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Hi Everyone,
I have an Ebay store and blog but I want to open an online store outside of Ebay so my eggs are not all in one basket. I don't know alot about computers so I am looking for something that basically will have everything I need including a shopping cart.
In your opinions, what is the best and low cost way to go. There just are so many which are free but frankly, I just don't know which ones are any good.
Thanks for any help you can provide.
Hi :)
I'm a new member here. If I can help you, what kind of online store that you are looking for? Do you need an online store where you can engage directly with your customer and at the same time they can browsing your products or it's just a website of your business with a shopping cart on it.
Basically, it all depends to your business selling system, but I totally agree with you that we shouldn't put everything in one basket. :)
----vita
I think the very first thing you have to think about with any "low cost solution" is how secure is it? Does the payment gateway have experience in dealing with transactions and are able to do so while at the same time keeping your customer's information safe?
Do you want control over updating the site yourself?
How well will a template site be for SEO?
In my honest and professional opinion you really need to consider a lot more options than just the cost of the store and you also need to take into consideration how much of an investment is worth it in the long run? If you drop $100 on the lower cost solution and make $500 in a year, but have two clients have their secure information stolen it may not be worth it.
But if you spend $5000 and have it done correctly and then slowly make that money back using a higher security, I think you're better off down the road.
Hi Kids!
I just took at your blog and you have really made an amazing start with your ebay store and blog. Your content is great. I want to help you NOT spend $5000 or even $500 like the post above suggests and still get a great site and continue your business.
1. The ONLY cost you will HAVE is to purchase hosting (approx. $60-$100 a year). If you aren't sure what that is - check out my description of the Four Building Blocks of A Website here. I recommend GoDaddy. You can purchase a domain there as well.
2. Install WordPress on GoDaddy. Here are instructions - it's super easy.
3. You can easily import your existing posts from your Blogger blog (sorry - but I don't have a tutorial of my own written yet on how to do that, but here are the basics! That way - you don't lose all that you've done on your Blogger blog - but you can continue blogging on WordPress, plus have a full website with pages, and a store.
4. Install either the WP ECommerce plugin (FREE) http://www.instinct.co.nz/e-commerce/ or Shopp ($55) http://shopplugin.net/. Directions can be found on those website for use - but seriously, if you can set up an EBAY shop - you can TOTALLY use these.
5. That's it. As far as security, both of these plugins use PayPal, Google Checkout (or a number of other payment services which you can specify) to actually process the checkout, so you don't have to worry about security anymore than you do on EBAY.
Please, don't spend $500 or $500 on your website. It's not necessary with WordPress and its great plugins.
I'm sorry that I don't have tutorials written for WP ECommerce yet - I'm just getting this particular site up and running. BUT, if you need any help, I'd be happy to help however I can.
Thanks - and keep at it!
Angie Meeker
A lot depends upon what your goals are for your site and how much you want to do yourself. There are many ecommerce options available some cost $$ and some are free.
Some ecommerce program do not work well on GoDaddy hosting, while some work fine.
A critical step is to determine exactly what you want your ecommerce program to do... maintain your inventory, maintain a customer database, process payments, etc. Then look for the ecommerce solutions that accomodate your needs (and future needs).
Then consider the design restrictions, if any, of the ecommerce program. What do you want you site to look like. Remember - design and usability are important factors in people buying online.
If you have all the knowledge, and want to to it all yourself, the cost is relatively low.
IMPORTANT - consider having a secure site (SSL). Many people will NOT enter their credit card or contact information in a ecommerce site that does not have SSL protection.
Working with an experienced designer can help you avoid mistakes and can make sure your ecommerce site is set up properly.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
~Roland
http://wordpress.tv/2009/06/08/create-an-ecommerce-website-with-wordpress-in-under-5-minutes/
Here is a link to a quick video on how to use WP Ecommerce to set up your store!
Ecommerce scripts are tricky to learn in general. When you go with open-source scripts (free) you go into a situation where there may be bugs in the script and support is non-existant.
ZenCart is pretty good. It's free. You can purchase a support plan for it, and there are books in print about it.
You'll have a lot to learn doing it yourself, but if you have a mind for the technology of webmastering it's not a painful process if you are patient. Keep notes as you learn.
Profit boosting website critiques from an expert copywriter - CHEAP!
I would like to help you design your website. I have 5 years of experience design and development of any kind of website.
Here are some of my work:
http://www.nattylink.com/
http://www.dazzlekaraoke.com/
You can contact me on 281-250-6644
Regards,
Vishal
You can host your own ecommerce website using wordpress. Not only can you have an ecommerce site but you can have a blog with many features as well.
If you are looking to start a ecommerce site with little capital then this is what I would do.
1. Buy a good memorable domain name.
2. Buy hosting (I recommend hostgator).
3. Install wordpress on your hosting.
4. Buy the shopp plugin for wordpress ($55) and upload the plugin on wordpress
5. Link your paypal, google checkout, 2checkout etc. in the plugin settings
6. Promote your website via social media, PPC, email markiting, forum etc.
7. sell, sell ,sell
I would also look into SEO. SEO is ssssooooo IMPORTANT these days.. Please don't over look the importance of SEO.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
Jerry
_______________________
Wow... look at all the advice. GoDaddy and Wordpress combined have been my friends for many years now and I'll never turn away from them. The simplicity of Wordpress and the great support with GoDaddy really does make it worth every penny, especially since it doesn't cost many pennies!
Hopefully you can get things going and have great success. Online businesses are hard, but the dedication you have can make it worth while.
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