Design/hosting question

[Eastriver]

Hello All,

This is my first post, and I just wanted to let you know you guys have a great site. Im sure this has been asked hundreds of times before, so please bare with me.

I am starting a subscription based e-commerce business. One of the main features is that I will have is a information board (more of a form that list information) that my subscribers can post directly to in real-time. Capital to start this project is small, and I was curious as to if there were packages or DIY templates one could follow to set it up or would a designer be the best option?

Please correct me if im wrong, but it seems that a database approach would work best? I know my questions seem to be vague, but any help would be greatly appreciated in regards to above information, or hosting companies that would seem to better fit what I am looking for.

Thank you.

[Corey Bryant]

For hosting TechEvolution (http://www.techevolution.com/) would be a company I would recommend. For subscriptions, there are a lot of scripts out there (you might check hot scripts) depending on the language you need and the platform you are going to be using. One script that some people seem to like is amember - that might be one option as well.

[Eastriver]

Thanks Corey.

In your opinion ,(or anyone who cares to discuss also) what are some of the better merchant accounts that can handle recurring subscriptions. Also, can anyone please elaborate on what type of hosting plan, etc. you would want to research? Just basically an overview of what might be needed.(I.e. dedicated servers, bandwidth, etc.) I apologize if Im not using the right jargon. My mind is more on the business side, rather than the technological.;)

[Corey Bryant]

Most gateways will do the recurring billing for you. This helps you so that you do not need to be PCI compliant. And of course the merchant account providers will then just get the money to you after the batch is completed. Using the recurring billing option on the gateways (Payflow, LinkPoint, Authorize.net) is usually better in the long run.

As far as hosting, it all depends. Is your site full of flash or large media files that might require a lot of bandwidth or disk space? If not, then usually a smaller plan is good and then you can always upgrade as needed. Most hosting companies will allow you to upgrade as your business grows. Start with a shared server - this is what most people do unless they know the growth is going to be immediate. Usually, for most people, this is not the case. The hosting company that I mentioned above, you can increase your plan as needed and if needed, always get a dedicated server as well from them.

Most sites that are text based will not use a lot of bandwidth or diskspace. And of course you can always get a good guess on your diskspace by looking at all your files on your site locally. Chances are pretty good it is under 100M. I just did a simple little 10-page website about a month ago, and it is about 1M. One of our larger sites is about 80M.