As a newbie ecommerce vendor, you probably dream of hitting it big. Perhaps your brand will be named one of the coolest e-stores on some online roundup article. Maybe you’ll make enough money to quit your job and sell your goods full time. Whatever your dream may be, it will take some work to make it happen.

While our dreams might not be the same, almost all dreamers hate the ideas of limitations. So, how do ecommerce transaction limits affect e-store visionaries? What are ecommerce transaction limits? And how can they benefit or hinder vendors?

Let’s answer these questions and more below.

Breaking the Short Leash

As you’ll see, there are a number of different transaction limits. But the most common is enforced by e-store platform providers.

To put it simply, some providers require vendors to hit a certain threshold before they can cash out their earnings. For example, let’s say you sell $100 worth of merchandise your first month, but the platform requires $250 in profits before you can put any money towards your personal or professional bank account. You’ll have to work hard next month in order to make use of your income.

Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be this way. Some cloud-based ecommerce solutions, like Shopify, allow store owners to cash out anytime. There are no limits or reserves. Everything just processes and transfers to your bank account according to a schedule; regardless of volume.

As you can see, not all solutions are created equally. Some even place limits on the number of sales you can perform. Want to sell 50 items next month? Double check that your chosen platform won’t cut you off at 25 sales. This information can usually be found on the service’s FAQ page.

Why Transaction Limits Can Be a Good Thing

But not all transaction limits are meant to hold you back. Some are developed to keep you safe. Transaction velocity limits and controls are meant to stymie fraudulent purchases, which can be a big problem for ecommerce sites.

Here’s an illustration: A hacker purchases a stolen credit card from the dark net. She visits your online electronics store and orders a few thousand dollars’ worth of merchandise at midnight. The transactions go through and you end up shipping dozens of ill-gotten goods to a drop location in Alaska.

The victim is notified by their bank of the fraudulent charges and cancels payment. The consumer is protected from the financial obligations of the sale; but someone has to absorb the cost. Unfortunately, that falls on the bank and your business. However, in this case, transaction velocity limits could curtail the amount of money a single user is able to spend, thereby protecting you against hefty, bogus orders.

Then again, this isn’t the only safeguard against ecommerce cyberattacks. Depending upon the needs of your store, you might also want to invest in DDoS mitigation services which block malicious traffic requests, up-to-date antivirus software and CAPTCHA services.

Taking Things to the Next Level

Of course, the existence of transaction limits shouldn’t be the only factor you consider when choosing an ecommerce platform provider. You should also think about various design features, payment processing functionality and scalability.

If you want to turn your dream into a reality, you’ll also need to become an expert in marketing – especially through social media, email subscriptions and blogging – and customer service. These a just a few of the many hats ecommerce vendors wear in order to run their own small businesses.

This all may sound daunting at first. But if you take things one step at a time, you could exceed your own expectations.

Best of luck!