# What is the BEST website to use for online shop?



## savvsan (Dec 13, 2007)

Hey everyone,

I wanted to know if anyone has any recommendations onto what website I should use for my online shop? I am looking for something like how Yahoo! does it.. comes with an entire package (e-mails, shopping cart, web domain, etc) but they charge $30 a month. I am looking for a little less expensive.

I am not too worried about site-builder or anything like that. 

Thanks.


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## Jayfauch (May 1, 2006)

You'll want to read this post
http://www.t-shirtforums.com/ecommerce-site-design/t15199.html

Right now I'm using bigcartel. It works out for my shoestring budget and few designs I have but it's very limited when it comes to number of products to sell plus it's PayPal based. I honestly think it's bottom of the line but you get what you get for $10 a month. I honestly think I'll outgrow it in a few months. Go with something $30 a month, and don't try to save a few bucks on something like this.


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## peteVA (Nov 11, 2007)

FIRST - Always buy your own domain. You will find threads here and all over the net where hosting providers will hold domain names as hostages it you decide to move elsewhere. With even the honest one, it is not always easy to make a change. 

So, NEVER get your domain through anyone else. Buy it yourself, in your name and you can take it with you with no problem.

As far as the rest, you can get that just about anywhere. Get a hosting account with any company that offers the cPanel / Fantastico combination and you get a choice of 4 free carts. All you pay is the monthly hosting. Period.

There are some considerations when choosing a cart. Some have built in affiliate programs, or are set up for easy addition of them. Others don't even mention them.

If you have a regular merchant account, you should make sure the cart will work with your gateway. They will all work just fine with PayPal.

Different carts handle shipping in different ways. If you charge shipping by order total $$, you may not be able to use some carts.

Some are much easier to do the initial setup with than others.

Some will import and export your data, making the initial load of your inventory much easier, as you can upload a spreadsheet and be done with it.

Particularly with clothing, you need to see how easy or complicated it is dealing with the size / color / price / etc. options. 

My personal recommendation as someone who installs carts for clients almost daily is CubeCart v3 which is free. This will give you a cost of whatever you pay for hosting per month.


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## HANGARSIXCO (Dec 28, 2007)

Hi

I have used Monster Commerce for one of my mail order businesses and they worked very well. It is now Domain Names, Domain Name Registration and Web Hosting | Network Solutions its a bit expensive about $99.00 a month; but it was on a secure server, had integration with PAYPAL,UPS,USPS etc all included. All emails are free. Has all the shopping cart features you will ever need. 24/7 tech support and all my updates were free. I paid $2000.00 for a fully custom site through MC it looked and functioned great. You can even register your domain with them when you create the account. No CONTRACT as well. I did all the product uploads and other details myself, you can pretty much do the HTML yourself as it has a built in editor or you can us Dreamweaver. If you have any questions on how too's let me know I can send you tips if needed. 

Hope this helps.
Chris.


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## Mrmercedes (Dec 23, 2007)

First off Im just starting to reasearch shopping carts myself so by all means, I am no pro. Im on a budget so i am looking in the range of free to 50 bucks a month. Alot of people talk about this site osCommerce Live Shops Directory kind of confusing if you dont no how to program. Then I found pre made shopping carts templates they are about 150 bucks to buy. But then you have to change alot of stuff, so I dont know if you want to go that route. Anyway good luck


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## RoboLove (Oct 15, 2007)

Big Cartel » Bringing the Art to the Cart


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## redcell1 (Nov 15, 2007)

well if you can get the hosting and the domain by yourself

there are free shopping carts that save you money

so 
$10 = domain name for 1yr
$15 = monthly hosting
FREE = Shopping cars for ecommerce


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## plan b (Feb 21, 2007)

Hi, I used ezgenerrator for my site $129.00 and you can make as many sites as you want,no programing required even does php for you, carts a little lite, then there is shop-script, easy to use and no programing required, its php cart also,price 0 to $199.00, and then there is shop factory not cheap but not expensive, easy to use, no programing,, nice thing about all of these programs is that you can download a working copy to see which is best for you,, then buy your domain name with hosting,, with most companies you get your domain name with hosting,, I use startlogic, but I understand go daddy is ok too. prices vary on hosting depends on what you need,, however you look at it going any of these routes is far cheaper than $30.00 per month plus you have a better site with more options. so look them over and take your time shipping seems to be a big issue also, just check out all aspects of what you need.. Hope this helps

R.


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## Subcitizen (Jun 22, 2007)

I'm a big fan of OSCommerce. It's free. However, you will need to edit code to a certain extent to modify the images, functionality, etc.


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## peteVA (Nov 11, 2007)

redcell1 said:


> well if you can get the hosting and the domain by yourself
> 
> there are free shopping carts that save you money
> 
> ...


Yeah, I offer the same for as low as $ 4.49 a month hosting - $ 53.88 annual hosting and I install a free cart, usually CubeCart, but whatever is wanted. 

Just buy a domain at GoDaddy and you're good to go.
.


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## HANGARSIXCO (Dec 28, 2007)

Forgot to mention, 

The $99.00 price includes hosting.

Chris.



HANGARSIXCO said:


> Hi
> 
> I have used Monster Commerce for one of my mail order businesses and they worked very well. It is now Domain Names, Domain Name Registration and Web Hosting | Network Solutions its a bit expensive about $99.00 a month; but it was on a secure server, had integration with PAYPAL,UPS,USPS etc all included. All emails are free. Has all the shopping cart features you will ever need. 24/7 tech support and all my updates were free. I paid $2000.00 for a fully custom site through MC it looked and functioned great. You can even register your domain with them when you create the account. No CONTRACT as well. I did all the product uploads and other details myself, you can pretty much do the HTML yourself as it has a built in editor or you can us Dreamweaver. If you have any questions on how too's let me know I can send you tips if needed.
> 
> ...


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## peteVA (Nov 11, 2007)

Times have changed, Chris. I once paid over $ 4,000 for a shopping cart and several hundred a month for hosting. 

Now, with a cPanel / Fantastico hosting account from just about anyone for under $ 10 a month, you get all of that included. CubeCart, OSCommerce and ZenCart all have the intrfaces with USPS, UPS, FedEx, many payment processors, etc.

And with your own hosting account you get virtually unlimited email accounts, such as [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], etc. Just about everything you mentioned above can be had for a grand total of $ 5 a month, or so. 

Also, no contract, although it is cheaper to pay quarterly or annually, but not required. The look of any of those carts can easily be modified, either with free or low cost templates, or by a complete custom design. 

As you'll see on other threads, here and on other forums, it is not wise to get your domain through your hosting provider. Some hosts (not saying in your case) will hold the domain "hostage" if you want to leave and move elsewhere.

Not knocking what you had, and as I said, I paid that and more. But it is no longer necessary. 

Just as an example, here is a CubeCart site with a straight out of the box template, just the header is custom. Everything else is default. This guy has had it up about a month and is still adding. A-to-Z Varieties (Powered by CubeCart)

Here's another simple custom design, made by the guy's wife. This too is new and he's just now adding inventory - MediaCroc (Powered by CubeCart)

These are free carts. Fifty some bucks a year for the whole deal, except their domains. 

Again, not giving you a hard time, but $90 a month against $ 5 a month? Where's the difference?
.


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## tgasu (Dec 20, 2007)

Wow loads to consider... [NEWBIE Here!] What is a merchant account?


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## Subcitizen (Jun 22, 2007)

tgasu said:


> Wow loads to consider... [NEWBIE Here!] What is a merchant account?


Basically, it allows your company to accept credit card purchases.


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## tgasu (Dec 20, 2007)

Subcitizen said:


> Basically, it allows your company to accept credit card purchases.


Do banks set them up? Do they cost extra?


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## Subcitizen (Jun 22, 2007)

tgasu said:


> Do banks set them up? Do they cost extra?


This is something your going to have to investigate. You need to find a reputable company with low rates. They usually take a certain amount per order, lets say 25 cents, and a percentage. Not to mention other monthly fees.


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## peteVA (Nov 11, 2007)

Some banks do offer them, but they often just act as agents for one of the large companies. Few banks still have their very own system.

There are a number of providers, at this time Costco and Sam's Club seem to offer the best deals, but that can change. 

There are several threads here on merchant accounts, if you do a search you will find plenty of discussion.

To start, you can just use PayPal. Your minimum cost for a merchant account will be about $ 20 to $ 25 a month, and could go as high as $ 50, even with no sales. PayPal is free until you make a sale and the rates are about the same as a merchant account.

This does not include PayPal"s version of a real merchant account, which DOES cost $ 30 a month, even if you do not use it.

Search "merchant accounts" for more....
.


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