Adding Transaction Fees to E-Commerce

Transaction fees are surcharges that you can charge customers for purchasing online.  They go by different names such as convenience fee, processing fee, handling fee, etc. There are two types of transaction fees: 1) a transaction fee on the entire transaction as a whole, and 2) a transaction fee on specific products purchased.  These fees can be set using a flat rate or percentage of the amount being sold online.

We will discuss the setup of each here:

Transaction Fee on the Entire Transaction as a Whole

1. Launch the E-Commerce activity, click the Setup tab, and make sure the Fees tab is active.

2.  Click on the Select Option drop-down menu and select Add Fee.

3. Type in an Internal Fee Name (the name which only staff will see) and External Fee Name (the name the customer will see).  The Fee Rate drop down has the option of a Flat Rate if you want to define a fixed amount for entire transactions or a Percentage rate if you'd like to charge a percentage on the overall subtotal of a transaction.  Select the appropriate Accounting Code.  Type an optional Description for additional details or notes and click on Save.

The transaction fee for transactions as a whole is now created.  Repeat the above steps to create more transaction fees as needed. 

4.  Now, the transaction fee needs to be added to the Aluvii webstore/website.  If you have not yet created a web store, see set up your E-Commerce Website.

5.  Click on the Website tab on the E-Commerce module.

6.  Click on the Website to highlight the website to which you want the fee added.  Click on the Select Option menu and select Edit Website from the drop down 

7.  With General section active, click on the Include Website Transaction Fee checkbox to enable transaction fees on the website.

8.  Click on the Fee Name drop-down list and choose the transaction fee that you created.

9.  Specify the amount in dollars for Flat Rate or the percent value for Percentage.

10.  Click on the Charge Tax checkbox if you want to charge sales taxes on the transaction fee itself.  Select the appropriate Tax Rate from the drop-down menu.

11.  Finally, choose the Payment Types to which you want transaction fees applied.  For example, you may only want to charge a transaction fee when a customer pays by credit card.  You may think this is unnecessary given that credit cards are the currently the only valid forms of online payment, but as more options become available, you'll be ready to go.  Click on the Save button

Transaction Fee on Specific Products 

As a reminder, you may only want to charge a transaction fee if specific products are purchased.  This is done in the setup for E-Commerce products.  To learn more about creating E-Commerce products, see add products to E-Commerce.

1.  Launch the E-Commerce activity and click on the Products tab.

2.  Click on the Product that you want to edit to highlight it.  Click on the Select Option menu, and click on Edit Product.

3.  Click the Include Transaction Fee checkbox.  Click on the Fee Name drop-down list and choose the transaction fee that you created.

4.  Specify the amount in dollars for Flat Rate or the percent value for Percentage.

5.  Choose Charge fee per item to apply this fee per each unit purchased, or choose Charge only one fee per product line which will charge one time for the product regardless of the quantity purchased.

6.  You can optionally select Don't show fee on product screen checkbox if you do not want the product fee to appear in the product catalog when browsing products to purchase.  The transaction fee will not appear until the customer views their cart or checks out.

7.  Click on the Charge Tax checkbox if you want to charge sales taxes on the transaction fee itself.  The tax rate for the underlying product will be applied. 

8.  Click on the Save button to complete the setup process.