• 1.8% swipe fee plus $0.15 for each transaction for MasterCard, Visa and Discover purchases
• 3% plus $0.15 for American Express purchases
• Option of using the iPhone-attached swiper for credit card purchases (a free version available for use with your audio jack, another for $100 is built into the phone’s casing)
• Merchants who run at least one Groupon deal are eligible for the service

Square, another popular payment service, offers a 2.75%-per-swipe fee. Groupon’s 1.8% is a welcomed lower rate. Of course, those companies who handle large numbers of credit card transactions can opt to pay Square’s $275 flat monthly fee.
Paypal charges 2.7% for each transaction, but also offers merchants an option to ear 1% back on MasterCard purchases, bringing the overall resulting fee to 1.7%, slightly below Groupon’s offer.

Groupon’s VP and general manager for payments, Gene Alston, says the company does not intend to battle for Square’s market focus. Instead of aiming for companies that don’t have a means to process credit cards, Groupon is focusing on merchants who already have this access who might be seeking ways to get discounts. Alston explains, “What we found is they’re looking to make that [credit card processing] experience better.”

These changes were discussed in a July edition of Business Week that profiled the company. Groupon’s CEO, Andrew Mason, explained that this “operating system for local commerce” aims to place Groupon in the center of small business transactions. A tough competitor for the company may be Paypal, a former employer of Alston. PayPal’s overall lower fees don’t seem to intimidate Groupon. Alston says that merchants typically get their credit card accounts through a bank. These customers may not see PayPal’s offer as a true cut in fees, and they may experience saving more money taking advantage of Groupon’s offer.

PayPal has estimated that over $1 Billion will be spent online on virtual goods and currency in the United States alone, with that number jumping up to $6 Billion Internationally. A large majority of these purchases will come from famous MMO’s, (Massively Multiplayer Online), websites such as Facebook, and subscriptions to services like that of XBOX Live.

Not only can virtual goods be purchased online through PayPal, but also physical items. There are a ton of websites that offer physical items that you can order and pay for online. These items are then shipped to your house without you ever having to leave your house.

PayPal has realized, and capitalized, on the demand for alternative methods of paying for goods online. This industry has been booming for the past few years, and is projected to grow even more over the next 5-10 years

On Wednesday, the chosen students were all handed $100,000 to get their businesses started as well as, cease and desist with their plans of a higher education. Thiel has been featured in the media speaking about the “education bubble”, with the cost of education far outweighing what you actually reap in return, he believes that a piece of paper and a boatload of debt can be overcome. Student developers like 18 year old, John Burnham who wants to use space-industry technology to resource extraction or 18 year old, Faheem Zaman who created a mobile payment system for the developing market are hoping that success will come calling. After all, there is no guarantee that after college, a position at a fortune company will be there waiting nor is there anything that says the Thiel 20 Under 20 entrepreneurs will be victorious. Both ventures have their ups and down; entrepreneurship versus a college education is always a tricky decision for the young generation to make. With $100,000, they were just given a great start in the race.

Info from an official eBay website:
What is the eBay Bucks Rewards Program?
The eBay Bucks Rewards Program is designed to reward eBay members for purchasing items on www.ebay.com. If you join, you’ll automatically accrue rewards in the form of eBay Bucks based on your qualifying purchases. Upon the completion of each calendar quarter, the eBay Bucks you earned over that 3 month period will be issued to you in the form of an eBay Bucks Certificate. You can use this Certificate to buy more things on eBay!

What is not considered a qualifying purchase?
Qualifying purchases excludes all Classifieds, Business & Industrial Capital Equipment, Real Estate, and eBay Motors categories (except Parts & Accessories in eBay Motors, which will earn eBay Bucks).

Does this program cost anything?
Enrollment in eBay Bucks Program and participation are FREE. There is no cost.

What changes for prior Beta Program Participants?
Existing eBay Bucks members do not need to re-enroll. The current earn period as well as your account balance simply continues and you keep racking up Rewards.

How do I earn eBay Bucks?
Earning eBay Bucks is easy! After you enroll start shopping on eBay and you’ll automatically earn eBay Bucks on qualifying purchases. Watch your Bucks pile up for the calendar quarter; after the quarter has ended you will receive an eBay Bucks Certificate for the total amount earned.

You can learn more at: http://pages.ebay.com/rewards/faq.html

It is the website created for a company which provides hearing aids. The website has a clean design and user friendly navigation. There is also a shopping cart integrated with PayPal. It has a custom CMS which allows: add news and articles, maintain eStore, edit content on the website, change images etc.

Platform: WordPress
Work Scope:

• Custom Design
• WordPress eCommerce plugin customization
• Integration of WordPress with Magento, some parts of Magento store are control via WordPress CMS.
• SEO optimization
• Facebook and Twitter pages design