Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I would like to know if anyone is or has used AgoraCart or osCommerce for their website`s Shopping Cart option. What are your thoughts about these free products?

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I`ve installed osCommerce for a couple of clients. It`s extremely powerful and reasonably easy to use. There are a number of third party add-ons so you can easily add features like

• Additional payment gateways
• Additional shipping modules
• Affiliate programs
• Price groups
• etc...

Unfortunately it`s not the easiest product to customize how your site looks because the design and code are mixed together. Adding third party modules can also be a little tricky depending on the module. You won`t be making these kinds of changes often so you can always hire a good web developer to assist you.

All open source/free shopping cart options tend to have the same strengths and weaknesses.

• The initial cost is low but they may have a higher long term cost.
• There isn`t a vendor you can call if you need help immediately. Most projects have a mailing list or forum you can get help through but don`t expect an immediate response with the correct answer.
• You need to be vigilant about security (subscribe to the mailing list, join the forums, apply all upgrades, etc)
• You need to do a lot more yourself

My rough guide to shopping carts is:

• Use a hosted shopping cart if all you want to worry about is taking orders. While more expensive you don`t need to worry about server security, installing the software correctly or installing upgrades.
• If you`re comfortable with computers then buying the software can save you a lot of money. Vendors will usually provide installation support and may have an option that includes on-going support and upgrades.
• Open source (free) software has no initial cost but you may need to do more work youself. It is suited to those who are computer literate and can follow instructions. Support is provided by the community so this is a bad choice if you want immediate support for problems.
• Custom shopping carts should be avoided unless you have a specific need that cannot be handled using one of the other methods.

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I`ve used osCommerce a while back so take this with a grain of salt.

For simple shops osCommerce is bloated and will drive you batty. but if you want a full blow E-Commerce store osCommerce is a great piece of software. If i remember correctly osCommerce is a PHP coded application so getting code help should be a breeze. (i think there have been ports to other languages as well but these aren`t typically as good as the original).

Also the osCommerce software is modular so you`ll find all kinds of 3rd party add-on both free and paid out on the net.

As for AgoraCart i don`t know anything about it other than it looks to be perl based which sends up some red flags for me. typical perl applications can be resource monsters if not coded properly or configured correctly. i would avoid perl based application unless you know a lot about the company providing the software.

hi i got the best shopping cart experience here Thewebpole.com they provide e-commerce solution which helps me to create a online store easily through which i easily  sold my products .here they provide  me  free product catalog and
hosting.all you must do is just select our design ,add our product details , start selling our products.i felt happy with their service.

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Businesses that offer products or services via the Internet often accept payment via an Internet-based shopping cart. This program lets you run your business from anywhere that has access to an online connection.

Simple shopping cart

 

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Have you looked into AppleCart from Spads.com? It is very affordable, no monthly maintenance fees, has been thoroughly tested and is very easy for your web desiner to incorporate into your web site.

 

And best of all it is very indexable through the search engines. I would place the AppleCart against ANY shopping cart out there ... feature for feature, dollar for dollar. The entire cart, including data base, banner ads, drop-shipping capability, multiple quantity discounting, instant rebates, size and color options and your very own gift card data base and processing capabilty ... All for less than $200 !! And NO MONTHLY service fees.