We have plans to sell several things on the website, but have come up against a significant problem: How do we process payment?
The available options for selling stuff are:
- Company manufactures items and accepts payment directly, and sends us our profit as a cheque
- This is how Lulu.com works
- This is how TicketSource works
- Company manufactures items, and sends us an invoice
- This is how Magellan would work for DVD sales
- Also a general model for selling merchandise
In the latter case, we would have to process the order ourselves.
PayPal
We can't have a paypal account ourselves for several reasons, mainly involving auditing the accounts.
- CHMS are selling tickets and getting Goodricke JCRC to handle payments - I assume they have their own bank account.
- YUSU could have a PayPal account associated with their bank account, and add email addresses for each society as recognised paypal recipients.
The second solution is preferred, since it seems like a more direct solution, and reduces the complications of going through a JCRC. Plus, once it's up and working, it could be useful for other societies in the future (CHMS for example). How agreeable YUSU would be to this idea I don't know.
MoneyBookers
A competitor to paypal, MoneyBookers allow you to receive money by cheque, thus getting around the issue of needing a bank account. Mike has opened an account and will investigate further.