Inventory Link

Linking vendor inventory file to website products

[shillub]

Hi Everyone,

I've been trying unsuccessfully to find a capable programmer to link our vendor's inventory files to our Volusion site. So far I have contacted 4 companies/individuals and have received no response at all, or no response after the 1st. Now I'll have to dig a little deeper and find a freelancer in one of the many freelancing sites.

My question is, what exactly should I be looking for? What programming language? How exactly would the inventory link work?

Thank you all for your help.

[JackieBlue]

Hi. We have linked our Volusion website to our external data file to keep our inventory synched across marketplaces (eBay, Amazon, etc.). Volusion is relatively simple to use as it is XML based. You just send and receive XML, so the language is not important. The harder part would be linking to an external vendors system. If you own the system then the link should not be too bad. I did the Volusion and ebay links myself but had freelancers do the interfaces to our other marketplaces. Freelancer.com is pretty good but like anyplace there is a mix of good and bad. If you are not technical it will be hard to write decent requirements and manage the project. Good luck.

[shillub]

Thanks for the reply jackieblue!

We do have access to the vendor's FTP site, where we can download the file. I'm not sure if that's all the programmer would need to make the link "automatic" without having download and upload anything manually. If you have any idea how much a project like that would cost it would be helpful, I have no idea how much to pay for something like that on Freelancer.

[JackieBlue]

I'm certain a programmer could download the file automatically to put in a local inventory system for you that could then be synched with your volusion site. First, write your requirements. Be very specific but do not put passwords or any other type of information in the document. Arrange for a test environment (if possible). Pricing is up to you but I find that going super cheap doesn't pay off. I recommend going above $500 - you get a lot more quality bids. You will get a lot of bids from people who did not really read the requirements. I have good luck from programmers in Russia, Thailand, and Austria. There are lot of programmers in India but I have not had super competent people, although they are cheaper. Best of luck.