The quickest and cleanest way to begin accepting payments online is through third party payment systems such as PayPal and the new Google Checkout. Both of these services are excellent in what they do and they handle payment security so that you don't have to. Both offer seller protection features and a full suite of account management tools.

Best of all, both services are completely FREE accept for transaction fees. That's right, there are no monthy fees or setup fees. Save money and make money starting today!

PayPal fees are only 2.9% of the total transaction cost plus $0.30 per transaction. PayPal is currently the most widespread online payment service and can be used to send invoices and re-occurring bills to customers.

Google Checkout fees are only 2% of the total transaction cost plus $0.20 per transaction. If you use Google Adwords to drive traffic to your website your Google Checkout service will be completely free so long as your sales are no more than 10 times your monthly Adwords expenditures.