# what hosting plan to choose?



## hlc (Dec 7, 2009)

hey all, im about to purchase a webhosting plan and i need some of your thoughts.

what hosting plan do i need to run a simple online tshirt store? lets say right now i have 24 products, and later i would add maybe 6 more.
im not into flash or any sort of super complex website. 
im thinking of going with usavedomains.com hosting plan, they also offer zen cart, which i want to use.
im only doing it because of zencart, and i checked reviews, theres nothing bad about this webhost so far. they offer basic;deluxe;pro plans.
i'd like to hear from current store owners as well as other forum users who has expirience or knows about webdesign.

thanks all


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## ripperbro (Mar 24, 2010)

Dmitry - Hey there. For a cart you need 1 sql database, PHP running on the server, a security certificate registered to your business name and address, so the page goes to ecrypted HTTPS: when the person creates their account and enters in the CC#. Probably need 15 gbs of transfer a month and 1 gb of disk space on the server. You can definitly run a shared plan for sure. A couple POP accounts for email and that's pretty much it re: tech stuff. The important feture to pick a good host is can you pop open a support chat window on these guys and get some friendly help, much better than support email. And then do they have a phone number so if/when they go down you can give them a ring and say hi and see if they are just restarting their web servers or the DB server or if there is a tractor pulling up the fiber in the street outside the server location. Any other questions just PM me. I have a server Co. I've been with here in Los Angeles for 15 years so PM me if you want their info. Not as cheap as the example you gave, but pretty cheap.
Matt


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## Fr4nk13 (Feb 10, 2010)

What Matt described is pretty much the minimum you'll need to host your own site. As your needs grow (bandwidth) you'll have to upgrade, but by that time you'll be making enough from your site for it to pay for itself many times over.


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## Arnold (Jun 12, 2007)

I have used PolurNET Communications / polur.net > Avoid the Freeze, Enjoy the Breeze! for 5 or 6 years now and they are great I have the Polur.Net Reseller Hosting Plan. They can provide every thing you need security certificate, OSCommerce, Zen Cart


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## hlc (Dec 7, 2009)

really good feedbacks here. i especially like Franks positive influence "you'll be making enough from your site for it to pay for itself many times over" lol very encouraging.
i def like some of the links you guys provided. but i have a question what would be some of the downsides if someone chooses to go with basic economy plan on sites like godaddy, hostgator or usavedomains


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## dmfelder (Oct 25, 2008)

We have historically used AMHosting.com. They are inexpensive, their CPanel packages come with shopping cart cores, and their customer service is exceptional. 

Keep in mind, though, that building a shirt store from scratch can be messy. Typically, you'll want to present consumers with an image of exactly what they'll be purchasing. This isn't a task for the weary. It can be daunting, in fact.

Consider also shirt fulfillment services that have shopping cart solutions that couple with print-on-demand direct to garment printing. It may make better financial sense, and it may save you frustration.

Best wishes.


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## tmonkey (May 6, 2009)

For only 30 products zen cart is probably overkill, especially if you are not a php/css expert. The file structure can be very confusing with override system they use, and the backend has a lot of options that need to be managed. I'd use Wordpress with the e-commerce addon for a simple store. The Wordpress backend is very simple and straightforward. Wordpress is a lot more than blog software these days, some of the things people are doing with it will amaze you.

For either zen or wordpress the minimum package from any of the hosts will do - I have a 10k item zen cart store that is 400MB with images. A 30 item Wordpress store is under 20MB. Most hosts will offer either fantastico or Softaculous for auto installing software and scripts for the major open source software like zen and wordpress. 

Just go for the minimums - $5/month should be the max you will pay, + <$10 year for a domain name. Register your domain name separately so that if you need to switch hosts you don't have to deal with someone you're already having problems with.


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## dmfelder (Oct 25, 2008)

While I don't disagree with tmonkey, there are some other things to consider. In particular, the ability to render images of style/color/design permutations, and the fact that you'll also require an SSL if you want to keep consumers on your site during the transaction. (The rendering might not necessarily be important if you're only going to sell a few products, but if you want to offer your consumers as many options as possible, you'll somehow need to create images for each item, and you'll have to manually create it if it can't be rendered.)

Also, at $60/year for hosting, you'll probably require an upgrade before too long because there will be significant limitations on bandwidth.

Whatever your decision, you can always change your mind as your company grows, so don't fret. There is no wrong answer.

Best wishes!


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## kungfukitty_oz (Feb 18, 2010)

Yeah I agree, keep it simple to start with, it can take a while to get your revenue rolling and you don't want a barrage of costs in the beginning. For hosting I use PAYG web hosting - pay as you go - Hosting reborn you only pay for what you use, they are very cheap but the service is fabulous, I always get looked after Jon directly for questions and have never had technical issues. Cashflow can be one of the biggest issues with a start up, so keep it simple and cheap, and upgrade as you grow.


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## tmonkey (May 6, 2009)

dmfelder said:


> While I don't disagree with tmonkey, there are some other things to consider. In particular, the ability to render images of style/color/design permutations, and the fact that you'll also require an SSL if you want to keep consumers on your site during the transaction. (The rendering might not necessarily be important if you're only going to sell a few products, but if you want to offer your consumers as many options as possible, you'll somehow need to create images for each item, and you'll have to manually create it if it can't be rendered.)
> 
> Also, at $60/year for hosting, you'll probably require an upgrade before too long because there will be significant limitations on bandwidth.
> 
> ...


When you start having problems with bandwidth you'll be able to afford better hosting! Bandwidth is the least of your problems - getting traffic is the problem with most new sites. (I host ~100 sites and no one is even close to their bandwidth max).

Rendering style/color/design permutations is just added code - it shouldn't affect the hosting plan you are on. I haven't had to deal with it - maybe you can elaborate on specific needs?

Yeah, I forgot about SSL - depending on what you'll be using for checkout that's going to cost ~$5/month extra. Most small sites can start out with paypal and use that for payment processing, avoiding the cost and configuration of SSL until the traffic is there.

The thing to remember - pretty much any plan you sign up with can be added to very easily with a quick phone call - start with the minimum and as the need (and traffic) requires upgrade. You'll be able to see it coming...


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## hlc (Dec 7, 2009)

thats some really nice points u guys got there! i apreciate every suggestion.
they defintly will help me to make a dicision.


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## TeesForChange (Jan 17, 2007)

When I first started and offered only four tees, a regular site (hosted by lunarpages) and paypal was enough. However, when I added more shirts, it became too time consuming to have to change out all the PayPal buttons/options, etc., so I switched to ZenCart. That worked great for a few years, until I realized that I needed more robust reporting and wanted to be able to export my customer list so I can mail to them. ZenCart didn't do that! So I switched once again. 

You can try something and see how it works for you and then you can always change it once you outgrow it or find a system that suits you better.


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## Fr4nk13 (Feb 10, 2010)

I went ahead and bought an unlimited hosting plan. I pay per month, but I also design people's websites, and charge per year to host it with me. When you have unlimited domains, email, database, storage, and bandwidth it pays itself that way.. Well, almost.


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## hlc (Dec 7, 2009)

some update.
i went with usavedomains.com and it didnt work. not a zencart nor nopcommerce. this is frustrating.
i found out zencart works best on linux servers and i had windows. i uninstalled zen and installed nopcommerce which was great at the begining. i later started having problems with shipping, getting errors, and wen i tried to move my store from "shop" folder to my "root directory" it all got screwed up.
i thought i backed up my files in SQL but all i did was back up database, no idea what the hell the difference is, then i deleted annoying files in file manager that was non existent but still remained in file manager (????) i wonder why. this must be stupid hosting company. neways
all my hard work was gone, and store files and setting got deleted.
i decided to get the hell out of usavedomains, now im gonna have to transfer my domain and strat everything from begingin. 
instalaations was supposed to be easy.


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## ripperbro (Mar 24, 2010)

Dmitry - Sounds tough man. Yes we prefer open source stuff. if you get a install of OSC going I might be able to help point you in the right direction if you have a problem. Try hostica, they are good fair people.


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## hlc (Dec 7, 2009)

ripperbro said:


> Dmitry - Sounds tough man. Yes we prefer open source stuff. if you get a install of OSC going I might be able to help point you in the right direction if you have a problem. Try hostica, they are good fair people.


yes Matt i was gonna try it with hostica like 1 hr ago when i found out i cant transfer my domain name before 60 days. that means if i transfer my domain it wont work on my new hosting up until 60 days gone by, and thats really gonna hurt my business cuz i wanted to launch site and sell tshirts for this summer.
im thinking to transfer later to hostica. it seems pretty good to me.
 i changed my hosting to linux, they say zen cart works better in linux or someting.


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## ripperbro (Mar 24, 2010)

Your Registrar won't let you point your domain to different DNS servers for 60 days? Wow you are having a real "learning" experience with this. Stay positive. Switch to Linux and MySQL and zencart should work well. Remember open source always have lots of forums and online help like this site. Good luck man.


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## tmonkey (May 6, 2009)

It sounds like you are trying to transfer your domain name, which yes, can't be done for 60 days. What you actually need to do is just point you DNS servers to the new host. Domain names and domain hosting are two separate things that do not have to (and probably should not) come from the same company. Who did you get the domain name from?


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## hlc (Dec 7, 2009)

tmonkey said:


> It sounds like you are trying to transfer your domain name, which yes, can't be done for 60 days. What you actually need to do is just point you DNS servers to the new host. Domain names and domain hosting are two separate things that do not have to (and probably should not) come from the same company. Who did you get the domain name from?


oh really i didnt know that. im still new to all these hosting things /sighs/
i went wit usavedomains.com

by the way zen cart works fine now. and im in progress of configuring my store


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## badappleapparel (Sep 2, 2007)

I use Shopsite, does any one else use this software? Seems to be a great shopping cart and customer service has been great, if you ever need it. This stuff works & is easy to use.


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## animarket (Jul 8, 2010)

I'm really surprised at some of the responses to this question.

The Hostgator $4.95/mo. plan has all the bandwidth, diskspace, cart support and server extras that you could possibly need (more than any other hosts for that price). They have 24/7 live chat (knowledgeable technician) and 24/7 toll free tech support by a knowledgeable tech. 

Although Godaddy is #1 in domain hosting, they are not a top website hosting company. Do not use them for hosting. 

I hope this answers your question.


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## hlc (Dec 7, 2009)

animarket said:


> I'm really surprised at some of the responses to this question.
> 
> The Hostgator $4.95/mo. plan has all the bandwidth, diskspace, cart support and server extras that you could possibly need (more than any other hosts for that price). They have 24/7 live chat (knowledgeable technician) and 24/7 toll free tech support by a knowledgeable tech.
> 
> ...


yea but have u ever read hostgator reviews? they freaked me out. so no thanks. google it if u want to see


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## animarket (Jul 8, 2010)

I don't need to read the reviews. I've dealt with a good handful of Hosting companies since 2003, and Hostgator is by far the best.

Consider this when you read reviews about companies in Google. 

1. Bad reviews (of other companies) are often posted by competitor bloggers.

2. Good reviews (of their own companies) are often posted by competitor bloggers.

3. Hostgator services over 2.5 million domains. If you find bad legitimate reviews on them, but not on other companies that you are comparing...you have to compare apple to apple. If your company is unknown or only hosts 100k domains, then comparing 'reviews' is not apple to apple.

BR


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## Nancy G (Mar 14, 2010)

animarket said:


> I'm really surprised at some of the responses to this question.
> 
> The Hostgator $4.95/mo. plan has all the bandwidth, diskspace, cart support and server extras that you could possibly need (more than any other hosts for that price). They have 24/7 live chat (knowledgeable technician) and 24/7 toll free tech support by a knowledgeable tech.
> 
> ...


Just to get it straight- I can buy GoDaddy domain today and still set up website at HostGator tomorrow with the GoDaddy name, and it will all be up for buz,(once I fill up the store..) new to the web stuff, and very close to actually getting my shirts printed. Thanks. N


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## hlc (Dec 7, 2009)

ok thats not bad explanation, animarket. i didnt look at this way.:tipthank:


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## animarket (Jul 8, 2010)

hlc said:


> ok thats not bad explanation, animarket. i didnt look at this way.:tipthank:


Not a problem. I usually mull over reviews anytime I am looking to buy something. Unfortunately the trusted reviews are mixed in with a bunch of biased reviews. It's hard to make a decision based on that.


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## animarket (Jul 8, 2010)

Nancy G said:


> Just to get it straight- I can buy GoDaddy domain today and still set up website at HostGator tomorrow with the GoDaddy name, and it will all be up for buz,(once I fill up the store..) new to the web stuff, and very close to actually getting my shirts printed. Thanks. N


Nancy, that is correct. You buy the domain or domains via Godaddy. They can sit in your account until you are ready to host one of them. Then register with Hostgator (or other host) and at that time they will send you a welcome e-mail. 

In this e-mail there will be your login information and some nameservers, example:

NS43.HOSTGATOR.COM
NS44.HOSTGATOR.COM

To get your domain to match up to your hostgator account, you simply login to your Godaddy account, and change the Nameservers for the domain to the nameservers provided in your welcome e-mail. In just a bit, after propagation, the domain and host will be synced up.

You can upload files before or after propagation, but it is usually easier afterward.

You would just go to www.yoursite.com/cpanel and navigate to the File Manager to upload your files. All files for your website need to reside in the 'root' directory or public_html.

The easiest way to upload your files is to create an FTP account via cPanel. Then use an FTP client to connect to your website. You can then bulk transfer files from your Local machine to your website. 

I might have said too much, but hopefully this helps. Hostgator will help you via their Live chat or 1-800# to get started.

Godaddy will help with the nameservers if you need them. Also a toll free #.


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## Nancy G (Mar 14, 2010)

Wow Bryan, Thanks a ton. That was great info. You're right, I was getting lost on the FTP part, but will use their help line. Am getting so close to ordering my shirts, I'm excited!
remember I was your first "Thanks", now you're on record! 
Good luck to all ~ N


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## animarket (Jul 8, 2010)

Nancy G said:


> Wow Bryan, Thanks a ton. That was great info. You're right, I was getting lost on the FTP part, but will use their help line. Am getting so close to ordering my shirts, I'm excited!
> remember I was your first "Thanks", now you're on record!
> Good luck to all ~ N


Nancy,

No problem at all. With those 2 services, a beginner can get going easily with good customer service. 

I appreciate my first Thanks! That's great!

Hopefully I can add to that in the future. I am experienced in eCommerce and websites, but new to making T-shirts as well. This will be fun.


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## lunarc (Jul 10, 2008)

I would highly recommend Dreamhost (dreamhost.com). Not only are they really cheap, have great support but also have one click installs of Zen-cart, wordpress and many other CMS systems. They are really nice to have live chat support to take care of quick problems.


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## Nancy G (Mar 14, 2010)

NOT computer literate, so I think I will try Hostgator with alot of good comments here about helpline...
Someone mentioned getting the Reseller/VPS account to service more than 1 domain thru same site...I may not have all the right terminology, but here goes..
When buying a domain name, its recommended to buy different spellings so if customer gets it wrong, they still come to your site. Is getting the 'reseller' acct, then necessary and that is where I would list the different names? 
does that make sense? ALSO, the name I want is not avail as a .com, but everything else .net .org. etc. The other site is NOT clothing, is it worth getting the . net?
Thanks to all, N


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## Nancy G (Mar 14, 2010)

Oh yeah, does the HostGator have the payPal or way for customers to pay. Don't have any of that set up either! Will they stay on my site or go elsewhere? Do I need the SSL, or is that included with monthly fee? Phew I know, I need help-thanks! N


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## GuaVaGrL (Jul 22, 2010)

After trying to setup Magento and realizing it was overkill for what we needed, I went back to exploring Wordpress with the WP e-Commerce plugin. I'm just starting to get it setup so we'll see how it goes.

For hosting, I use Bluehost.com which has cPanel and one-click install of Wordpress and more. Some other hosts that are Wordpress friendly are: http://wordpress.org/hosting/




tmonkey said:


> For only 30 products zen cart is probably overkill, especially if you are not a php/css expert. The file structure can be very confusing with override system they use, and the backend has a lot of options that need to be managed. I'd use Wordpress with the e-commerce addon for a simple store. The Wordpress backend is very simple and straightforward. Wordpress is a lot more than blog software these days, some of the things people are doing with it will amaze you.
> 
> For either zen or wordpress the minimum package from any of the hosts will do - I have a 10k item zen cart store that is 400MB with images. A 30 item Wordpress store is under 20MB. Most hosts will offer either fantastico or Softaculous for auto installing software and scripts for the major open source software like zen and wordpress.
> 
> Just go for the minimums - $5/month should be the max you will pay, + <$10 year for a domain name. Register your domain name separately so that if you need to switch hosts you don't have to deal with someone you're already having problems with.


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## Daniel Slatkin (Jun 25, 2008)

We use TMD Hosting for our dedicated server. There support staff has always been top notch!


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## Flitterfly (Nov 18, 2008)

Sorry for this post's length, but I'm going thru the same research trying to get the right online store up, and I also have limited computer skills and time.

So I'll put my situation out there and thank everyone in advance for their thoughts.

I have a wordpress web site for my fishing guide business that is OK for my needs. I like it because I can personally keep it updated and add photo's/videos. Works fine for me and my clients like it.

I also own a B&M retail shop that is successful, especially since I stumbled onto this site a couple of years ago, (Thx Rodney!) studied it hard and expanded into tee shirts. I purchased a locally iconic tee from a business that was sold, (yes it's trademarked hit on a couple of marketing ideas for it, have some other nice designs, and now am on track to sell about 250 dozen this year, with plenty of room to grow.

I'm ready to put everything on a serious online store, and I have the domains I want.

Currently I have a pitiful GoDaddy store that a young employee set up as a test for me. She did a nice job for no experience, and I appreciate her effort, but I need a better store.

I have budgeted about $1000 to get it up and running. Looking at store templates from TemplateMonster.com and whichever ssl cart along with someone to help customize it, I think that might be reasonable? I'm not sure what any monthly fees to expect for a site with around 100 products...any thoughts there?

And I am concerned with the ease of updating it once it's up. I will have an office employee doing it, but we will likely need good support.

When someone clicks my online store link at my website, I'd like it to go direct to the online store. That's not happening the way it's set up now.
Will I have to use a shopperpress site to do that, since I want to keep the wordpress site, or hire someone more skilled than I to make it happen? 

And I have another domain name I want to direct straight to the online store site.

Anyone experienced with a little extra time, I'd appreciate your thoughts on the best way to move forward here...

Thanks.


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## chobay (Aug 4, 2009)

animarket said:


> I'm really surprised at some of the responses to this question.
> 
> The Hostgator $4.95/mo. plan has all the bandwidth, diskspace, cart support and server extras that you could possibly need (more than any other hosts for that price). They have 24/7 live chat (knowledgeable technician) and 24/7 toll free tech support by a knowledgeable tech.
> 
> ...


I agree, hostgator is 10x better for hosting than godaddy. I still buy my domains names from godaddy though, especially when another forum member posts coupon codes..


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## esmoli (Jun 27, 2010)

Flitterfly - If you are in the market looking for hosting, I too recommend hostgator, although since it is an ecommerce store the baby package recommended above doesn't include SSL - the secure certification for online payment. Their business plan is $12.95 per month or it can be paid annually, this comes with 'dedicated' SSL . there is a lessor package for $7.95 per month which has 'shared SSL' - what this basically means in laymans terms is that when a person enters their personal information to make payments on your site they will be told the certificate is not know or secure do they want to procede? - many people ignore this as it is a common issue with small to mid size businesses (using shared SSL hosting). Their are some online buyers who would not use this link because of this problem if they are highly security conscious. They provide online 24/7 support for problems with the server side of things ...which you would have relatively few of once set up has been complete anyway. The only real problem I have experienced with hostgator has been a recent one, using mail clients on a mac computer has led to process issues, taking many of my wordpress sites down randomly. It has meant that I have needed to write a code on the hostgator server to prevent this happening, and I am certain it is an issue of the mac web client rather than the hostgator end of things. Adding the code has cured it of these ills  

Since you are already familiar with wordpress, the transition into using a standalone wordpress site built specifically as an e - commerce store front wont be difficult to manage as you are already familiar with the admin panel in wordpress. This would be advantageous to you and cut out the threat of the need to learn a 'whole new system' . 

If you are looking for custom design you don't particularly need to buy a template from anywhere, as the designer should be able to 'customise' the site to your specs . A designer will often ask to see links to templates and sites you like in order to get an idea of the layout of the site. 

The link to the new store can be directly integrated into your existing site's page link to take the existing traffic directly to the store. 

For this set up you will need; Hosting and new domain pointing to server, wordpress install and database set up, custom design, Ecommerce set up to be included and customised into design, product catagorisation, product upload, Page set up and layout for information pages and contact form etc (if you want a direct and easy fill out for customers), Email set up (if you want it), Payment Gateway set up and integration into ecommerce. Search Engine Optimisiation and Spam filtering (particularly relevant to a wordpress site as they attract spammers). Finally you need your pre-existing site to be edited to point the online store to the new store directly and some form of aftercare to ensure you are able to use the set-up sufficiently. 

I've just googled around to find you a bare bones price, the cheapest US price I can find with somebody I can recommend in terms of experience is $1295 - this is for a limited customised theme (ie colour change of a template from a choice of a few, and an image adding into header) and ecommerce integration into the site. It lists various 'services' which are simply standard Ecommerce integration i.e. shopping cart, catalogue, product views, checkout, terms and conditions in footer, etc. If you imagine a fairly plain site with an empty ecommerce store and no additional info or other pages, that is the out of the box $1295 package. I can give you the contact if you are interested. Please beware that it does not include hosting, wordpress and database set up/installation, domain move, info and contact pages, product uploads, search engine optimisation, spam filtering and so on...

Often such sites have hidden costs, if shopping around be sure to list all of those services I initially mentioned above in order to ensure you get a 'finite' price rather than fall into loopholes as the site progresses. 

As you know, I'm a web designer, I don't have a lot of 'free time' but if you are looking to undertake some of this project yourself to get it going and reduce costs I can at least talk you through pointing your domain to a server once you have hosting, and installing wordpress and setting up the database. From there it will come down to how a designer codes the site to behave, which I would be unwilling to interfere with lol . 

moli


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## Flitterfly (Nov 18, 2008)

Jill,

Thanks for the response and apologies on my delay getting back to you, we've been slammed...

And thanks for all your input on this project. We met this week and decided that we are going to try and tackle this ourselves and force ourselves to learn the ins and outs of our online store right from it's creation.

It may prove to be too much for us to go it alone, and we may have to get some professional input at some point, but we feel learning how to create it will be the best thing as we move forward to keep us prepared for other issues I figure we are bound to face in the future with the site.

While we are certainly not too tech savvy, we are determined. We think we can learn what we need to learn from helpful sites like this, coding for dummies type books, support lines, and friends with some programming skill to teach us....we'll see.
We may be a bit naive.

We are researching and reading everything we can.

At this point, we have the domain name we want, purchased through godaddy. $10 bucks a year.

We have signed up for a Hostgator.com business account and had the domain name pointed there. $13 bucks a month.

We're searching for an os2commerce store template we like that will hopefully not need to much work.

I think we are just going to pick a cart, probably ZenCart, and just run with it.

That's about as far as we have been able to get so far and had the time to tackle, but we're on it!

Any advice from anyone on our next step, or what to look out for, is always appreciated.

Thanks again.


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## esmoli (Jun 27, 2010)

Hi, 

It's not naive at all to run with it  Everybody has to start somewhere, I wasnt born knowing how to code  ...

You could always install a cart and use a 'free' downloadable template to get a feel for it, that way you get to try the cart and it's functions out before buying into a template to fit  and if you aren't happy you can try another, etc. This will help you get the feel for what you want from your site and the choices to make. 

I've sent you a quick mail, feel free to contact me for support or advice on this project my friend.


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## LancerFlorida (Mar 20, 2018)

OWN THE URL!
That is incredibly important.


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