Has anyone ever opened an online store?

[Scout1071]

I'm looking at all the different options and would love to hear about your experiences with Ebay stores, Merchant Manager or any other services.

Thanks in advance!

[pitohui]

1. yes i have

my advice is don't

[Scout1071]

3. Why is that?

I don't really have a choice. I have to sell online.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. RetroLounge has.....

His is both online and "real."

It's a bookstore...

:hi:

[Omphaloskepsis]

4. The easiest route is to use Shopify and Paypal.

http://shopify.com/

Or you can get your own hosting and install something like http://www.oscommerce.com/

[Scout1071]

7. Interesting. Thanks for the tip on Shopify. I think I am going with oscommerce.com.

I found this cool host company called ThinkHost.com and they are run on renewable energy and owned by a peace activist.

[Omphaloskepsis]

9. Just remember...

That osCommerce uses a database to store all of the info.. Such as: items/shipping/sales/orders... Make sure you know how to back-up the database on a regular interval. Ask your hosting company about using "cron and mysql" to back up things.

Good luck.. And, osCommerce is really hard to theme if you don't know PHP. It is really good free software but the learning curve to customize it can be really steep. To tweak the look of your site HTML, CSS, and PHP are a must.

[Scout1071]

10. Well, considering that I don't even know what PHP is, maybe I should

reconsider. Any beginner friendly and trustworthy sites you'd recommend? I can do HTML if I have to.

[Omphaloskepsis]

11. Shopify...

It is the best looking and user friendly way to sell things that I have found. It is free to try out. And you can use a purchased domain name there. My mom uses it to sell stationary. They do the hard work of making sure your site keeps running.. They do take 3% of your sales and if you don't have a merchants account Paypal will take more. It is A good place to start.

And I don't work for them or even know who runs it.. I just spent a year hunting for a way for my mom to sell things. Shopify worked out the best.

[Ghost in the Machine]

16. GoDaddy has oscommerce that you can install with a click of a button.

You'll still need your merchant account for it I think, I haven't ever tried it. I've had paypal for a couple years now and never have had a problem with them. Whatever you decide, let me know if you need help with anything.

PEACE!

Ghost

[Omphaloskepsis]

17. oscommerce works with paypal...

But the CEO of Godaddy is a fan of torture.

http://www.metafilter.com/42906/Dear-Bob-Im-glad-youre-not-in-charge

[Scout1071]

20. GoDaddy makes people create an account before they buy.

A couple of sites I've run across have this feature. I'm not sure I like it. I always get irritated that I have to register on a site to purchase something.

[Ghost in the Machine]

5. What kind of store? I have this one ~~>>

http://www.kingofresale.com ... and I can tell you how to get one too.

and this one -->> http://www.midnitecallers.com <~~wholesale lingerie

Ebay stores are hit and miss, really. It depends on your products that you're trying to sell. Keep in mind that while it is only like $16/mo for an ebay store, you get charged for each item you post. Granted, it's a lot less than the insertion fees if you list a normal auction, but they eat you up on the percentage that they charge per sale. That doesn't include any PayPal charges that there might be. I believe PayPal doesn't charge for items sold on Ebay.

One of your other posts said you had to sell online. Are you selling digital products or products you are going to have to ship? The reason I ask is because I have a few scripts here to set up an online shop that requires little or no coding knowledge. Would it be better for you to get your own domain name and hosting account to run your own site?

I'll help you out any way I can, I just need more info on what you are trying to do.

[Scout1071]

6. Actually, I already have a domain name and I think that I just

selected a new hosting service: http://www.thinkhost.com

They seem to have a good social agenda, which is important as well.

I've heard that Ebay does eat up profits, so I'm hoping to steer clear.

[Ghost in the Machine]

12. They seem ok, but prices are a bit steep.

Check the fine print. That $5.95/month is with a 5 year committment. $14.95/mo with no committment. You can get the same hosting package for $6.99/mo at GoDaddy.com if you need the perl language, or $3.99/mo for php or .asp hosting. Both of these prices are monthly, no set up fees, no long term committments. You should check what your needs are as far as hosting goes, and plan your decision around that.

Check out this storefront script I have. It runs on php & mysql http://www.offrampbums.com/demo/index.php .. it's just what it says it is.. a simple store script. It's already integrated with paypal backend.
You just upload your pictures through a simple interface built in also.

[Omphaloskepsis]

13. I use these guys for some stuff... 10 bucks with this coupon for the first year.

http://www.netfirms.com/maxpc

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8. I believe PayPal is dangerous.

They took $72 out of my checking account in the summer of 2005, and refused to admit they did it. My bank verified that PayPal was the recipient, and would not reverse the charge, because they said I had authorized it. They said I would have to settle it with PayPal. I never authorized it, and PayPal refused to admit the transaction ever took place. After that I broke all ties with PayPal and I changed banks as well. I applied for and got a merchant account and I now use Authorize.net for all online payments. If you use PayPal, I would never, ever give them any account numbers or any information about your bank accounts. Just have them mail you a check for the money you get from customers, then deposit the check in your bank account the old-fashioned way. Don't give them your account numbers, ever. PayPal performs many functions that a bank does, but since they are not a bank, they are not subject to banking laws. So they can get away with a lot of things that banks can't. And I believe some of the people who work for PayPal are crooked. Read more horror stories at:

http://paypalsucks.com/

[Lex]

14. I've had a Paypal account for years and years & no problem.

I'm sure there must be some problems from time to time though. Sorry they didn't work it out with you. That sucks.

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15. I'm glad to hear it, and I'm sure many people use them with no trouble.

But I will never use them or accept payments through them ever again. They are the only practical payment solution for very small online businesses. There is that new Google Checkout thing, though, which I haven't looked into yet - but I don't really need to now that I have a merchant account and Authorize.net.

[Scout1071]

18. I checked into the Google Checkout and reviews have been pretty

positive. Being a new business, I still think I'm going to use PayPal. Unfortunately, it is so widely recognizable and trusted that I have a hard time going with anything else as a start-up biz.

[Scout1071]

19. I checked into the Google Checkout and reviews have been pretty

positive. Being a new business, I still think I'm going to use PayPal. Unfortunately, it is so widely recognizable and trusted that I have a hard time going with anything else as a start-up biz.