# Best e-commerce stuff I have found



## JonWye

I am new here and excited about spewing what info I have found for my own store. And you can figure out my store domain name, so i'm not going to self promote. 

I feel like I may be a few steps ahead of a lot of people on the foum as far as e-commerce goes. I have gone though many shopping cart companies and finially found the right one. 

Here are some tips.
1. volusion is the best e-comm system. Nexternal is way more expensive and uses old html code that is outdated. Yahoo is good for a first store but it is too simplistic and is kinda dumbed down. Yahoo store is the first one I used. Monster Commerce is really good but they are uber expensive. They charge a crap load for even the smallest additional feature. Volusion gives you EVERYTHING You need to get started. However, unlike Yahoo, which gives you most of what you need to get started, you will have to obtain your own payment gateway from a company like authroize.net (best payment gateway site by the way). But be sure you will have sales to cover the cost of the gateway and the e-comm system. If you are just starting and unsure if your stuff will sell I suggest getting the basic Yahoo store to start with.

2.Network solutions is an antiquated domain registration system. They rest on the fact that they were the first well known secure domain registration system. These day godaddy.com is just as good and better... especially in customer service. I bought an expensive domain name from someone and they helf my hand through the whole process.

3. Authorize.net is the best payment gateway I have used. Research that one yourself. Payment gateways should not be obtained at walmart prices. ie, do you want the 300 lb gorilla security guard or the 90lb kid who says he knows karate. I would go with the gorilla.

4. acutal credit card processing companies. I used to use West Coast Merchant Services (well know for credit card processing for walmart) but they are more expensive. I now used e-onlinedate. They are the cheapest I have found. It's a small and well managed company. I have often talked the the vicepresident or president when calling with stupid questions. 

Well that it for now. Feel free to discuss and argue with me, but with a few online stores under my belt I know a thing or two.

Happy hunting.


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## EternylStudios

*Re: Best e-comm I have found*

I agree Volusion is awesome....cubecart is a close second in my opinion (free bumps it up there)


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## fairladyz

*Re: Best e-comm I have found*

I heard from someone that paypal will report to IRS if you sell more than 500 dollars in a month. Do you guys know if this is true or not?


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## Vtec44

I always dislike anything remotely hosted, but that's probably why I'm a bit bias. I have 7 live sites and still don't know anything!


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## carolinagirl

*Re: Best e-comm I have found*

I do believe there is something before congress now that relates to this very issue. 






fairladyz said:


> I heard from someone that paypal will report to IRS if you sell more than 500 dollars in a month. Do you guys know if this is true or not?


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## carolinagirl

Volusion does offer a robust inventory and cross platform selling solution. They also offer the ability to have a 2nd or 3rd store, if you will. They do charge quite a bit tho after your initial training if you still have questions from the information I gathered. 
Another one that offers similiar is marketworks, many ebay folks use this.
Another for high volume is channel advisor, another cross platform company. 
Mals ecommerce has a free shopping cart. 

On the credit cards, make sure not only your qualified rate is good, but that you are set up for check cards and that the mid and non qualified rates or good. There is alot more to it than just looking at one rate. 





JonWye said:


> I am new here and excited about spewing what info I have found for my own store. And you can figure out my store domain name, so i'm not going to self promote.
> 
> I feel like I may be a few steps ahead of a lot of people on the foum as far as e-commerce goes. I have gone though many shopping cart companies and finially found the right one.
> 
> Here are some tips.
> 1. volusion is the best e-comm system. Nexternal is way more expensive and uses old html code that is outdated. Yahoo is good for a first store but it is too simplistic and is kinda dumbed down. Yahoo store is the first one I used. Monster Commerce is really good but they are uber expensive. They charge a crap load for even the smallest additional feature. Volusion gives you EVERYTHING You need to get started. However, unlike Yahoo, which gives you most of what you need to get started, you will have to obtain your own payment gateway from a company like authroize.net (best payment gateway site by the way). But be sure you will have sales to cover the cost of the gateway and the e-comm system. If you are just starting and unsure if your stuff will sell I suggest getting the basic Yahoo store to start with.
> 
> 2.Network solutions is an antiquated domain registration system. They rest on the fact that they were the first well known secure domain registration system. These day godaddy.com is just as good and better... especially in customer service. I bought an expensive domain name from someone and they helf my hand through the whole process.
> 
> 3. Authorize.net is the best payment gateway I have used. Research that one yourself. Payment gateways should not be obtained at walmart prices. ie, do you want the 300 lb gorilla security guard or the 90lb kid who says he knows karate. I would go with the gorilla.
> 
> 4. acutal credit card processing companies. I used to use West Coast Merchant Services (well know for credit card processing for walmart) but they are more expensive. I now used e-onlinedate. They are the cheapest I have found. It's a small and well managed company. I have often talked the the vicepresident or president when calling with stupid questions.
> 
> Well that it for now. Feel free to discuss and argue with me, but with a few online stores under my belt I know a thing or two.
> 
> Happy hunting.


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## JonWye

Acutally Volusion has bomber customer support. I bug those people 24/7 (literally) for tips advice and troubleshooting and it is free as long as you have your store. And the best part is that if you have a day job you can chat with a customer service rep via web chat if you don't have time to step out and make a call.


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## mjonathan

Thanks for the tips, Jon.

If I might also put in my 2 cents:

I've tried Yahoo and Volusion and Miva, and MonsterCommerce's product has impressed me the most and I've been using them now for about 14 months. They have more features and are *cheaper* than's Volusion's equivalent offering (I use the "Professional" ECommerce package from MC, which is closest to Volusion's Platinum offering). With the MC MonsterBooks add-on (a.k.a. QuickBooks), I pay $120/month and no transaction fees, and the initial setup fee was only $100, while I think that Volusion's platinum product runs for $200/month with a $200 setup fee.

MC is also affiliated somehow with Network Solutions now, and I get my domain name for free now. And honestly, despite all of the rumblings I've heard over the years about Network Solutions, I've been lucky enough to have had really good interactions with their customer service, both on the phone (mostly) and occasionally via online chat. I'm most impressed that I've always been able to speak to a rep within a minute or so on hold. 

MC's product is also fully integrated with Google Analytics, which really helps me understand how customers are navigating my site, and the built-in SEO and inclusion in MonsterMarketplace has definitely found me sales that I otherwise would not have received.

To each their own, but I recommend that anyone who has a fair number of products to sell look at MonsterCommerce.


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## The60s

wow shucks is volusion really that good? Will try it out when i have the time but if i am dumb in coding and etc..will it work for me at all?


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## JonWye

"shucks"... I can't tell if you are being sarcastic, but yes it is a kick butt system. THere is no coding knowledge needed, at least that I can find, but you do have to figure out the system of uploading new products (that part could be a little simplier). But there are tons of online tutorials. 

I'm not trying to start a debate between Monster and Volusion, but i can say from my own experience of running a store (follow my profile to check out my site) that it is a more robust system. Obama is currently using it for his e-comm site. 

And it integrats beautifully with google analytics.

As far as the previous comment about Network Solutions teaming up with Monster to get the store owner free domain names, I think that is a little sketchy. It's a question of ownership. When you leave Monster do you get to keep it? I prefer to own the components seperatly (like the domain) in case I need to take any one of my services elsewhere. This is especially important if your domain name is your online identity


There is just too much hype and flash with Monster!


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## Solmu

JonWye said:


> "shucks"... I can't tell if you are being sarcastic


I think the sudden volusion praise train is just taking some of us a while to get used to


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## JonWye

Man, I wish i was getting kick-backs from them. Papa needs a new Mac.

The Volusion praise is just an outcropping of some knowledge spewing. People keep asking small quesitons on here about what to do to start e-comm so I thought it would be helpful to create all-in-one guide. 

I also just posted Instructions for building a t-shirt light box for product photography.

Enjoy yall!


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## hallax

Hi,

When evaluating e-commerce services You might want to check wosbee.com also. It does require you to have a merchant account for acceptiong credit cards but is totally Free to run. 

-halla


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## nromano1212

I just checked out Volution....They told me it will be about $80 a month plus about another $25 a month for the shopping cart through autherize.net and another $80 a year for the security thing...How long would it typically be before i saw enough results to atleast cover the monthly costs?


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## Vtec44

That's about $185 a month. So, if you profit $10 a shirt that's about 18 shirts a month to break even, or 36 if you're making about $5 a shirt. The $185 is just for your online store, doesn't take into account other expenses. So, how long will it take you to sell 20 shirts a month?


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## Rodney

nromano1212 said:


> I just checked out Volution....They told me it will be about $80 a month plus about another $25 a month for the shopping cart through autherize.net and another $80 a year for the security thing...How long would it typically be before i saw enough results to atleast cover the monthly costs?


That seems pretty high, especially for someone just starting out. 

A webhosting account is about $80-$150 per year (say with dreamhost or lunarpages)

CubeCart is free

An SSL certificate will run you about $25-$49 per yearat ev1servers.net (theplanet)

If you had someone design your layout and customize your cubcart, that's a one time fee of $100-$700. You could also do it yourself and save that amount with some research and time.

You could process orders through PayPal or Google Checkout for no monthly fee. 

If you needed a merchant account so you can accept credit cards right on your site or over the phone (that's what the SSL certificate is for), e-onlinedata will have a setup of about $80 and a monthly fee of about $30 or so.


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## CrazyTeeShirts

I currently use volusion for one site and am very pleased. It usually runs me about $129 a month (+ the security certificate) for around 60K visitors. Built in affiliate program, good newsletter management, real quickbooks integration and the ROI tracker are the things that make it worth it to me. I've done the customizing of scripts and writing code for improvements for one of my other sites, which is all fine, but if you want to be up and running quickly and want to just concentrate on selling without all the other involvement, it is a good solution. 

As for the cost of any cart, if you take into consideration how much it would be to have a brick and mortor place to sell your wares, the price is really nothing. After all your site is your store.


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## Twinge

I'm trying to figure what's so mcuh better about these paid carts that they're worth $100+ per month?

Most of the praise I've seen so far sounds like it could easily be applied to Zen Cart, Cubecart, etc. The only thing that I've noticed someone mention here so far that the paid ones offer better stat tracking -- which you can get seperately for half the cost of these carts (and potentially free as well, if you look/work hard enough).

Maybe they take less time to set up - in which case you're comparing an upfront cost (I'd say more than Rodney's estimate - more like $300-$1200) to a monthly fee. The upfront cost becomes cheaper after a year has passed, if not sooner, so it'd probably be the better investment in that case.

Anything else I'm missing?


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## JonWye

Don't underestimate the value of ROI tracking and other stats... they are incredibly important to figuring out where and how your customers are finding you. 

Shopping carts like Volusion ( my favorite) are also so well organized that, IF managed properly, google bots love searching very much. Type in "Jayhawks belt buckle" in google and my site comes up at the top. It's not because I am the only store that offers jayhawks belt buckles, it's because volusion organizes my pictures and wording in such a way the google love them. And in e-comm you want to get as many organize search results as possible. 

If a t-shirt biz is your sole income you need to make your shopping cart as nice as possible. Customers need to feel that you are a players in your field and you know what you are doing. 

If t-shirts are only your part time gig then a shopping cart like Zen Cart is the way to go. 

I highly recommend contacting Volusion and setting up a trial!


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## Rodney

> Don't underestimate the value of ROI tracking and other stats... they are incredibly important to figuring out where and how your customers are finding you.


That's definitely important information, but it's also information that you can get for free from your server logs and from free third party tools like Google Analytics (Urchin)



> Shopping carts like Volusion ( my favorite) are also so well organized that, IF managed properly, google bots love searching very much. Type in "Jayhawks belt buckle" in google and my site comes up at the top. It's not because I am the only store that offers jayhawks belt buckles, it's because volusion organizes my pictures and wording in such a way the google love them. And in e-comm you want to get as many organize search results as possible


This is just a matter of making sure your cart pages are search engine friendly. Just about any shopping cart can do that for free. Cubecart has a mod that does this for about $15 one time price. It's also about making sure that you have links to your shop. If your site is search engine friendly (static links, relevant titles, good descriptions) and you have other people linking to you, you'll start getting better search results.



> If a t-shirt biz is your sole income you need to make your shopping cart as nice as possible. Customers need to feel that you are a players in your field and you know what you are doing.
> 
> If t-shirts are only your part time gig then a shopping cart like Zen Cart is the way to go.


I currently use a very expensive shopping cart (ShopSite), but I can tell you from experience that a free cart like cubecart can do just about everything that my expensive cart can do. It won't make you look any less professional and it won't matter whether or not if you'd doing it full time or part time.

Volusion might be a good solution for some, but it is pretty high priced for a startup (and even an established) t-shirt company.

I've used several different paid and free shopping carts, and I can honestly say, if I was going to do it again, I'd just go with cubecart and use the plugins available to make it unique.


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## JonWye

I stand by my adoration of Volusion! But with the Rod giving a glowing recommendation of cubeart I will give it a shot for my next e-comm store. And I will report for first hand experience


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## Rodney

> I stand by my adoration of Volusion!


Defintely no problem with that  We all have our favorites.

I just wanted to clarify that using a free cart doesn't make you look any less credible to customers and that many can do what the expensive carts do.


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## Vtec44

Just for comparison Jon, you can post a list of features that you like about Volusion, and others can post a list of similar features in their software. That way, it's much easier to see it side by side.


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## JoeJon

I may be wrong, but from my research, there seems to be some mis-information in your posting, which STINKS for people just starting out!



JonWye said:


> Here are some tips.
> 1. volusion is the best e-comm system. However, unlike Yahoo, which gives you most of what you need to get started, you will have to obtain your own payment gateway from a company like authroize.net (best payment gateway site by the way). .....


Actually according to the Volusion website, they have teamed up with Authorize.net to offer complete merchant account / payment gateway solution. So that's a pretty glaring oversight on your part.



JonWye said:


> 2.Network solutions is an antiquated domain registration system......


Network Solutions OWNS Monstercommerce! And in plain english on their site, the first thing mentioned in the slate of services provided by Monstercommerce, DOMAIN REGISTRATION ...oooopss :

"
Domain Registration 
Storefront System 
Merchant Accounts 
Website Promotion 
SSL Security 
E-Commerce Power Hosting 
Online Shopping Directory 
"



JonWye said:


> 3. Authorize.net is the best payment gateway I have used. ......


 
Great, but if you use Volusion, and Volusion has teamed up with Authorize.net, why are you outsourcing your payment gateway service?? 



JonWye said:


> 4. acutal credit card processing companies. I used to use West Coast Merchant Services (well know for credit card processing for walmart) but they are more expensive. I now used e-onlinedate. They are the cheapest I have found. It's a small and well managed company. I have often talked the the vicepresident or president when calling with stupid questions. ......


Great, but if you use Volusion, why are you outsourcing your CC processing??


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## Makrista

Have any of you all used ZenCart...great plugin if you are selling both wholesale and retail...FREE FREE FREE

My cart is not yet active but it is going to be great


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## Rodney

> Great, but if you use Volusion, and Volusion has teamed up with Authorize.net, why are you outsourcing your payment gateway service??


It's possible that the team up with authorizenet is something new that wasn't available when Jon originally signed up.


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## reyna24

Apart from the Carts and the SSL there is still a Payment Gateway Fee Right?


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## Parlophone

i think yahoo & paymentech are a good value. all i have to do is sell 4 shirts (or 2 hoodies) and i cover the entire month's overhead.


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## Rodney

reyna24 said:


> Apart from the Carts and the SSL there is still a Payment Gateway Fee Right?


Yes, if you have your own merchant account, there is usually a payment gateway fee.


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## VIP Emporium

Makrista said:


> Have any of you all used ZenCart...great plugin if you are selling both wholesale and retail...FREE FREE FREE
> 
> My cart is not yet active but it is going to be great


I use ZenCart...just started actually and it's very simple. They have a lot of great add-ons like you mentioned.


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## identityburn

I've noticed cube cart uses templates. Is it easy to only add the features you need into an existing site design?


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## Rodney

identityburn said:


> I've noticed cube cart uses templates. Is it easy to only add the features you need into an existing site design?


Yes, their templates are pretty easy to customize if you know HTML. You can take out stuff you don't need and move stuff around if you like.


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## identityburn

ah ok thanks. Have you tried this one? I really don't want to have to modify templates to get what I want, and this one looks like it can just integrate into an existing site.

Shopping Cart Software and Ecommerce Solutions: CS-Cart. Free downloadable trial.

edit: nevermind, looks like this one is template driven too. Is there no way to just integrate just the functionality of a shopping cart to a site without manipulating templates? Right now I just have paypal which is exactly how I want it to work. I just take their code and drop it in where I need it, then I handle all the design elements.


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## Rodney

identityburn said:


> ah ok thanks. Have you tried this one? I really don't want to have to modify templates to get what I want, and this one looks like it can just integrate into an existing site.
> 
> Shopping Cart Software and Ecommerce Solutions: CS-Cart. Free downloadable trial.
> 
> edit: nevermind, looks like this one is template driven too. Is there no way to just integrate just the functionality of a shopping cart to a site without manipulating templates? Right now I just have paypal which is exactly how I want it to work. I just take their code and drop it in where I need it, then I handle all the design elements.


Nope, I've never used that one before. Templates are just HTML, I think any shopping cart you install is going to require that you edit the HTML to integrate your design into the cart.

The CS-Cart looks like an uncustomized cubecart.


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## identityburn

Oh ok. Yeah I know whatever I use will require html work. With paypal I just drop in the code and move stuff around as needed, but I just put the code where I want in the design rather than taking an existing template of a page and then reorganizing it to look like my original site.

I guess thats the main thing, I'd just rather drop in the functionality rather than building the site around it, mainly because it is already done and I don't want to mess with it.


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## Rodney

identityburn said:


> Oh ok. Yeah I know whatever I use will require html work. With paypal I just drop in the code and move stuff around as needed, but I just put the code where I want in the design rather than taking an existing template of a page and then reorganizing it to look like my original site.
> 
> I guess thats the main thing, I'd just rather drop in the functionality rather than building the site around it, mainly because it is already done and I don't want to mess with it.


I see what you're saying.

Of course, the reason PayPal can do that is because the shopping cart opens up in a new window and doesn't really integrate into your site. That's also one of the reasons the paypal carts aren't that great because they don't/can't keep your site's look and feel and make navigation a pain with their popups.

I don't know if there's a way to "drop in" functionality AND keep your site layout with easy navigation.

You probably already know all this, but I'm mostly posting it for others reading the thread and considering a paypal only shopping cart 



> mainly because it is already done and I don't want to mess with it


Just a quick note: you don't have to mess with your existing site once you've completed the design.

You can keep your existing layout and site design and just put your HTML (copy and paste) in the cubecart templates.

From reading other messages, I think people are thinking that cubecart is more complicated to customize than it really is. When I was customizing a site, I just copied the HTML from my existing design into the corresponding place in the cubecart layout until it all matched up.

It does take a while to get it all looking right, but when it all looks seamless to the shopper, it's well worth it


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## identityburn

Rodney said:


> I see what you're saying.
> 
> Of course, the reason PayPal can do that is because the shopping cart opens up in a new window and doesn't really integrate into your site. That's also one of the reasons the paypal carts aren't that great because they don't/can't keep your site's look and feel and make navigation a pain with their popups.
> 
> I don't know if there's a way to "drop in" functionality AND keep your site layout with easy navigation.
> 
> You probably already know all this, but I'm mostly posting it for others reading the thread and considering a paypal only shopping cart
> 
> 
> 
> Just a quick note: you don't have to mess with your existing site once you've completed the design.
> 
> You can keep your existing layout and site design and just put your HTML (copy and paste) in the cubecart templates.
> 
> From reading other messages, I think people are thinking that cubecart is more complicated to customize than it really is. When I was customizing a site, I just copied the HTML from my existing design into the corresponding place in the cubecart layout until it all matched up.
> 
> It does take a while to get it all looking right, but when it all looks seamless to the shopper, it's well worth it


Ah...didn't know you could do that. I just figured you had to manipulate their templates with html and were limited to some sort of format. I'll have to try out the demo. Thanks!


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## Tenacious

*Re: Best e-comm I have found*



fairladyz said:


> I heard from someone that paypal will report to IRS if you sell more than 500 dollars in a month. Do you guys know if this is true or not?


I think this is true.




carolinagirl said:


> I do believe there is something before congress now that relates to this very issue.


I haven't looked into the whole congress thing, but the IRS just got on my A** this week for exceeding this limit on my site alone. My website is a totally different entity than the rest of my shirt business (I keep the website and the print/emb. separated). I made a few in-state orders through my website for people who couldn't get payments to me ASAP without a credit card in the past few months. I didn't think anything about it since I pay my taxes, but it might cause me to get audited. 

I paid taxes on the orders already through the printing branch of my co., but I think they (P.P.) turned me in and now I'm getting hassled.


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## Tenacious

<<<<<<<Zen/P.P.


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## identityburn

So as long as your shirt site is your business and you pay taxes, this whole paypal $500 thing shouldn't be a problem correct?


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## MonaBlanca

Ok I am sorry, this may be a silly question, but when you are using the free carts suck as Zen or cube or wosbee do you have to have a program such as dream weaver or coffeecup to edit the things you want to go on the site. I am pretty good with the computer and the net, but I just wnat to make sure everything goes right for this website. Thank you all so much for your help


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## Rodney

MonaBlanca said:


> Ok I am sorry, this may be a silly question, but when you are using the free carts suck as Zen or cube or wosbee do you have to have a program such as dream weaver or coffeecup to edit the things you want to go on the site. I am pretty good with the computer and the net, but I just wnat to make sure everything goes right for this website. Thank you all so much for your help


If you don't know how to design a site, you may want to have someone do the designing for you.

But yes, you can use dreamweaver or coffeecup to design the site and them implement that design into the free cart template.

Some carts are easier than other to customize.


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## MonaBlanca

Thank you Rodney, I was looking at a couple of the carts and they dont seem that hard to navigate. I want to have my site up before Black Friday ( Friday after Thanksgiving).


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## olivertanson

Hi -

i only found web-based shopping cart services, with monthly fees. do you know a good software which could be integrated in your own domain? for example using paypal as payment method?

thx!!!
chris


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## Rodney

olivertanson said:


> Hi -
> 
> i only found web-based shopping cart services, with monthly fees. do you know a good software which could be integrated in your own domain? for example using paypal as payment method?
> 
> thx!!!
> chris


Yes, there's lots of software like that including cubecart, zencart, oscommerce, etc.


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## HarryBeaver

JonWye said:


> 3. Authorize.net is the best payment gateway I have used. Research that one yourself. Payment gateways should not be obtained at walmart prices. ie, do you want the 300 lb gorilla security guard or the 90lb kid who says he knows karate. I would go with the gorilla.



Well said! I have been providing eCommerce solutions for over 10 years and Authorize.net has always been what I recommend to our clients. I have seen some trainwrecks in my time when it comes to getting the gateway and merchant account to work together! Oye...

OH, and I'd like to take the opportunity to endorse AspDotNetStoreFront for the eCommerce functionality and shopping cart. There is a cost involved, ($899) for the software, but it's AWESOME... Some huge volume sites (crocs.com and others) are built around this software and it is the "right" way to go if you are planning on growing your store, products and functionality. Actually, I think I'll create an independent post about this...lol.


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## peteVA

If you want to use your current site and have your products displayed to your liking, you can get a FREE "shopping cart" from Mal's eCommerce. Mal's e-commerce

Mal's will allow you to add buy now buttons to your items and collect them for a single checkout. It will then pass he order on to PayPal or save it in a secure area for you to download as your time permits. You can then enter the sale in your credit card terminal or gateway virtual terminal.

If you have an online merchant account, it will automatically process the sale for you but there is an $ 8 per month charge for that. 

And, as Rodney says there are the old standbys - CubeCart, OS Commerce and ZenCaret. I prefer CubeCart. 

It comes with 3 default templates, but there are many others available, both free and for fee. There is a forum devoted entirely to templates and function modifications (mods) for CubeCart. The mods also run from free to tyhe $ 20 range, with a couple up to $ 50. 

I suggest CubeCart because it can be open online selling goods while the other two are just going through the setup stage and it's really easy to use. There is full-blown text editor available for each product listing, so you can use all sorts of fonts, clors, sizes, etc., just as when working with MS Word, right there on your product page without knowing the first bit of html.

When I see this talk about $ 100 a month + plus, I can't help but feel sorry for the folks paying that kind of money. 

And, as Rodney said, you can't tell the difference from those hosted stores. 

Yeah, if you want a different template, you may pay something. And if you want some funky shipping arrangement you may pay $ 15 or 20 for a mod, but you can do that after the store is open. And for the cost of one of those volusion sites for a month you can have your custom store FOR THE FIRST YEAR! And after that, it's just the hosting fee and domain renewal, about $ 60 a year.
.


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## GreenAppleBaby

Well, I will give a shout out at Click Cart Pro. It is inexpensive at $150-200 per license, robust with features and the support is great via the site forums as well as the development team. I use Authorize.net and would recommend that as well.

My wife and I just launched a site Sunday with this cart and so far I love it.


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## adawg2252

mjonathan said:


> And honestly, despite all of the rumblings I've heard over the years about Network Solutions, I've been lucky enough to have had really good interactions with their customer service, both on the phone (mostly) and occasionally via online chat. I'm most impressed that I've always been able to speak to a rep within a minute or so on hold.


I use the Monster Commerce site too. It is a little bit more expensive but I have never had to wait to talk to someone, and they've called multiple times to make sure that I got my site up and running when I started.

This could be because I've had two domains with them for almost 5 years now, and started an E-Commerce site just recently, but I think they have really good customer support.

Also, Monster Commerce is owned by Network Solutions, which is why your domain name is free from network solutions. Just fyi.

Good luck with your searches.


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## KINC

Def agree with your comments about eonlinedata and authorize.net. They have the best customer service, super fast and friendly. If you have any questions regarding their services and your site, they actually take the time to help you ??? How about that!


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## Poe-Boy

Mind you, this is coming from a newb to the e-commerce arena, but...

What's the story on GoDaddy and their e-commerce package. Seems they provide a basic e-commerce set-up for $150 a YEAR...which is about what some here are paying just for MONTHLY e-commerce services.

ANYONE, please explain.


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## peteVA

WOW! You need to read the fine print.

Max 20 items

$ 60 to sign up for a merchant account, where many are free.

The rates for the merchant account are 2.59% and 35 cents. You can find 2.34% and lower and 30 cents and lower many places. The $ 20 a month minimum is usual.

Their carts are sub-par. You cannot import your items, they have few features, there are many, literally hundreds, of better carts available.

There are free carts that offer way more, for way less. I have a number of clients successfully running carts for about a third of that price and they have unlimited items and size / color / price options.

Remember this - GoDaddy for hosting, but nothing else.
.


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## guest29928

I suggest when starting out and small budget, use a good free cart like zen, then upgrade later. Youo can import a lot of stuff right into the more expensive carts.

Not everyone can afford 100-200 a month for the shopping cart.


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## JonWye

BareApparel said:


> I suggest when starting out and small budget, use a good free cart like zen, then upgrade later. Youo can import a lot of stuff right into the more expensive carts.
> 
> Not everyone can afford 100-200 a month for the shopping cart.


I agree. If you are just starting out get a cheap or free package and upgrade with your needs. I started with yahoo's e-comm package and it did me just fine for the first 2 years of my biz.


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