |
| Anita: | Julie, do you handle many overseas order situations? |
| Julie: | anita, I don't sell anything :) |
| Anita: | Right but your clients do don't they? |
| CJ: | Julie, there is a new one out now too called Free Merchant |
| Julie: | Several people in the mall do, they would be the ones to ask |
