Online credit and processing/merchant accounts

I'm new to this, so I'm not sure I know the terms. The customer would pay online via credit/debit. That is it. I wouldn't have a credit card swiper. When you say input the data, does that mean I would need to send the credit card info in myself? I promise I have looked this stuff up online, but the more I see, the more confused I become. I sound like a successful businessman-to-be, huh? :)

Actually, yes. Having the willingness to ask questions that you don't know the answer to is vital to avoiding mistakes. You are on your way to at least making an honest go. And Jumpingoff has some good info in his posts.