DIY? come again.. im being hosted by servage.net and either they dont offer much or im too unsavvy to tap into it.. i was looking into ecommerce solutions like shopsite.. but its EXPENSIVE! am i looking in the wrong places? any advice would be great
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DIY? come again.. im being hosted by servage.net and either they dont offer much or im too unsavvy to tap into it.. i was looking into ecommerce solutions like shopsite.. but its EXPENSIVE! am i looking in the wrong places? any advice would be great
DIY=Do It Yourself.
Cube Cart is my shop of choice and it's free as long as you keep the copyright notice in the footer. A license is $69.00 I believe. My vitamin store runs with it.
How's that working out for you so far - both the cart and the business ??Quote:
Originally Posted by roban
It's difficult for me to maintain an objective view as I aid in development and moderate the forum there but I'll try my best.
I tried, Zen, OSC, Joomla and test drove a few of the 'paid' shops and I have to say they all do pretty much the same thing so there has got to be another way of judging. For me, I was swayed by the support and the ease with which one can customize the software to suit individual needs and tastes. These 2 go hand in hand for, unless you're an expert coder, you're going to need help with any shop software. An online store is like any brick and mortar store in that it needs to be stocked, marketed and like any business the paperwork is endless so...my choice was based on the availabilty of resources to cover these areas.
My store has been online for a bit over a year and I have seen a steady growth (in direct proportion to the amount of work I am willing to put it). If you're looking to make a living within the first year, unless you have a very unique product and market, don't quit your day job.
The free shop's main advantage is, of course, it is FREE which gives you the chance to see how it goes without a great deal of capital outlay but expect to put in a little money and of course...one hell of alot of time.
Unless you are up to installing and maintaining the code itself, you might want to consider some turn-key hosted solutions like citymax.om or sitesell.com - not necessarily promoting any one of them as I do my own coding, but it's just a few other viable alternatives you might want to check into..
oscommerce is a free tool as well.. and it seems to offer more features like gift certificates and coupons and seo options.. what made u choose cubecart instead
The support system. Osc I found to be unfriendly and not too swift in replying to calls for support. Cube Cart is the antithesis. I became a moderator on their forums as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Don Namon
You may wanna consider oscommerce for your shopping cart.. You can set your prices, products, text, Basically have the bull by the horns in other words.. I don't know if your hosting provider provides this.. Here is a couple of stores that I've made.. and my customers keep the site updated very easily:
http://inspirationalhearts.com/novelties-and-gifts and
http://www.jjgingerbsvarietynook.com/home-decor < still in development but these sites should give you a pretty good idea.
If you have any questions please feel free to pm me
great insights..
roban a good support system i agree is important, but cubecart just doesnt seem to be as feature packed as oscommerce.. wat can u say of cubecart in that respect
reciprocal.. i am considering oscommerce. how much html knowledge is required to use osc to a reasonable potential.. unfortunately im not that html literate but want to do the setup work on my own in order to eliminate excess costs..
thanx
HTML is about as easy to learn as anything in I.T. Easier than learning a program like Screamweaver or FrontRage
To the OP -
Please remember one thing above all others: This is your business. While it may be attractive to think you're saving money by doing it yourself, I would regard it as foolish to try such a thing. Your posts in this thread indicate to me that you're really not qualified to do web development. This means that ultimately, the web site you put out there will likely be substandard and that will cost you dearly in sales. Do yourself a favor and hire a professional.
You may like to evaluate some of the well known storefront platforms. The service provider will host the site as well as most of the service providers will have an effective and easy content management interface. I would request you to evaluate a few of them.
Prasad
Managing Director
www.v2biz.com
jpnyc - know any good sites where i can get a-z html tutoring?
karlcore - i understand what you're saying but i also don't have the capital available like that.. do you have any suggestions of affordable yet quality web designers?
prasad - care to give specifics? which platforms are u suggesting?
thanx guys for all ur inputs! by the way, someone in another thread suggested ecommercetemplates for beginners.. yes? no? why?
THANX IN ADVANCE