Welcome to BuyNSellStuff:

ShopSite* Shopping Cart Information:

We use ShopSite* as our shopping cart and check out system. It is currently rated as the best and easiest to use. However, that is not all the story as the process involves several security institutions and services.

How Does It Work?

Credit Card processing requires quite a few steps, and several different companies are involved, such as your store, your payment gateway, your merchant account provider, and the bank that issued the customer's credit card. These drawings and explanations provide a simplified version of credit card processing from a merchant's point of view. If you want more information, you can read the detailed version.

Authorizing a Purchase

Authorizing is the process of getting approval for a credit card purchase. Although the sale is finalized, no money changes hands at this point.

The customer types their credit card information into the ShopSite order form.
ShopSite sends the transaction information to the merchant's payment gateway for authorization.
The payment gateway sends the transaction information to the banking network and receives back either an authorization code or a "transaction declined" message.
The payment gateway passes the authorization code (or declined message) back to ShopSite.
ShopSite displays a receipt to the customer, or a "problem" message if the transaction was declined.

Capturing and Settling

A "capture" is a request by a merchant for funds that were previously authorized. Settling is when the bank that issued the credit card transfers the funds to the merchant's account. The funds are usually available in the merchant's local bank account within a few business days.

The merchant logs into the ShopSite back office, selects one or more orders that have shipped, and clicks the Bill Orders button.
ShopSite sends the capture request to the payment gateway.
The payment gateway sends the capture request to the banking network.
The banks that issued the credit cards transfer funds to the merchant's account at the acquiring bank or ISO.
The acquiring bank or ISO transfers the funds to the merchant's local bank account.
The merchant can access the funds at the local bank.