# Need help understanding ecommerce websites



## VIP Vince (Jan 29, 2008)

Let me just say that every single aspect of the "art" of selling shirts has been a challenge, but this website has been priceless in finding answers for every one of my needs! Thanks to all!

Here is my dilema, I just got 500 shirts printed, with hopes to get them in some local reatil shops, and sell them around town, at shows and events etc... I also want an online store that is super easy to buy from. 

I will be adding to the website as it grows, possibly a forum, a blog, links, videos etc, but for now I just want to mostly concentrate on giving the people a place to buy my stuff.

I have a domain name, and had a kid volunteer to set up my site. Right now we just have a temp message on the home page, that says check back later. What we need to do is add a way to display our products (I guess he can do that) and then a shopping cart or what ever? I don't really buy stuff online so I feel stupid on this subject.

What is an easy way to set something up, so that customers feel secure buying our stuff? Do we buy a shopping cart and link it to paypal, or do the shopping cart companies take the payment for us? I have tried to research, but I get lost with all the jargon.


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## splathead (Dec 4, 2005)

Just starting out, the easiest & fastest way in my opinion is to just open a paypal merchant account. Paypal has their own standalone shopping cart. You don't have to link it to someone else's shopping cart. You can do that later once you establish yourself online and have more time to explore options. That is, if you want to. There are tons of online site out there who only use paypal, nothing else.


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## VIP Vince (Jan 29, 2008)

Thanks Joe! While that may seem like the easy answer to some, it helps me a bunch! I have pretty much decided that is what I will do. I have one question, if I am trying to establish a brand, does this hurt much? I really am not trying to give the impression that I am much bigger than I am, but I don't want to make people think I suck either!


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## splathead (Dec 4, 2005)

Paypal is pretty well known now. If it concerns you a lot, you can have your guy set up paypal where transactions are processed in the background. Buyers wouldn't even know they were using paypal. It does cost extra, I think $30 a month or so, but it too is an easy option.


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## sunnydayz (Jun 22, 2007)

Yea the paypal payments pro cost is $30 a month but well worth it because you can process credit cards or have paypal as an option of payment. There are also a lot of site builders out there that you can build a store with, like yahoo stores, for those that dont have alot of website building experience. This might be easier for you then actually building a site from scratch. Hope this helps


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## zo76 (Nov 13, 2007)

Check out Volusion. Its what I'm going to use to sell my Clothing line once I get it up and running. Check out their videos on the site so you can see what Its like to use their service. You can get a site up and running for about $55 a month with *everything included!* (hosting, merchant account,...lots more).
Hope this helps bro.


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## pshawny (Feb 27, 2008)

CubeCart - Free & Commercial Online Shopping Cart Solutions is a good shopping cart.


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## R1Lover (Jun 7, 2008)

55 a month is a little expensive imo.... shop around please.


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## ambitious (Oct 29, 2007)

Or you can try Big Cartel » Bringing the Art to the Cart very easy to use with paypal as there shopping cart. And is free if your only selling like 5 products. Check them out.


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## CUSTOM UK (Jun 28, 2008)

*Hi. You can simply add the images to your pages, then add a PayPal 'Buy it Now' or 'Add to Shopping Cart' button next to them. Many mainstream retailers also now ofer PayPal as an option, so it certainly doesn't have a 'downbeat image'.*

*Another option is to have a shopping cart system, such as Cubecart, or Zen-Cart. Both of which are free. If you take that route though, you'll need web hosting that runs php and offers a mysql database as part of the package.*

*Hope this helps.  *


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

This thread helps to explain ecommerce sites: http://www.t-shirtforums.com/ecommerce-site-design/t25617.html


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## jackieg (Dec 31, 2008)

zo76 said:


> Check out Volusion. Its what I'm going to use to sell my Clothing line once I get it up and running. Check out their videos on the site so you can see what Its like to use their service. You can get a site up and running for about $55 a month with *everything included!* (hosting, merchant account,...lots more).
> Hope this helps bro.



volusion sounds really great, a little pricey per month for just starting out..but i'm really interested in possibly trying it out. Has anyone actually used them? If so, what do u think?


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## WaneTango (Feb 23, 2009)

Make sure to do some major research on this one bro. I went with stores online (they have a killer sales pitch) and a good service but it is way expensive to get into.. Best advice that I can give.. decide where you want to be (rather than where you are.. ie small company/just starting out..ect), and follow that path. If you want to be a major player.. plan ahead for it.. spend a lot of time devoloping your brand name/logo/theme your market..ect. Trust me on this one.. its way easier to do all of this on the front end rather than later when you realize that you name/logo/website is just not going to work and you have to start back at square 1. 

Plan ahead my friend.. develop a solid buisness plan and put it into action. 

Hope this helps. Tango


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## WaneTango (Feb 23, 2009)

VIP Vince said:


> I really am not trying to give the impression that I am much bigger than I am, but I don't want to make people think I suck either!


A wise man once told me... "fake it til you make it, if you act like a big shot long enough eventually you will be treated like one". 

I know it sounds kinda brash but there is some truth to it. You can set yourself up for your destination just by asking yourself "where do i want to be/where is this going?". Then just pretend that you are there, or set things up like who someone who is there would. Next thing you know, you might just be there. 

Good luck bro, 
Tango


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## Martin85 (Feb 8, 2009)

splathead said:


> Just starting out, the easiest & fastest way in my opinion is to just open a paypal merchant account. Paypal has their own standalone shopping cart. You don't have to link it to someone else's shopping cart. You can do that later once you establish yourself online and have more time to explore options. That is, if you want to. There are tons of online site out there who only use paypal, nothing else.


Depend of the country, paypal doesnt have good services in some countries!!

I think that you should first define a public, after try some suppliers with good quality and competitive price, make a layout clean and easy to navigate for your virtual store, define the methods of payment and the credit card flags to work, create some mailing lists with posible customers and work with others tools to get traffic for your website.


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