TheBanyanTree: Get on with it

[John Bailey]

Monday February 7, 2005

GET ON WITH IT

"My brain hurts," I announced, walking into the kitchen where Graham was 
pondering over what he could constructively do before disappearing for a 
few days to visit his mother in Wales later this week.

"So, what's unusual about that?"

"Don't be cruel," I said. "This ecommerce thing isn't easy."

"No. I know it isn't. Take consolation in the fact that if you can't do it, 
it's unlikely that any old fool like you can do it."

"Thank you. I needed that. Coffee?"

"You're welcome. Yes, please. Strong."

"It's good to know you have your problems, too."

So, then. It appears that PayPal isn't quite geared up to respond to my 
query. I'm at least one or two steps beyond where their development is 
currently positioned. They sent me a lovely, fully detailed answer to my 
problem. You know, the first answer. The one they send you before they 
actually read your question. I fired off a really nice response, restating 
my problem, and there's been a stolid silence since. They'll get round to 
answering me, of course. Reluctantly, they'll find a way of saving face 
while admitting that they're not quite up to where I want them to be.

Now, I'm not, repeat not, knocking PayPal. Their first consideration has to 
be the security of their system and of their customers. I appreciate that, 
and I wouldn't want it any other way. PayPal will catch up with me, but not 
until they are confident they can do so while still maintaining the 
ironclad security of their system.

Meantime, I'm left with sorting out a way through the maze of offerings 
available to me today. It's quite clear that, without spending more money 
than is sensible, I shall have to compromise. Trouble is, selecting a 
solution is real, brain-hurting stuff.

"I'll get there," I announced. "But it'll take me a bit of time and a lot 
of thinking."

"Good," Graham said. "In the meantime, how's about lunch?"

"Oh, that I can do. How does a bagel lunch grab you?"

"Sounds delicious."

And that's what I set to producing. Lunch I can do. Ecommerce is something 
I need sleep time to achieve.

After lunch, I toddled off to consult my pillow. Strange dreams, including 
walking down Oxford Street in a brilliant white, perfectly cut suit. Like 
some kind of aging angel. And a stream of people I half-knew kept coming up 
to tell me how daft I looked. Hmmm.

Walking through from the bedroom to the kitchen where Graham was already 
putting the kettle on for my wake-up mug of coffee, I announced: "I've 
solved it."

"Knew you would. Wonderful what a bit of sleep will do."

So now, in the absence of a PayPal solution, having rejected several PHP 
solutions on grounds of complexity and security, I'm going for a combined 
website/eBay/PayPal approach, keeping the shop on my own website as I'd 
planned but instead of providing a PayPal shopping cart, sending customers 
off to mirror pages on eBay to actually buy the prints. It's the only 
sensible way I can do the job without investing time in programming or 
spending large amounts of cash, and time, to buy an eshop software package. 
There's also the bonus of accessing a wider customer base from eBay than 
I'd reach from my website alone.

All that's left now is to get on with it.


--

John Bailey   Lincolnshire, England

journal of a writing man:
<http://www.oldgreypoet.com>