I'm looking at getting a SSL certificate for my online store and since I don't know much about them, I've been reading up on them - I know what they are used for but I am unsure if I actually need one for my store.

I'm just wondering if there's any point in getting one from VeriSign (expensive) for a store that sells only digital downloads (so the products will get delivered after payment through Paypal and other methods - IMO it's not as risky as buying from a store that has to mail the items to you!)? If it is necessary to get a certificate then is there a cheaper way of getting one?

My host offers a dedicated IP for SSL purposes. So should I buy that as well as a certificate?

Any information would be appreciated.

Well, SSL is always a nice touch @ checkout. The general rule is if you are exchanging personal information use SSL. The one thing I would suggest though is shop around. I have recently did research and found that comodo has what appears to be very good prices and a good proliferation of browser support. If you don't wanna go with them Thawte is a cheaper choice than Verisign and if I remember correctly they are just a branch of Verisign.

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Well, what exactly do you mean by personal information? I can understand the need for SSL if customers are giving out their credit card information but is SSL necessary if they are only giving out their contact details, address and URL details and then they pay through Paypal?

Some people still think SSL is needed even with PayPal. You can create a certificate with cPanel - but browsers will throw a warning to a user and that can create insecurity in the user.

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Why would people think SSL is needed even with Paypal when I don't see their credit card details?

I guess if you're dealing with paypal then no, you wouldn't need SSL

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Personal information can be as little as Username and Password. Have you ever noticed that while google takes very little to no information from you they still have just about all of their login boxes protected under SSL? Is it a necessity? No. Is it a good touch for your customers? Yes.

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I don't enter my home address, home phone, and all other details unless the site has an SSL certificate. Even if I'm not entering a credit card, the other information is still important to me. As Larry mentioned, I think it's a really good idea to get an SSL certificate when dealing with any personally identifiable information from your customers.

I purchased a GeoTrust SSL cert from The Planet for only $49. Getting the static IP from my host only costs $1 per month extra.

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Mark Blair
NowParenting - "Parenting Discussion Community"
HostHideout - "Where Professionals Discuss Web Hosting"

Thanks guys. $49 is a lot cheaper and when I get my business up and running I will definitely look into buying a SSL certificate.