On-Line Shopping Cart

[siraskalot]

I know at the time of print, Tim was recommending Yahoo's on-line shopping cart and mentioned that it was about $100 per month. Is this still the best option, or are there other ones (Google?) to consider?

[Marcie]

I'm using Google's, it is free till the end of the year, I just hope the price isn't too high after that! It's very easy to implement as well.

[siraskalot]

I'm using Google's, it is free till the end of the year, I just hope the price isn't too high after that! It's very easy to implement as well.

Sweet. :cool:

[jazzdrive3]

The $100 for Yahoo is for the standard plan. The basic plan is $40 per month, and really has all that you need to get started. You can upgrade for free at any time.

[siraskalot]

I'm using Google's, it is free till the end of the year, I just hope the price isn't too high after that! It's very easy to implement as well.

Does Google Shopping Cart still require the buyer to have a Google ID? If so, this seems like a deterrant and the $40/mo for Yahoo is probably worth it.

[Marcie]

Good point. But does the Yahoo cart require an ID as well?

[siraskalot]

Still looking for more feedback on this... Does the Yahoo Shopping Cart option do everything you need? The guy at the bank was trying to sell me their "Gateway Service" for an additional $25/mo and all it does is process the transactions. He kept talking about how I would see the money the next day and it would be secure. Waiting a few extra days isnt a big deal to me.

What is the best service for me?

I want to spend as little as possible.
I want it to handle everything necessary for somone to purchase on-line.
I want it to notify me when I have a sale.
I want it to send the $$$ directly to my bank account.
I am only selling one product.

Yahoo? Paypal? Other?

[madchadder]

Still looking for more feedback on this...

I used Yahoo Store a few years ago and was rather impressed.


I want it to handle everything necessary for somone to purchase on-line.
I want it to notify me when I have a sale.
I want it to send the $$$ directly to my bank account.


-In combination with a merchant account (which you get through another company), it provides everything you need to virtually display and sell your product. It's up to you (or whoever you hire) to manufacture and ship the product.
-It can certainly notify you when you have a sale.
-I believe you set up where you want the $$$ to go with the merchant account company. There's no problem having them send it directly to your bank account. Feel free to send it over to mine if you run out of room. ;)

Hope this helps.

[diglyd]

I am using Volution. My online store is running on the platform.

If anyone wants to take a look at what can be done using that platform my site is at http://www.voyabeauty.com/

the volution site is http://www.volusion.com/

I am not trying to advertise the service but this is what I use. I pay about $59 a month for the service. I got the silver package which allows me to list up to 250 products. You can take a look at their client examples.

I like their system as it was inexpensive to set up, but am a little dissapointed with their reporting engine but I have not played around with it all that much. Overall though it is possible to get a very clean and good looking online store its just a matter of skill.


I have never tried yahoo so I cannot speak for them but have been meaning to check it out and compare for my next idea.

one thing I like with volution is that their customer service is outstanding. Also its very easy to transfer ownership or domain names. So for example if I want to move my store to a new domain I just email them and they transfer it, or if I sell the business the new person just orders one of their packages and within an hour their my site is duplicated under their domain. All I have to do is fax them a notorized contracts that shows that I transfer of ownership.

The only thing that pissed me off about the store set up is that I had to get the SSL certificate from them. I got a cheap one from Go-daddy but found out it would cost me more to transfer it then to pay them to set one up. I learned that most services work like that as they want you to get the certificate form them regardless of who it is.

So register your domain name with Go-daddy but get your SSL from the place you will run your site on.

I use e-online data for my merchant services. It took about an hour to set up. You need to have a store or site setup before they will give you the merchant account as part of the process is verification of your site by one of their account managers and auditors to prevent fraud and ensure you are not a scam.

Being incorporated or having an LLC helps speed up the process, but all you really need is a DBA and a federal ID#

siraskalot to answer your questions the volution platform I use can do everything you want if yo uchoose to use that.

the store comes with web mail and your order confirmations all come there or you can have them forwarded anywhere. YOu can set up whatever accounts you want. I get my orders forwarded to gmail, and also they are in the admin section of the store. The store has an admin function that lets you see and edit all your orders from anywhere. The merchant account is set up so that any money or settlements go directly into my business account.

Since youa re selling only one product you can get their cheapest package which costs 29.99 a month if i remember correctly. The merchant account will cost you about 15-25 a month plus standard transaction fees for cc processing.

Regardless of what you use whether is yahoo or volution or something else you will need a gateway service i.e. merchant services account

I don't know where you live but most likely you will also need a business license and a seller's permit and make sure you get an accountant or do your own accounting to have money to pay taxes in your state if you live in the US.

Good luck.
DD

[PhoenixDown]

What are the benefits of using something like Yahoo's Online Shopping Chart over something like OSCommerce which would be hosted on your own site (aside form having to install the application of course)?

[diglyd]

The only benefit that is the most important for me is what the book emphisizes... having someone else taking care of the infrastructure.

Why would you want the hassle of setting up OS commerace or something else on your own wite, be responsible for it and the software configuration including support? I am willing to pay $$$ to have someone else take care of everything for me.

If my site goes down or there is even the smallest glich and I notice I pick up the phone and call 1-800-their support and within an hour I either have my answer or someone takes care of the problem.

The benefit to something like yahoo is that you don't worry about anything and everything that you set up you can access from wherever you are without you having to have a place to run it all.

Functionally I don't know what the benefit besides cost and probably customization or extra niche features would be. I would sacrifice all that for less lead time on delivery and launch of what I want and less hassle imho.

[jonparker83]

I've just joined the fun here so thought I'd offer my advice:

I want to spend as little as possible.
For this option, as you are only selling one product, I'd recommend buying your domain name and forwarding it to some free (or very cheap) webspace.

I'm sure there are companies who will even give a small amount of web space with a domain purchase
I want it to handle everything necessary for somone to purchase on-line.
I want it to notify me when I have a sale.
I want it to send the $$$ directly to my bank account.
All of these can be accomplished with something like either paypal or google checkout

After you have registered for an account with each of them, you can quite easily build a 'buy it now' button, and once you had added this to your page, a user can click it and they will be taken through the entire payment process with you being emailed upon a successful order being placed

I personally don't like Paypal or the way they do things but (literally) millions would disagree with me

Google checkout would be my preference and they are also offering free payment processing until the end of the year

To summarise, this method would involve no overheads in terms of monthly fees etc and a sample pricing could be as follows:

(Although I am not, I'm presuming you're in the US and have just googled the following results - im not affiliated with any of them in any way)

* Domain name ($7/year) http://www.godaddy.com
* Web Space (Free) Either free hosting through your ISP or http://www.united.net.kg/ (not used the united one but claims to be good)
* Payment processing setup and running (Free) https://checkout.google.com/ or http://www.paypal.com
* Payment processing fees (Free - 4.9% + $0.30 USD)

Hope this is useful

Jon :)