Simple e-commerce solution

Best way to go about it?

[wonderboy]

Ok,

I am looking to sell 100 green, blue and pink widgets each priced £10, costing me £2 to get hold of, making me £800. A small tester venture really, but I wanted to know the most suited package for this scale operation. I don't want to be paying a lot of money just in case it is a flop, but I don't really want to be collecting people's credit card details and then find out that I have insecure database and people get pissed off with me!

Thanks in advance for your help,

K.

[sem4u]

I would use Mal's Ecommerce. It is easy to set up and you can use Mal's secure server. :)

[transactiongeek]

Try eBay.co.uk

[Fighting Falcon]

As a new venture it is also important to differentiate between “locally hosted” & “remotely hosted” ecommerce software systems when selecting an ecommerce solution, as the type can have different cost implications over the longer term. Locally hosted software need to be bought packaged or downloaded from the internet. Setting it up on your web site will require technical skills in database management and web programming, as well as arranging special e-commerce hosting facilities. Generally speaking if you're not a web developer yourself, you will need to get help from a professional web developer to get these systems working properly on your web site.

Remotely hosted e-commerce software on the other hand, are more easier to use than a locally hosted solution as the e-commerce software system is provided on a "turnkey" basis. Your online business can be set-up and managed from any computer connected to the Internet. After registering, you simply add your products to the online database and customise the software to match your own web site, without the need for any web programming skills or any special web hosting requirements. Remotely hosted software therefore become an ideal choice for web site designers who perhaps do not have expertise in web programming and for those who need a quick and low cost solution to setting up an e-commerce website.

Good luck

;)

[wonderboy]

Thanks for your advice.

Transaction geek, I said I wanted to do this as a trial with view to bigger things. I would rather burn money than give it to eBay. They have to be one of the worst companies around for nearly every aspect of business.

I know a little techincal stuff, I couldn't create my own checkout system, but could quite easily manipulate someone elses, but then I need a secure server and all that stuff. I will look into remotely hosted stuff asap :)

W.

[transactiongeek]

eBay is a godsend to the independent business owner.

Everything could have ended up like Walmart or Amazon .. but eBay came on the scene and created a trust network that in some ways can be better than a Walmart or Amazon in terms of service and reliability.

Now Amazon is altering its business model to instead of being the big behemoth that rolls over everyone, to being an eBay like umbrella over independent retailers (which is where all there profit is coming from..)

Also, you must look at eBay as simply a more structured google. Instead of paying PPC fees, you pay PayPal and eBay listing fees. Conceptually, it's all the same.

Truly, the best eTailer that has the organisation skills, would advertise their product via PPC, SEO, eBay, Amazon, and Yahoo stores.

[wonderboy]

I'm not saying eBay isn't good for some people, but for those that have experienced the dark side of it, they will think the same.

Besides, I would like to try to get some automated stuff going, seems less dependent and more interesting a venture than eBay. :)

W.

[webtress]

ecommercetemplates. You can leave as is or modify comes in asp or php supports pound and vat they have a demo on their site. As far as site security your host should have ssl and your database can reside outside of the root.

[derekwong28]

Mal's would be OK for your needs.

If you want something very simple, I suggest you sign up a cheap account with a linux webhost that offers Cpanel and fantastico. There you will get 4 carts

OS Commerce
Agora
Interchange (it has been reported not to work well)
Cubecart

By far the simplest cart to set up is cubecart. It will allow you the options to use PayPal or other payment gateways.