I want a good SSL Certificate

[ekrubonline]

I want to find out about SSL Certificates. - I noticed that Comodo is the cheapest between Verisign, Thawte and of course Comodo. Which others should I consider that anyone here can recommend?

Now I know that Verisign is probably the best, but if I want something not too expensive, what is the best one to go with?

What are the common pitfalls for buying and using certificates?

Anything I should look out for? Anything I should know?

[bootNumlock]

i use geotrust certificates -- i think rapidssl, and they have been great... we resell, get a good price, as far as i am concerned and it is really easy to install, etc.

i am sure there are more experienced resellers in here to offer more info... so i wish you good luck!

[jmbeach]

I too use geotrust cert's through rapidssl. Easy sign up, good cost, easy management, easy to install... best of all you don't have to rely on the support of a reseller - you get to deal directly with geotrust.

[Scientifik]

Godaddy $19, can't beat it.

[ekrubonline]

I'm looking at the Geotrust certs - and I notice the Quick SSL, Quick SSL Premium, and True BusinessID all seem to be able to deal with a basic site.

How do I choose? Cheapest? (lol)

[cleonard]

Cheapest . . . that's always been my attitude. Course my needs aren't hundred's of thousands of dollars in ecommerce either.

Look at my signature . . . cheapest place I've found for certs.

[Scientifik]

SSL is the same across the board is based on RSA ecryption so as long as you buy it from a reputable company the only thing you're paying for is support during installation and a sexy "secured by" logo. If you don't need either than save your self the $100+ and get the most basic one they have.

[dpyers]

The encryption is basically the same regardless of cost. What you get for the higher levels of SSL is increasing levels of validation that you are who you say you are along with obscure browser compatibility. At the highest levels, the cert's are also kept in extremely secure data centers. Some sellers also own the cert "root".

[chungmike]

I got mine through ev1servers.net. They sell the RapidSSL for $14.95 and QuickSSL for $49. Both are easy to install on Hsphere, and both are good for Explorer and Firefox. On the other hand, (from my previous experience) FreeSSL did not work well with Firefox.

I just went for the cheaper one (RapidSSL) because they both basically did the same thing. I think the $49 cert gives you the option to have a seal on your website....whoopdidoo.

Before you install, you have to make sure you have a dedicated IP address for your hosting account.

Michael

[ekrubonline]

So wait.. this certificate thing is just a great way to make money? Make it seem more complicated and charge more?

I mean, the secure datacenter dpyers is talking about is supposed to be standard - unless there's a different type of secure that I didn't think about. (Not trying to be sarcastic there)

So things being so cheap, maybe I should use secure transactions for logging into my cp etc, and not only use it for this client's website? Whaddya think guys?

[chungmike]

Originally Posted by ekrubonline

So wait.. this certificate thing is just a great way to make money? Make it seem more complicated and charge more?
I mean, the secure datacenter dpyers is talking about is supposed to be standard - unless there's a different type of secure that I didn't think about. (Not trying to be sarcastic there)
So things being so cheap, maybe I should use secure transactions for logging into my cp etc, and not only use it for this client's website? Whaddya think guys?

It does take some time to get the certificate installed, so it's not unreasonable to charge a fee. For instance, another hosting company I was with before charged me $50 to "install" it for me since I wasn't allowed to do it myself. You can charge for the service of setting it up for your client.
Things being cheap, yes you should get a cert for your cp as well. This is most important if you allow your customers to input a credit card in the cp for payment.
With SSL certs, you should go with a good name or with the recommendations you get from here. The less expensive certs ($15-$50) have a simple verification system by phone and email....this is why it's cheaper. The more expensive certs have an extensive verification system where you are practically interviewed by someone to verify who you are so that your cert is definintely confirmed to be yours.....plus they back it up with insurance and such.....that's what you're paying extra for.
Like many others here, we've had good success with the $15 Rapid SSL. The $50 one at ev1servers.net is a Geotrust cert. I saw no difference in either one, so I stuck with the cheaper one when renewal time came around.

[ekrubonline]

Okay, so I think I've asked all of the dumb questions I could possibly ask. I've challenged the system enough so that I can answer questions from my client, and feel comfortable.

My last question though, completes the circle. I just want to clarify that I'm safe with the $15 - $50 certs, unless of course I'm doing transactions with a high volume of money either singly or collectively, for the insurance? (or my client is, for that matter)

People here in my country are very sceptical about spending money on the internet etc. Those who are more willing, interrogate you to death. I like to always be able to put my head on a chopping block for my words. That way, I feel confident that I will always give good advice, and if someone gives me a hard time, I can either deal with them, or leav them knowing that nothing really could've been done.

Thanks so much to all of you for your help so far!

[chungmike]

Originally Posted by ekrubonline

Okay, so I think I've asked all of the dumb questions I could possibly ask. I've challenged the system enough so that I can answer questions from my client, and feel comfortable.
My last question though, completes the circle. I just want to clarify that I'm safe with the $15 - $50 certs, unless of course I'm doing transactions with a high volume of money either singly or collectively, for the insurance? (or my client is, for that matter)
People here in my country are very sceptical about spending money on the internet etc. Those who are more willing, interrogate you to death. I like to always be able to put my head on a chopping block for my words. That way, I feel confident that I will always give good advice, and if someone gives me a hard time, I can either deal with them, or leav them knowing that nothing really could've been done.
Thanks so much to all of you for your help so far!

In my humble opinion, I think you'll be ok for "lite ecommerce" with the $15 cert (rapidssl.com). If you want more "assurance" and pay more money, get the Geotrust cert....sometimes getting this one will just make you feel better.

If you start off with the $15 one and are dissatisfied, I think you have 7 days to cancel to get a refund. If you decide after 7 days that you are dissatisfied, just order the other cert. You'll just be out $15 from the first cert purchase.

Read over the RapidSSL site to compare the two products to see which one you might like better:
http://www.rapidssl.com/compare-ssl.htm

The site says RapidSSL and Geotrust both have a $10,000 warranty, but Geotrust has a 99%+ browser recognition vs. RapidSSL's 99% browser recognition. If this might be an issue, I'd go with the higher recognition then. If I was shopping online and entered the website's SSL cert that my browser did not recognize, I would not proceed with the transaction. As I said in an earlier post, I did try the FreeSSL but my Firefox browser did not recognize it. Once I installed the RapidSSL cert, it worked fine.

FYI, I use the $15 RapidSSL cert I got from ev1servers.net on my ecommerce site at www.millionbill.com. Go to the secure section https://millionbill.com and view the certificate. It shows High-grade Encryption (256 bit). Details of the cert shows the name Geotrust and Equifax Secure.