CONTACT

Everyone learning how to create WebPages eventually considers some type of "E-Commerce". However there is no simple solution to selling stuff on your own personal WebSite without getting involved in Shopping Carts, Secure lines and Transaction Processing. A good Shopping Cart costs dollars, at least if you want one that is capable of doing very much. Transaction Processing is another area that you can spend dollars, and probably more than you will be bringing in. There is a simple solution available and that is PayPal. Only problem is it is exactly that - a simple solution.

We will not get into setting up a PayPal account. The process is pretty much straight forward on their WebSite www.PayPal.com. I do know of some people who have actually had trouble setting up their account but then these people also have trouble sending E-Mail. Once you have a PayPal account set up you are ready to do business. You can generate Cut & Paste HTML code for several transactions such as BUY NOW and ADD TO CART, just to name two, using their Button Wizards. As stated above the solution is simple - problem is it's very simple and it does not leave you many options to play with like Commercial Shopping Cart programs offer. Still I hope I can offer some expansion not really made clear on the PayPal WebSite.

We won't talk about the BUY NOW button since it is a one item click and purchase process. We need to look at a working Shopping Cart if you are going to have two or more items available for purchase and PayPal's Shopping Cart is simple, clean and works great. By answering questions in the Button Wizard HTML code is generated that you simply Cut & Paste where your item for sale is located. We won't cover filling out PayPal's Button Wizard as it is rather self explanatory. Just make sure you view and analyze all of the questions asked - you don't need to answer all of them for it to work. And if you want to use "other options" (like the drop down menus) do not select any encryption - yes it adds extra security but honestly, you really don't need it.

To start you must understand that with the PayPal Shopping Cart each ADD TO CART button can have only one specific item and price. The following Code is for a 14" diameter Flower Pot costing $8.95 and available in several shapes and colors. For now just review the following code and see the generated examples below.

<form target="paypal" action="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr" method="post">
<table>
<tr>
<td>
<input type="hidden" name="on0" value="SHAPE">SHAPE
</td>
<td>
<select name="on1">
<option value="Square">Square
<option value="Round">Round
<option value="Triangle">Triangle
</select>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<input type="hidden" name="os0" value="COLOR">COLOR
</td>
<td>
<select name="os1">
<option value="White">White
<option value="Blue">Blue
<option value="Red">Red
</select>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<input type="image" src="https://www.paypal.com/en_US/i/btn/x-click-but22.gif" border="0" name="submit" alt="Make payments with PayPal - it's fast, free and secure!">
<input type="hidden" name="add" value="1">
<input type="hidden" name="cmd" value="_cart">
<input type="hidden" name="business" value="someone@somewhere.com">
<input type="hidden" name="item_name" value="FLOWER POT">
<input type="hidden" name="item_number" value="14"">
<input type="hidden" name="amount" value="8.95">
<input type="hidden" name="return" value="http://www.yoursite.com/thankyou.html">
<input type="hidden" name="cancel_return" value="http://www.yoursite.com">
<input type="hidden" name="no_note" value="1">
<input type="hidden" name="currency_code" value="USD">
</form>

The above HTML Code will look something like this off line:

The same HTML Code will look like this on line:

SHAPE

COLOR

The next lesson will break down each line of code and explain just what is going on. When you are ready click HERE