Questions concerning start up...

[jenstet]

I'm new to the boards, have read a few threads on this topic, but still find myself a little confused. I have a 2-part question.

Part 1:
I want to start an ecommerce site selling personalized items. I am a graphic designer by trade and am capable of designing my own site. So, I get that. What I question is whether I need to subscribe to a shopping cart service? Is there a program that I can create my own shopping cart in that would be secure? That would work with Dreamweaver? I would not like to rely on any templates, but rather build everything myself. Is it crazy complicated and that's why there are services to subscribe to? Do they offer more than anything that I can do myself? Benefits?

Part 2:
I'm quite confused with the process and what is necessary. Would you say that the following list is accurate:

Website
Domain Name
Web Host
Storefront
Shopping cart service
Merchant account/ Paypal-like service

Voila...that's all? If there are some great resources out there, can you point me in the direction so as to not waste any of your time?

Thanks to all for your time in reading my post and I will be ever so thankful if you are able to guide me in any way. I think research on the net would be easier if I understood the lingo...maybe that's what I am lacking? Oy!

Have a great day!

[JPnyc]

Well the storefront is the website, and the cart itself is just script files and a database on your server. You can purchase that. As for working with DW, I've never opened it or seen it but HTML documents are HTML documents.

Billing is another issue, you can hire a billing service, or use paypal. Paypal may be a bit restricting, but at 1st you might wanna go that way until you get acclimated. Besides, with identity theft and stolen CC numbers increasing problem, I think more sites will offer paypal as a safer alternative.