So, I bet you'd like to be able to take credit and debit card payments on your site for a few items or events, but aren't keen on the expense of developing a customised ecommerce solution?
Well, we have the answer, and it starts with setting up a Business PayPal account (This allows you to take payment from anyone with a credit or debit card, not just those with PayPal accounts - important as you want to make this as easy as possible for your customers).

You'll want to allow a few days at least to jump through all their hoops, including verifying addresses, bank accounts and the like and we recommend doing everything they ask for ASAP, it will save you a lot of bother in the long run.

Now on to the fun part - making the payment links... (You can see these in action here: http://www.appleyoga.com/classes/belgravia/)

1. Log into your PayPal account
2. Click on the small link at the bottom of the page: "Referrals"
3. Copy the code from the link they give you - it's the highlighted bit in this example:
   
4. Now create a link for the item you want to sell, replacing the bold text with the appropriate data (note that we use %20 instead of spaces in the description, this will appear as spaces in the order):
   https://www.paypal.com/xclick/cart/business=ReferralCodeHere&cmd=_cart&add=1&no_note=0&no_shipping=1&currency_code=GBP&return=http://www.yourdomain.com/optional_thankyou_page.html&item_name=Description%20Here&amount=PriceWithout£sign
   business= code which you copied from your PayPal account above...
   return= wherever you would like them to go to once payment is complete - great for tracking completed sales in Google Analytics
   item_name= description of whatever you're selling. Make sure it includes any variations, and is unique - you need to know exactly what they have ordered. This will show in their cart when they order, on your confirmation email, and on the email they receive from PayPal, so make it count!
   amount= price, for example 115.00 would be £115
   Obviously, you'd use this link in the background, so the text or image might say "Buy blue widget now" but the link would be as above...
5. Create as many of the links that you need above, one for each item or price option. Put them anywhere you like on your site or in emails - they do not all need to be on the same page... They will add one of whatever you are selling to a PayPal cart, and the customer can increase the quantity as they wish in the cart.
6. Now we just need to allow them to view the cart without adding something, so they can finish their purchase... Just put this link on your site or email:
   https://www.paypal.com/cart/display=1&business=ReferralCodeHere

Now, you might be interested in charging varying amounts of shipping to different countries, or for different quantities of various items - that's when things become a little more fun (or complicated, depending what floats yer boat!) so give us a call and we can discuss your exact requirements. PayPal does have limited shipping options within it, and you'll find them under their "Profile" menu.

Let us know how you get on by emailing, or leaving a comment below...