# Need some Ecommerce help



## farmthreads (Oct 17, 2007)

A little background before I start. Started a tee company back in fall of '07. Wanted to see how my designs went, so I took them to a trade show with a small sample. Sold enough to make my money back plus a little extra. 

I am wanting to start to sell online, but am unsure on who to go with for the ecommerce thing. I do a Monstercommerce site for work, but, it is way too steep of a price to get into right now. I have taught myself a little HTML, but not too comfortable to strike out on my own. Is godaddy.com good for ecommerce? Any recommendations from those who know a little HTML and have used a good ecommerce site?

Thanks for your help....


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## adawg2252 (Dec 12, 2007)

I use a monstercommerce site too and it is steep.

There are a bunch of threads on different hosting companies though and you'll find it if you search the forums. I read through it a while ago to see what everyone else did.

I'd post the link but I can't seem to find it, but I know it's on here somewhere.


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## dmatsel (Nov 8, 2007)

adawg2252 said:


> I use a monstercommerce site too and it is steep.
> 
> There are a bunch of threads on different hosting companies though and you'll find it if you search the forums. I read through it a while ago to see what everyone else did.
> 
> I'd post the link but I can't seem to find it, but I know it's on here somewhere.


Try this one: http://www.t-shirtforums.com/ecommerce-site-design/t35413.html


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## literaryterm (Jan 18, 2008)

Also a MonsterCommerce customer. For my new site, I wanted to do a CMS (content management system) and I didn't have much of a budget, either. I went with GoDaddy for the hosting. Not terribly pleased, but for $15 a month, not displeased either. Then, for the CMS, I downloaded Joomla (the successor to MAmbo) for free. If you are familiar with Monster's Admin Panel, the Joomla Panel will not be foreign to you, although it is much more complex and flexible. You can then download the VirtueMart Opensource cart, also for free. (As I recall, it has plug ins for payment gateways, just like monster.) My current Joomla site (Fist of T-Shirt) is only an affiliate site, so I don't actually run transactions through it. But I am strongly considering leaving Monstercommerce for my other site, too. Joomla is really stable, and really, really search engine friendly. Also, I like the idea of building something from scratch using just open source.


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## Chani (Jun 18, 2007)

I've heard by MANY here not to use GoDaddy for hosting or e-commerce.

If you'd like to create your own sites, there are a few very common free shopping carts out there like Cube Cart, Zen-Cart (I use this), and osCommerce.

If you'd like to take a crash course on HTML, try HTML Goodies

I've learned enough to keep me going, but I've taught myself everything from online help sites.

Be warned...I like Zen-Cart best, but it's also the most difficult to set up and template to your liking.

As for hosts, I use DreamHost. They offer TONS of space and features for not much money. They've been good to me so far. If you decide to go with them, visit their forums and look at people's signatures. You'll find discounts up to $97 off your first bill.  Oh, and they offer a 97-day money back guarantee for any reason.


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## peteVA (Nov 11, 2007)

There are many ways to go. Among the considerations:

Overall aims over a period of time
Budget
Time
Payment methods
Shipping methods
Size/color/price/etc options
Ease of setup

If you want more than "just a cart", the Joomla/VirtueMart combo is a consideration, but VM is not quite as versatile as some of the others as far as payment options, etc.

Budget is wide open, but there are several very good free carts, such as CubeCart (a favorite here), OS Commerce and ZenCart. From the time standpoint, CubeCart is much easier to set up and get selling. On the other hand it has no "import feature" so you have to load all your inventory by hand. 

With OSC and Zen you can have your inventory in a spreadsheet and import it to the cart, which can make it much easier with a larger number of items. You can also export and edit as a spreadsheet, then re-import in case of price changes, etc.

Each of the carts has it's own list of pre-installed payment methods. All take varying versions of PayPal, plus other gateway/merchant account combos. 

They will all pretty much handle shipping, but make positive your way of billing will work with the cart. 

Personally, I think CubeCart is much easier to work with options, but other users may have more experience with other carts and know a quicker way than I have found. This can be a big consideration with clothes.

Ease of setup is easily CubeCart. I install 4 or 5 a week for my clients and have had many selling within 24 hours. You can spend that long just going through all the settings on OSC and Zen.

They all depend on user forums for support, although paid support is available for CC. I don't recommend it, but it is there.

Then there are probably a hundred paid carts, both "buy and install" and hosted carts where they control things. Avoid the hosted carts, as you can spend months setting them up and decide to leave and you can't take your cart with you. And, in some cases, they just go out of business.

With the independent host / your cart situation, you can leave any time, take your cart and your data and be up and running with a new host within a day. You're in business for yourself, you may as well control your own destiny online.
.


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## UptempoDesign (Jan 20, 2008)

I reccomend using cubecart. I have tried oscommerce, wordpress (the ecommerce plugin), zen cart and a few more and find cubecart to be the easiest to modify and skin/style.


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## Jaxshirtguy (Jun 28, 2007)

We use X-cart.

We are very happy with all the features and the ability for customization. We did learn through trial and error the best combination for getting our cart configured for us was


Using X-cart Gold
Using a recommended X-cart hosting company. Having a hosting company that knows X-cart is convenient and saves you time and money.
Using Authourize.net. We started out with Cybersource which now owns Authorize.net and it was a pain in the a$$ to implement the Cybersouce gateway. After a day of trying to figure it out I switched. Because some development coding had to be done to get Cybersource to work I just said screw it and canceled and went with Authorize.net. Literally after 15 minutes my gateway was integrated and working with X-cart. It was just plug and play.
Recommend a bank that is partnered with your gateway/merchant for faster deposits into your bank account. We use Bank of America.
Hope that helps and good luck to you. It's alot of hard work but worth it at the end of the day. 

***disclaimer*** I in no way am endorsing any of the above mentions companies and services. I am just explaining what worked through trial and error. The information may or may not save you time and money LOL


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## peteVA (Nov 11, 2007)

Two comments - AuthorizeNet is a gateway, one of many. They are not a processor. The gateway is a third party between an online application and the actual card processor network. AuthorizeNet simply handles the secure checking with your merchant account provider to get the card authorized and then once a day "batches" the stored transactions to the card processor.

They actually work with many shopping carts, and many merchant account providers. They are the most popular and I'd suggest choosing an account provider that works with AuthNet, but in themselves they do not actaully handle your money or transfer it to your bank.

Most merchant account providers will deposit your monry in any bank you choose within 2, no more than 3 days. Friday's sales should hit Tuesday, Saturday's and Sunday's should hit Wednesday. It really doesn't matter what bank. 

(Jax, they may have done a selling job on you.  )

One thing you should be aware of, and if you do a lot of business it can save many hours a month, is whether your processor deposits your entire sales amount in the bank and takes their percentage once a month or if they deduct their percentage from each transaction every day. If the do the latter, it can make doing your monthly statement reconciliation of both your bank account and your merchant account a real pain.
.


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## chinoborracho (Jan 26, 2008)

check out Shopify Marketplace. It is by far one of the most basic hosted ecommerce solutions. It is very customizable and has loads of features and does not require any programming or crazy coding.


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## TVS (Jan 25, 2008)

Shopify looks good and easy to use, but as i`m also a newbie i`m looking for something that i cna host on my own server, and personaly i think their pricing is some what high, as you can get a server for less than their prices a month  
Just my personal though.

Jim


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## progresswear (Sep 16, 2007)

While my two cents may be a bit off topic in the thread, you said that you wanted to sell t-shirts. All of these solutions are nothing but machinery through which you process transactions. Making someone want your product enough to click that buy button is the true trick one needs to learn.

Yet it's not a trick. Skilled professionals spend years analyzing that question on every front. The average small e-commerce startup is often doomed because they ignored the most basic attempt at a sense of legitimacy and professionalism.

Good design, clever copy, the simple ingredients of any successful marketing effort are guaranteed to pay off in spades.

Everyone with a computer thinks they're a designer and the web is cluttered with their work. If you don't know the difference between great design (nike, apple, volkswagen) and garbage (99% of the web) develop a critical eye. There are template outfits out there charging $150 for what we'd ask thousands for. Some of them are damned good, I hate to say. 

There's an old cliche that says "good design costs no more than bad design." I've always added that bad design costs you much more in the end, shooting you in the foot before you've left the gate.


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