# need major help with setting up an online store



## MisterB (May 2, 2007)

So far designing and setting up an online store has been the most difficult aspect of my business venture.....ive purchased my domain name already from godaddy.....i had started using wix.com to design a flash site...have ne of u used them b4??.... i need help with hosting n setting up a shopping cart and everything else needed to make my store an actual store.....if i choose paypal do i still need a shopping cart from lets say volusion??...if godaddy will b my host do i need to have a paypal account?........i definitely want my customers to stay on my site when makin payments...im so lost n confused i dont kno where to begin n im fearful of makin any costly mistake ....ne help and or advice is greatly appreciated...i luv this forum


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## thedeadpress (Mar 12, 2009)

If you want to use paypal and have customers stay on your site then I think you need paypal pro which has a monthly fee of around £20 plus transaction fees if my memory serves me. This would then intergrate with your shopping cart of choice. 

In terms of getting a shopping cart it all depends on if you want to do it yourself or get someone else to do it for you. I'm currently trying to design a site (not t-shirt related) using ecomercetemplates but while I can't say if its better or worse than anything else out there the forum and techical support have been great.

I only mention this one as I know it intergrates well with paypal - but i'm sure most of them are the same.


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## AngrySpade (Feb 7, 2010)

I really suggest Storenvy. I used them to set up my store and it was really quick and easy. They allow complete CSS editing so you can build practically anything you want. Plus they host it and you can just forward from your domain you bought.

The best part is its free, and the whole shopping cart is set up for you and runs through paypal.


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## madscotsman (Jul 6, 2008)

depending on how many products you are looking to sell and if your host gives you a mysql databse included in the hosting then a shop is fairly straight forward to add, there are several commercial programs, but to be honest prestashop is free and does the majority of things you expect to use on a webshop. plus there are lots of additional modules you can install on to to, but the best part of prestashop is it is free.


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## wormil (Jan 7, 2008)

Starting out you might want to try something like Big Cartel which works through paypal but allows you to use your own domain name. The stores are easy to set up and can be customized down the line when you get some cash coming in.


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## chicabu (Feb 28, 2010)

check out www.pappashop.com very easy to set up a website with shoppingcart/paypal


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## gsr737 (Sep 13, 2007)

Hi,
You are probably on overload with which cart to use. Here is a link that shows cart compatibilty with PayPal:
https://cms.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/?...tent_ID=developer/solutions_carts_wp_standard
We use Ecommerce templates and they do have great support. The nice thing about the cart is that it allows you to have inventory control and also integrates with UPS, FedEx and USPS (assuming that is a concern for you). There are lots of add-on modules too.
Unfortunately it isn't free but cost a lot less than some of the other commercial carts out there. Make sure that your host site has database available to you. 
(Set up was very straight forward and we integrated ours with our existing site.)


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## susanralf (Mar 1, 2010)

what about gocart that is also pretty good as well


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## AngrySpade (Feb 7, 2010)

wormil said:


> Starting out you might want to try something like Big Cartel which works through paypal but allows you to use your own domain name. The stores are easy to set up and can be customized down the line when you get some cash coming in.


Storenvy is very similar to Big Cartel but its completely free no matter what. I love it.


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## MisterB (May 2, 2007)

I checked out storenvy it look very nice but the deal breaker is that i want my customer to stay on my site when checkingout.


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## wormil (Jan 7, 2008)

MisterB said:


> I checked out storenvy it look very nice but the deal breaker is that i want my customer to stay on my site when checkingout.


Then you'll need a shopping cart or Paypal Pro.


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## ubercooltees (Jul 20, 2009)

I really like virtuemart for joomla. I have used it on several stores, and have had great success. I would not use a cart that someone else hosts and you just point your domain name to. It will hut your search engine rankings. If you want real help setting it up PM me and I will take care of it.


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## pshawny (Feb 27, 2008)

I like CubeCart


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## RideOutWear (Feb 27, 2010)

i use bigcommerce.com they are very simple to design your site and the cart is already set up for any credit card and paypal.


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## shirtandsimple (Sep 9, 2009)

I'm currently using shopify but am paying $60 a month for it. Does anyone know the difference between shopify and Storenvy? If Storenvy is really free and customizable and allows me to print my own shirts and sell them...how do they make any money?


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## sewon (Sep 4, 2007)

ubercooltees said:


> I really like virtuemart for joomla. I have used it on several stores, and have had great success. I would not use a cart that someone else hosts and you just point your domain name to. It will hut your search engine rankings. If you want real help setting it up PM me and I will take care of it.


The Paypal option that does not have the monthly fee, does that fall into the category you mention that hurts your rankings?


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## SeasonEnds (Sep 9, 2007)

I'm surprised I haven't heard more on Zen-Cart. It is a great open source shopping cart with tons of options. You can make it as simple or as complicated as you want.


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## TempeTshirts (Mar 24, 2010)

I am in the same situation and am currently looking into Yahoo's online store front.

Yahoo! Merchant Solutions: Establish and Grow a Successful Online Business

They have a simple template that allows you to upload your files and it loads them into a gallery format.

goodluck!


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## taricp35 (Dec 10, 2008)

$39.95 a month is what I don't like about yahoo merchant in addition to all the cookie cutter sites.

Zencart is cool but you do have to have some coding skills which I think the op don't have.


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## muneca (Sep 30, 2008)

thanks, great info on this one. i tried building a site...and gave up a few weeks ago when a chop shop contacted me.


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