Alan Homewood, founder of 2Checkout.com, stated, “we are happy to have Tom onboard as part of the 2CO family. Tom’s experience and leadership will be key as we take an already successful company to a new level.”

Established in 2000, and headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, 2Checkout.com (2CO) is a full service e-commerce solution servicing thousands of web-based businesses throughout the world. 2CO provides online businesses a merchant account alternative and a fully automated suite of backend services. In addition to a fast and secure checkout system accepting a wide variety of payment methods, 2CO offers built-in fraud protection, 24-hour customer care, PCI data storage compliance, an automated shopping cart and easy to use plug-n-play code.

If you see that one of us is going to be in your area, please email reservations@2co.com to schedule a time for one of our representatives to take you out for lunch or dinner. This is one of many ways to show our appreciation and personalize your partnership with 2Checkout.com. Following is a list of locations and dates (schedules permitting) that will be available:

• Sept 28-Oct7: San Francisco, CA
• Oct. 18-20: Las Vegas, NV
• Nov 17-20: New York, NY
• Jan 27-30, 2010: Miami, FL
• July 18-20, 2010: Austin, TX

Keep an eye on our homepage for updates and additions as we confirm dates throughout the year.

We look forward to meeting you!

The offer, which was recently extended through September, will expire Thursday, October 1, 2009 at 12:00 a.m. EST. South African businesses anxious to integrate a new e-commerce solution and try our system on for size, are encouraged to signup as soon as possible and enjoy the $49 USD savings.

Detailed information highlighting 2Checkout’s international advantages, as well as a link to the free signup offer for South African-based businesses is still available.

In related news, 2CO will soon be announcing the integration of five additional international currencies to its purchase routine, including the South African Rand. Stay tuned for more details.

We were thrilled to attract so much positive reaction from the country’s business owners and even more so, validate the advantages 2Checkout offers South Africans within the e-commerce marketplace.

With this good news comes better news. Due to the offer’s popularity, we are extending our free signup promotion through September 30. Now, South African-based online businesses have an additional month to take advantage of 2Checkout’s special promotion, try our service risk free, and receive a full waiver of our traditional $49 USD signup fee.

Again, thank you South Africa, for your continued support! We pride ourselves on being South Africa’s ideal e-commerce solution and look forward to helping many more South African-based business owners realize their entrepreneurial dreams.

And for those of you in South Africa who have yet to take full advantage of 2Checkout’s free signup offer, visit 2Checkout Advantages in South Africa to learn more and sign up free today while our offer lasts!

We are going to be in Tampa Florida, August 10th through 12th for the Direct Response Forum (DRF). If you are in the area, please email reservations@2co.com to schedule a time for one of our representatives to take you out for lunch or dinner. This is one of many ways to show our appreciation and personalize your partnership with 2Checkout.com.

We look forward to meeting you!

E-Commerce has always been a hot topic of conversation in South Africa. For the past year, a steady stream of buzz has resonated from a number of South African message boards and blogs as business owners debate the best available e-commerce options and air their frustrations about the logistical difficulties they face while selling online.

According to various posts, most South African businesses face the same challenges while attempting to sell online – inflated rates and fees, application denials due to their South African business address, and the inability to remit payments from their e-commerce provider to a South African bank account. How is it possible for any business to survive if they can’t deposit sales into their bank account?

The truth is South African businesses have never had to worry. 2Checkout is the ideal solution and many excellent businesses from the country have already figured this out. In fact, on any given day, approximately 400 South African businesses rely on 2Checkout to sell online.

Why? There are a number of reasons why and many users were not shy in sharing their opinions in blog posts – which we in turn addressed on the new landing page. The basic difference is this. Aside from our built-in fraud protection, 24/7 customer care and free PCI-DSS compliance, 2CO provides South Africans the ability to accept all of the web’s most popular payment methods, including PayPal, and remit these payments directly to their South African bank account. These crucial, combined features separate 2Checkout from our competition and have not only made our service a popular solution in South Africa, but popular and useful throughout the world.

And what’s great is that the news only gets better. Beginning this Autumn, businesses will be able to remit their payments in South African Rand, one of five additional currencies being added to 2Checkout’s currency remittance list. Additionally, 2CO is updating its Prohibited Products List removing a number of once banned products and services, including banner advertisements and social networking sites, making it possible for more businesses to utilize our services.

We encourage you to visit the new landing page and review the facts. And if you are in South Africa and ready to switch e-commerce providers or prepared to start selling online through a new site, now is the time to choose 2Checkout and save $49 USD through our limited time free signup offer. You will be glad you did!

Guidelines:

• All photos/drawings must have a proper logo (2Checkout.com, 2Checkout or 2CO).
• Please keep all photos/drawings tasteful (no nudity/illicit behavior).
• Only one entry per person.
• You may submit your entry via email or mail.
• Entries must include your name, email address, supplier id (if applicable) and mailing address in your email or mailed entry.
• Only entries received on or before July 30, 2009 will be accepted.

Please submit all entries by mail to:

2Checkout.com
Attn: Mascot Contest
1785 O’Brien Rd.
Columbus, OH 43228

Or by email:

Mascot@2co.com

I made a point to visit the Today Show’s website to get a copy of the Loaf-Pan Chicken. Now I just have to find someone to actually make it.

Join the discussion on the Komodo Kamado website.

Have you been mentioned in local, regional, national media? Let us know. We will be happy to share the news!

In times of economic uncertainty, the small business owner is often stuck in a position where they are at the mercy of a number of different businesses. Suppliers, distributers, and banks all need paid for their services. For folks selling online, web hosts, ISPs, and affiliates also weigh down the expense column.

As part of effectively running a small business, budgeting for the costs associated with “doing business” is a crucial job of its own that robs precious time from what most managers consider the most crucial business task — marketing and selling their products. So when one of your suppliers or business partners changes distribution standards or increases pricing, balancing costs versus revenue is an immediate challenge.

Within the vast e-commerce marketplace, we are proud of what we have accomplished. 2Checkout prides itself on the fact that in nearly 10 years of doing business, we have never increased our fees, nor cannibalized our service offering to make ends meet.

Businesses that opened 2Checkout accounts in February of 2000 pay the same fees today that attracted them to our e-commerce service nearly a decade ago and continue to benefit from the upgrades we make to our system. We have never added scaled fee structures or tacked on additional costs for the businesses enjoying increased sales and as a result are more reliant on the labor intensive portions of our service — such as our 24/7 customer care center and screening orders for fraud. Growth and the increase in responsibility for appropriately handling your increase in online sales, comes with the territory of being a service-centric business. And when your business succeeds, we are more than happy to grow to meet your needs and demands. That’s our promise.

You know the old adage — you get what you pay for! It’s very true. It’s important to note it doesn’t mean you need to expect an increase in fees to coincide with each year’s cost-of-living increase or be forced to manage more of the responsibilities associated with your online sales. In the world of business, you can compete on price or you can compete on service. Very rarely can you find a business that can do both. We are proud of the fact we have remained a consistent provider of quality e-commerce services at a steady price for nearly a decade. Dependability is a good quality in a friend, but crucial in a partner for your business!