Badges and seals for trust +. any cheap ones or free ones?

[Luxoria]

I am trying to add some flavor to my about to launch ecommerce site and I really don't want to spring for a $500 trust seal at the moment. Right now all I have is PayPal Verified, PayPal payments, and a ugly SSL cert seal. Eventually I want to get a verisign seal, but right now I was hoping to find a free seal/badge or perhaps make my own that links to my policy page for privacy and such.

Does anyone know of any free seals that look all pretty for the average shopper? There was a few 'Going Green' free seals but just lately they began charging for them.

Or perhaps does anyone know where I can find some non branded generic official looking seals that I can use as a linked image to my policy page?

Thanks

[jbinbpt]

I suspect linking a different image to your certificate would not be allowed by the issuer.

[Luxoria]

Well, I did not mean to counterfeit name brand badges at all. What I ment was making a badge that looks pretty (2.0) that says "Satisfaction Guaranteed" which links to your policy page where the visitor can read about returns and such. Or a badge that says "Site Encrypted" which links to you info about SSL and such.

The point of those examples are for the average shopper so they can feel safe inside and convert. For now I just can not spend $#*$! a month for 'name brand' badges.

Does that clear what I am going for a bit better?

[Realbrisk]

you can use thefinds upfront logo

[Luxoria]

you can use thefinds upfront logo

Thanks, I looked that up, it's pretty interesting. It only works if visitor knows what the button does. I think most will not pay it any mind. It's not what I am going for. I will find some examples.

[RhinoFish]

are you taking credit cards, or just paypal? gateway often have seals, like verified authorize.net merchant.

i also like this one, p3pseal.com.

[Luxoria]

Hey RhinoFish, that's a good link. That's very close to what I am looking for in a temp third party seal.

At first I will only be taking PayPal and Google Checkout while building up an online presence so I will not have access to merchant seal like you mentioned.

[samc]

Image sites have them. iStockPhoto something like that. Cost you $2.00?

[digitalv]

Honesty in Commerce is free.

[honestyincommerce.com ]

[Luxoria]

honestyincommerce is interesting.

Here is a screen shot on my current demo footer.

It's kindof lame but IMO a good start for a small operation. The middle privacy graphic looks good with the the lock and it links to my privacy policy.

[img513.imageshack.us...]

[digitalv]

A self-generated seal doesn't comfort buyers, the point of a trust badge is that you're getting the thumbs up from a third party. If money is the issue, use UpFront and Honesty in Commerce for free since both have a click to verify action that doesn't take you away from site.

[Luxoria]

Thanks for reply, yep, I acknowledge the importance of a verifiable seal.

My store is two minor steps away from qualifying for the Honesty program. In a few months (3 to 12) after I see steady income I will for sure spring for a Verisign (because of the brand recognition), well at least do a 30 day free A/B test.