Personally, I like having my own merchant account. But how you go - whether using BV or OSCommerce or any of the others - only YOU can decide based on what they offer. I chose one method, Andy another, Amanda still another. All work well. I just sent someone to use Amanda's version that is new to BV - but wants the design flexibility. If you pick OS or Soho or others that are catalog driven, you will have other options you don't have with BV and vice versa.

My decision to not go with Paypal is a personal one also. I love Paypal but the majority of the world still doesn't use them - and sales with a merchant account on a store are usually much greater than with Paypal alone. However, if starting out - Paypal is a wonderful alternative - and as sales grow, I still recommend getting a merchant account to grow the sales even more :)

But -look at the carts available and pick what will do what you need.

__________________
Beth
A Child's Palace - Pinata Palace - Moxie Enterprises

SEO and Marketing Tools
SEO - The Basics