Questions about online selling

[The Vorpal Tribble]

Ok, got a question for anyone who might know the answer.

If a web provider grants a 'shopping cart' feature, does this just means it lets you merely set up an order, or do you have to use some other agency to actually sell, say, a file, like a PDF or mp3 and then download it?

[valadil]

You can use another provider or roll your own shopping cart feature. Most small groups elect to pick a provider for that sort of thing because doing your own secure checkout is hard and it's important that it's done right. This is especially important if you're distributing files. You don't want to run the risk of someone finding a link to your PDF that bypasses the payment system.

[The Vorpal Tribble]

What I meant is the web provider I plan on using has a built in shopping cart feature if you wish to use it. Does this feature itself usually allow for the use of credit cards and such?

Like you just go and click on my magazine, enter your info, the credit card pays for it, and the magazine pdf file is then given?

A 'payment gateway' I believe it's called.