How much should an SSL cert cost?

First time I'm selling a customer a storefront ... how much is too much?

[dwilson]

I have a trusty hosting company I've worked w/ for years & set up several small sites on their servers.

Now I have a customer who needs a storefront, so I need SSL on it. My hosting provider is saying adding SSL will run me $250 / year.

1. Is that way too much money?
2. Some big outfits suggest a "Shared SSL Certificate". Is that sensible?
3. Do you know a good (read that reliable, responsive, tech support speaks English and knows SSL from FTP from an iPod) hosting company you've worked with for secure sites? (Sticky mail if you do, please.)

Thanks!

[David_M]

Think I paid $15 or $20 for one from godaddy.

[dwilson]

That was what you had to pay so you could install it yourself? Or what you paid for the hosting of the SSL site? And was that for the whole year?

Thanks!

[wsmeyer]

Not all SSL's are created equal. VeriSign is going to be one of the more expensive, but they have name recognition with everyday consumers. If you make $250 of every order than just one lost order to an unfamiliar certificate would have justified the expense.

As far as that goes, I'm a big fan of letting the big guys do the market research. Just look at the sites of the big guys in your niche. Do they even display the SSL companies logo? Do they make a big deal out of the secure connection?

You'll also need to check with your payment provider, some like Google Checkout won't accept a lot of SSL's.

William.

[Frunobulax]

Try asking them who their cert provider is, then look up the cost yourself on the provider's site and deduce how much they're charging you for the installation.

Did you ask for a wildcard cert? Those are usually considerably more.

[pbradish]

An SSL should cost very little when going through an established hosting provider.

I prefer the Hostgator & Comodo SSL combo myself.

[Corey Bryant]

We also use Comodo - that would be the CA I recommend to get

-Corey

[pageoneresults]

We utilize Starfield and I believe they are $35.00 per year.

[The Contractor]

I always suggest/used ev1 servers formerly rackshack and now sucked up by theplanet.com for buying GeoTrust QuickSSL certificates. They are $49 vs $249 and yes they are the same and no you don't have to host with theplanet.

[mblyman]

I've used both Geotrust and Comodo on our sites and had identical results as far as influence on consumer. They don't seem to impact consumers at all in the influence of the purchase. As long as they see the lock icon in their browser window they are happy. $250 seems rather high priced