# SERIOUS: Which of these carts ate my baby?



## cuush.com (Apr 8, 2006)

Post your opinion please...

- CRELoaded
- ShopSite
- X-Cart

*The details:
--------------------------------------------------------------------
* 
My fulfillment system only works with these shopping carts...
I've looked at all the above and none of them are good to go out-of-the-box (are they ever!?!).

*I need these features implemented at a minimum...
--------------------------------------------------------------------
* 
1) < Previous / Next > buttons on each product page

2) Multiple product photos per product page

3) Multiple dropdown menu options per product page (Size/Color/etc)

4) Single page checkout with shipping fees visible BEFORE checkout

--------------------------------------------------------------------

I intend to create the graphics myself...
but I want to hire a programmer to implement the extra features and ideally be available to do security updates.

Anyone got one of these carts customized by a 3rd party?
How was the experience?


----------



## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

I use shopsite right now and I've had it customized by a third party. If those are your only choices, I'd say go with shopsite and be prepared to pay even more to get it exactly the way you want.

I have a feeling though that those aren't the only choices and that other carts (like cubecart) could be made to work with your fulfillment system (which system is that?). Total cost to implement would probably be less expensive with cubecart than shopsite.

Both are great carts though.


----------



## T-BOT (Jul 24, 2006)

i don't know Jay, from what you need in a cart, a simple custom java script cart would work and it would not cost much to have a programer make it for you.


----------



## cuush.com (Apr 8, 2006)

I used ecommercetemplates.com for my first site...
it had a ton of built in features and only cost like $100.

I like ShopSite...
but it's a bit pricy for the version I need, 
and even then it still needs customizing.

I currently use ShipWorks.com for fullfillment/shipping labels/etc...they have a hard and fast set of carts that are integrated.
There are more than I listed (osCommerce, ProStores, Miva, etc), but I prefer not to use them for various reasons (poor support, monthly fees, extravagant costs, etc).

I'm really not worried about how much a cart costs (within reason)...
so much as I prefer to have features already integrated, rather than deal with questionable plugins and addons from questionable 3rd parties. 

Been there, done that.
Regular security updates on sites with all these old plugins, create havok = $$$$.

Plugin programmers tend to come and go...so their support and updates disappear with them. 
You end up paying a new guy to fix your old plugins...and that's just leaves you with an expensive refurbished product that usually doesn't work very well.

At this point in the game, I don't mind spending money on an established product that does what I need...
but my previous experience tells me that it's an ugly, bumpy road to get where I'm going...even when you pay for the premium carts!

To be honest, I wish I didn't use ShipWorks...
then I would just hire a company to create exactly what I need from scratch (ala BustedTees)!

But ShipWorks is a good service for a good price...
it's worth building a cart around.

Which cart? and which programmer? are the 60 million dollar questions.


----------



## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

Shopsite is pretty pricey, but I like it for what it does. There are good programmers out there that have been around shopsite since the early versions and aren't going anywhere.

I still would pick cubecart. Even with paying third party coders and other coders later on to fix MIA coders work, it still seems like the better deal.

That's just me though 

Hopefully others will have more experience/suggestions for you.


----------



## cuush.com (Apr 8, 2006)

Rodney said:


> Hopefully others will have more experience/suggestions for you.


I've been posting this question all over everywhere...
not too many responses going on tho, people are either tight-lipped or just don't know.

It's too bad all the shopping cart comparison websites are trying to sell the carts through affiliate programs...
and I can't seem to find a good forum of intelligent people discussing shopping carts in depth.

Maybe I should start one! : )


----------



## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

cuush.com said:


> I've been posting this question all over everywhere...
> not too many responses going on tho, people are either tight-lipped or just don't know.
> 
> It's too bad all the shopping cart comparison websites are trying to sell the carts through affiliate programs...
> ...


You could try wording the question a bit differently. It took me a few reads of your question to understand what info you need 

That could just be my thick head though.


----------



## sunnydayz (Jun 22, 2007)

cuush.com said:


> Post your opinion please...
> 
> - CRELoaded
> - ShopSite
> ...


I dont know about option #4 but I have oscommerce cart with a creloaded template and it has the multiple photo option, multiple drop down option and the previous and next buttons. I cant tell about #4 yet as I am still working on my site and dont have it completely up yet. It is not the site in my profile, it is a new one I am working on, but so far I am very happy with the options in my admin panel. hope this helps.

Bobbie


----------



## cuush.com (Apr 8, 2006)

sunnydayz said:


> ...the previous and next buttons.


Thanks Bobbie...you got my attention with the "Previous/Next buttons".

I know that #2 & #3 are already included in many carts, or it's an easy fix....
but #1 is probably the most important thing for a t-shirt website,
yet no major cart seems to pay much attention to this feature.

Anyway, I've been leaning towards CRE since it seems to be the most complete, for the lowest price...
and if you're saying that a CRE template has #1 integrated, then it shouldn't be hard to add this feature to CRE Loaded (if it's not already in the admin). 

NOTE: I need the B2B features of CREL...so I'll pay for it, as opposed to osCommerce for free.

The "single page checkout" (#4) is just a pipe dream...
no shopping cart on earth should make the closing of the sale any harder than it needs to be...
yet EVERY cart on earth makes it 2-3-4...even 5 pages!! Geniuses at work. 

Yahoo Shopping has a great cart...
but I refuse to pay anyone a "per transaction" fee.
It adds up FAST!!!


----------



## jay code (May 30, 2007)

Hi Jay,



cuush.com said:


> Thanks Bobbie...you got my attention with the "Previous/Next buttons".


You mean something like this? Its made with Zen-Cart
Funky Mess - $25.00AUD : Freextyler, Frozen Cool T-Shirt Designs



cuush.com said:


> NOTE: I need the B2B features of CREL...so I'll pay for it, as opposed to osCommerce for free.


If its for the B2B features, then I hope you haven't paid for that yet. I haven't tried using CRELoaded, but I read through their site, and Zen-Cart has all of their features are by default. I dunno with OsCommerce though...



cuush.com said:


> The "single page checkout" (#4) is just a pipe dream...
> no shopping cart on earth should make the closing of the sale any harder than it needs to be...
> yet EVERY cart on earth makes it 2-3-4...even 5 pages!! Geniuses at work.


Heheh... you got a point there  so you think its better in one-page eh? 

Same name as yours,

Jay


----------



## Charms4all (Jan 29, 2007)

How do you set up the shopping carts, to price a 2x or 4x t-shirt..
for example.. S M L XL shirts are 15.00 but 2X to 4X costs 20.00 what shopping cart supports that feature and automatically charges that? Or is that something entirely different?


----------



## sunnydayz (Jun 22, 2007)

I know the oscommerce carts have that feature. The one I am setting up adds how ever much extra depending on what you put in there.


----------



## Charms4all (Jan 29, 2007)

Thanks for the reply.. do you have to have a certain payment gateway for that feature or can i use paypal for that? or?


----------



## sunnydayz (Jun 22, 2007)

I just use paypal payments pro, I think you can just use paypal though although I am not possitive of that  They have alot of payment options with that cart.


----------



## Timewarp (Nov 15, 2007)

jay code, quick heads up, posting your email in the footer of your site is a good way to sign up for spam, stick to the contact form you already have.


----------

