# BASIC Needs for a New Webstore



## embloom (Jun 10, 2007)

I have been researching what it takes to start a web store to begin selling my t-shirt designs. T-shirt Forum has been very informative on this subject. There are many opinions as to what should be included to make the best t-shirt web store. 

To be honest, I’m a little overwhelmed with:
- what may or may not be needed to do this
- all of the options available for a site like this
- all of the different terms and what they mean
- what the range of costs for different options is

I want to be able to:
~Post my designs to my website
~Have those visiting my site be able to choose:
- a design(s)
- an item to have it printed on
- the color of the item(s)
- the size of the item(s)
- the method of shipping
- the method of payment
_I think_ I want to have a “free-standing” site hosted by a provider that will handle just about all of the various “particulars” for me (i.e. Volusion, Magento).
Note: _I’m not really sure what the “particulars” are or which ones I need/want._

Very SIMPLY what I’d like to know is:
- what do I need to meet my BASIC requirements?
- what exactly are the BASIC needs to get up and running?
_(not what should be included to make it the best web store;_
_some things can/will be added later to improve the site) _
- what are the costs I will encounter for this BASIC web store? 

Is there someone that can lay this out for me so I can make informed decisions?
Thanks!


----------



## EnMartian (Feb 14, 2008)

I think the first question is how web savvy you are. Hosting is different than creating and maintaining a cart. If you're looking for someone who will provide hosting as well as creating and maintaining the site that would be a whole different price range than if you did an open source cart, had it hosted somewhere and than possibly had someone doing the initial design and install and than you doing the updating and maintenance. 

Almost any cart solution you choose should be able to do the things you list in your "I want to be able to" list. That stuff is the bedrock of a shopping cart.


----------



## Pwear (Mar 7, 2008)

I'm a huge proponent of CubeCart myself - I tried out OsCommerce and a couple of other carts but found CubeCart to be the easiest to set up and modify. OSCommerce is very powerful, if not more so, it just didn't fit my needs at the time.

As said above, just about any cart will have the features you desire built in, just comes down to whether you want to spend the time to set it up yourself or hire someone.


----------



## guest29928 (Mar 30, 2008)

We use Volusion cart. Some of the "particulars" the shopping cart handles are: templates, color swatches, inventory management, live shipping rates, shipping integrated with major carriers, integration with quickbooks, multiple price options on the same product, discount and coupon options, analyzes return on investment for marketing campaigns (adwords, etc.). Anyway, those are just some. 

You also need a host for your site and, of course, a domain. You'll need a merchant account to process orders if you are planning on accepting credit cards unless you take paypal or google checkout.


----------



## cookiesa (Feb 27, 2008)

You basically need;

Hosting
Domain
Shopping Cart

Hosting - This is where you will have to shop around. You can get a basic hosting package where they provide the physical "storage" of your site (They effectively have large computers which are part of the "internet" and this is where your site will be. (Similar to your home PC but much more powerful and much larger disks) Most will also offer right up to a full website with store customised to your liking and they maintain stock etc, you just get the orders and let them know what stock to add/delete etc.

Domain - The name you want people to type in to their web browser to find you. (In the background this gets "linked" to the physical location on the web where your store is "hosted"

Shopping cart - This is the software which runs your store. This is what people "see" when they visit your site. Again these can be built for you or you can "customise" one to suit how you want it to look and work. Common ones are cubecart, oscommerce and zencart. These are all free to use and can generally be customised at little or no charge if you do it yourself. These also handle receiving payments and allow you to enter how the charges for shipping are applied. You can also use them to maintain stock and customer lists.

Hopefully that helps make sense of it all.

If you want someone else to handle "everything" your looking at lots of money comparatively, if your willing to learn some basics or accept a basic store set up while you do, then one of the free stores will get you up and running for minimal cost, the biggest thing with these is you need to be willing to spend the time to learn and do it if you want it to "look" the way you want.

Of course there is lots of "middle" ground where you can pay someone to customise one of the free carts to what you want, much cheaper than having a "custom" cart designed and anyone can alter it down the track for you.

I use both zencart and cubecart on my site (link below, the first one is a modified zencart and if you click on the baby basics link you will be taken to a cubecart store.


----------



## embloom (Jun 10, 2007)

Thanks for your response---You really "uncomplicates" things and that makes it easier not only to understand, but to actually get going on!
Mike


----------



## lawdog (Mar 7, 2008)

Justin, that was a great reply, Thx. So I have a domain from godaddy, now I look at Volusion ref a cart,(right) they have sites that i can buy. now they set those up like I want then I maintain it? How hard is this? I think I'm going to look for a web class at the local college.


----------



## cookiesa (Feb 27, 2008)

Sorry can't help you with the go daddy sites.... not sure what they use! But there are plenty on here who do so a reply will hopefully be not to far away!


----------



## SBEMedia (Jun 26, 2008)

Are you going to be a fulfillment center, i.e. actually printing and shipping the shirts, or do you just want to do the designs and have someone else print the product for you?


----------



## hextex (Jul 20, 2008)

I have been setting up web based shopping carts off and on for about 6 years if you would like some help you can MSG me anytime. I have used Presta, OSC, and ZEN...also some other crap a guy bought hehe. I hope I'm not coming across as a "know-it-all" or anything but I have experiance in the field, and would be glad to share any knowledge I have about the subject.


----------

