shopping cart question

for single quantity items

[rubber tree ant]

Learning by doing...self-teaching webmaster here...and I have a question that may seem silly by the more knowledgeable folks but here goes...

Is there an inexpensive, shopping cart available for websites which sell one-of-a-kind items?

First, I am looking for a shopping cart which permits the customer to purchase only one quantity of any item on the site while still allowing them to collect several items for a combined purchase. (Check out would be through PayPal, money order, or cashier's check.)

Second, because each item is unique, I am hoping there is a way to automatically attach a "sold" indicator on the item's description so that other buyers would know it is no longer available for purchase.

Is this asking too much?

I do state that customers can contact me for combined shipping/purchases (I'm sure most would rather not bother..since even I would rather toss several items into a cart and then check out.) Some have emailed but usually suggest a cart would be more convenient. Several times I have had an individual purchase one item (through PayPal) then return to the site and purchase another and another...racking up separate shipping charges along the way (I do have shipping set extremely low due to this situation!)

Sorry for being long winded...Looking forward to hearing from the more experienced! Thank you and God Bless! :^)

[netguy]

You might want to take a look at Yahoo's Merchant Solutions. It costs as little as 40 bucks a month (plus transaction fees), and is set up with all the major credit cards.

You set up a small database that lists your products, Item ID/SKUs, prices, and whether it is available or not. Then on your current web page, add a buy button snippet of code, your price, and the code for orderable (i.e. "This Item Is In Stock: Yes/No").

Then as orders come in, you just go the the Catalog Manager and switch Orderable from 'Yes' to 'No' to let your site visitors immediately know that the particular item is not currently available.

As far as limiting your purchases to a single item, you can configure real-time inventory management as well, but it might be easier to just tell people 'One of a kind,' or 'Only One Left' in the description.

Steve

[aleatrix]

Hi Rubber Tree Ant,

We sell one of a kind items and use Americart. Their shopping cart program can be set up for either multiple items or one only (you paste in a bit of code). Cost is $249 a year, and I've found the customer service is prompt and useful. The only problem I've found with their service is when we have a sale on items within specific price ranges. The coding for that is a little cumbersome, but everything else is great!

[rubber tree ant]

Thank you for your quick responses. I am delighted to see there are some possible avenues to investigate! Will keep you posted on the results of my labors.