2Checkout is happy to announce the re-launch of our demo store, ACME Online Books.

The new ACME Online Books provides both basic and advanced code samples that show how to create 2Checkout purchase links on your site.

The “basic” examples show some of the possibilities of our Plug and Play parameter set, for vendors with relatively simple purchase needs.

The “advanced” examples are intended for vendors with more advanced requirements and web developers adding 2CO compatibility to their shopping carts. We’ve even included a downloadable sample return script.

In the future, we will be unveiling even more resources for our vendors and third-party developers, so keep an eye on our blog for more announcements.

One day last May, we offered free vendor accounts to anyone signing up in a non-US currency. It was such a success, we’ve decided to do it again, but this time, we’re opening it up to everyone, regardless of currency.

To claim your free account, just sign up any time between 12:00AM and 11:59PM Eastern Time on Monday, February 16th. We’ll refund all signups made during this time, within the next week.

This is a great opportunity for small businesses and those in emerging markets to get started in ecommerce and save $49 USD at the same time.

If you can’t “meet” someone here, you’re toast!

Last week, two of us from 2Checkout attended the Internet Dating Conference in Miami, and of course, the puns are seemingly endless describing the number of interesting people we “met.”

So, go ahead and laugh at the fact that an online dating conference even exists, but keep in mind that this industry is highly profitable and professional, very popular with consumers and becoming more mainstream everyday. But, I know that those of you who are not entirely familiar with the online dating and matchmaking industry are asking the question — what could dating industry professionals discuss for two and a half days?

The fact is, i-Date varied little from traditional internet marketing conferences. Exhibits included typical services such as insurance and fraud protection, but also included a mix of industry-unique companies selling products such as security monitoring services designed to make follow up calls to women to ensure they have returned home safely following a date, and white label dating sites designed to make the “do-it-yourself” as easy as possible.

Breakout sessions included standard topics such as search engine marketing, newfound revenue, and fraud fighting. However, industry specific discussions focused on date screening background checks, making sites more female friendly and reviewing new DNA matching systems.

While listening to a fraud-fighting panel featuring industry experts such as Elena Kolyasnikova from Russia’s Pilot Group, we were pleasantly surprised to hear panelists agree that 2Checkout vendor Stop-Scammers.com was an excellent resource to verify potentially fraudulent dating site customers. Stop-Scammers lists thousands of known scammers involved in dating fraud with photos, scam reports, media files, fake documents, scam scenarios and warning signs that industry professionals can share to protect their collective interest. Hearing unsolicited praise for one of our valued vendors was very rewarding.

2Checkout is proud to provide an ecommerce option for dating sites and services around the globe and when it is time for i-Date 2010, we will be there… “it’s a date!”

While upgrading our SSL certification, 2Checkout turned to loyal customer and reseller, SSL 247 for the service.

SSL 247 is a reseller of Thawte, a certificate authority responsible for authorizing SSL Certification. Through this newly established relationship, SSL 247 will be responsible for providing 2Checkout with an extended verification certificate.

According to Warner Moore, Senior Systems Administrator for 2CO, “SSL 247 was an easy choice not only because they provide the Thawte certification we were looking for, but because they are experts at customer service and a first rate organization. All of our dealings with them, on the customer and vendor level, have been positive experiences.”

SSL 247 is a one-stop-shop for SSL solutions operating around the clock, making it possible for customers to install SSL certificates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They have strategic relationships with GlobalSign, VeriSign, GeoTrust, and RapidSSL providing customers access to the industry’s leading solutions. A new security benefit SSL 247 will provide 2Checkout is Extended Validation (EV) identified by a highlighted Green address bar. Customers purchasing suppliers’ products via 2Checkout.com will see the address bar highlighted in green, providing more confidence and the highest industry standard identity authentication.

Are you ready to start the New Year right by increasing conversion rates and expanding your global customer base? We are too and we are wasting no time by starting with an upgrade to our purchase routine next week.

Please note Wednesday, January 7 will mark the launch of a significant upgrade to our standard purchase routine including a new feature that will translate the entire routine into 15 different languages. 2CO’s Product Development staff has been beta testing the system since mid-December and has experienced positive results; therefore, an on-time launch remains imminent.

The translation feature will provide customers one-click translations of our checkout screens as well as an option for you to point sales to a translated version of your choice, to better meet the needs of your primary customer base. In addition to English, purchase will be available in Traditional Chinese, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Portuguese, Slovenian, European Spanish, Latin Spanish, and Swedish.

If you haven’t had a chance to view the new system, you can still do so by clicking the beta links on the previous announcement. The system will remain in beta through January 6. We value your opinions and thank those of you who have taken the time to familiarize yourself with the system and provide constructive feedback.

Happy New Year and best of luck in 2009!