Testing out site/ cart

[EnvyCandles]

Hey everyone. Whet dud you all do to test out your shopping cart? I am specifically referring to the actual purchase. Making sure the cart works with the cc merchant. Ensuring the order goes to you, that you are notified, etc.

I was under the impression we were not allowed to charge our own cards to test it.

Ideas or advice?

[pcbrook]

Well, I have never gone as far as charging my credit card but I have placed orders to check it it all works fine and then just delete it when everything goes through fine. I use Propay to process credit cards so that is a whole different thing. Has nothing to do with the website.

I am not sure why you could not use your own credit card to test it. I have never heard of that but it might be possible.

[TallTayl]

As a long time computer system developer, I test everything from start to finish. It's easier to know something is wrong than to fix something after a customer discovers it.

Test orders using each payment method available. Test shipping with various carriers. Test various ship to's that differ from bill-to's. Test coupons. Test discounts.

Why is it not OK to test a cc transaction? Banks and other financial processing systems test to an actual account to verify everything is set up ok.

[EnvyCandles]

I have PayPal as merchant, designer 218 and mals. I guess I wAnt to make sure that once someone pays, I am notified. So would I do a whole purchase And pay Nd everything and then just void or reverse or refund my payment?

[EnvyCandles]

anyone??

[TallTayl]

When testing PayPal I just do a very small transaction (like a buck) and leave it be. I don't worry about the $.35 it cost me to go through the routine. The change from the buck sits in the account for later.

[Alan]

Sometimes carts will have a test mode that you can place the cart into. Also, many merchant account providers will allow you to use "test" credit card numbers. In the case of paypal, take a look at http://www.paypalobjects.com/en_US/vhelp/paypalmanager_help/credit_card_numbers.htm

Ultimately, I do think that using your own credit card to run a tiny transaction is the best way to convince yourself that everything is working as it should. When doing this, don't use a CC that is already tied to your Paypal account, as paypal will detect it and likely tell you that you can't run transactions thru your account with your own credit card. If Paypal permitted that kind of activity, then the CC companies would have a fit, since it would be like allowing you to withdraw cash against your credit line. That is something that the CC companies like to reserve for the higher "cash-advance" interest rates.

I hope that helps.

Edited January 18, 2013 by Alan
typo correction

[EnvyCandles]

Sometimes carts will have a test mode that you can place the cart into. Also, many merchant account providers will allow you to use "test" credit card numbers. In the case of paypal, take a look at http://www.paypalobjects.com/en_US/vhelp/paypalmanager_help/credit_card_numbers.htm

Ultimately, I do think that using your own credit card to run a tiny transaction is the best way to convince yourself that everything is working as it should. When doing this, don't use a CC that is already tied to your Paypal account, as paypal will detect it and likely tell you that you can't run transactions thru your account with your own credit card. If Paypal permitted that kind of activity, then the CC companies would have a fit, since it would be like allowing you to withdraw cash against your credit line. That is something that the CC companies like to reserve for the higher "cash-advance" interest rates.

I hope that helps.

Thanks for the link. Yes from a business perspective no cc company wants a merchant to charge their own card- I'm sure they all have fine print about it.