eCommerce Sites : How Do I?

ve

Myself and my partner want to setup a site for ourselves where we can sell a range of products. We have absolutely no budget to approach a web design agency, however we both are well familiar with web design/development, and believe we can do this for ourselves.

Now I don't expect anyone to do my homework for me, so I will give details of what I know already. I am familiar with modern web standards for site design, etc, but what I don't know is what do I need for

1. To provide a secure shopping cart (What's the deal with certificates, SSL, etc). I know how to use php and mysql for web based catalogs.
2. Is SSL/Certificates, etc a pure hosting plan concern or is there anything in software I need to know about.
3. Do I write the shopping cart system myself or do I use the likes of osCommerce?
4. With the likes of osCommerce (or better) can I retain complete control over how the site will look, because osCommerce sites I've seen all look the same. This is definitely no good for me.
5. Is there any open source off the shelf software I should consider
6. How do I process the cards, merchant bank accounts, etc.

Sorry I am a complete newbie to online retailing, and quite frankly have no budget. I absolutely do no expect anyone here to take me by the hand, but I would appreciate if anyone could point me in the right direction and perhaps make a start at the above questions for me. I just want to know what I should read, be looking in to, etc.

Thank you very much. I really appreciate any help you can offer me.

CoNfOuNd

I would recommend using osCommerce and use your skills to create a skin for the site to represent your business. Yes, a lot of osCommerce do look the same, but there is a lot of potential to make them look different. In fact, some are unrecognisable as osCommerce.

osCommerce is compatible with many different payment solutions - WorldPay, 2Checkout, PayPal to name but a few. Research them all - everyone has their own favourite and it's largely down to how many sales you will be processing and what facilities you require.

SSL certificates are available relatively cheaply. Remember, if you use something like PayPal they will provide their own SSL certificate for the bit where customers enter credit card details, but yet an SSL certificate for your own sites could still be worthwhile. I'd recommend getting one as they are cheap to purchase and re-assuring to customers- our ones are €20, €50, €95 which really isn't much for the year.

You'll need some kind of a budget, but you won't need a large one, especially since you are prepared to do work yourself.

Good luck with it!

TomMc

I don't know much (bit wet between the ears!) but if PayPal was your likely payment processor, and your not shipping goods worldwide nor having to have VAT exemption options etc. I would have a look at mrsite.com - Approx EUR60.00 a year for domain, hosting with decent bandwidth, site building tools and a few other bits and pieces. They do other PayPal shopping cart upgrades/add-ons etc for an additional fee. freewebs are OK too, although their premium site upgrades are that bit dearer.

forbairt

I've been asked this a few times by friends recently ...

- hosting 40 quid
- SSL cert around 125 quid .. (depending on what cert you go for ... you're going to need a fixed IP with this)
- domain name ... .IE is best for the irish market .. but personally I believe you should grab both ... the .com and .ie if its available ... you're talking about 50~ + 10 ish ..

so far you're on 205 quid with my figures ... you'll need a paypal account its the easiest way I believe to accept creditcards if you're only starting of ...


hope thats some help

CoNfOuNd

Another tip is to look for SOHO or SME packages - most hosting companies do them and they can be a bargain. Also check whether VAT is included or excluded from their website prices.

SSL certificates - ask the seller whether a dedicated IP address is included or costs extra. You shouldn't be spending over €100 on an SSL certificate.

forbairt

CoNfOuNd wrote:

SSL certificates - ask the seller whether a dedicated IP address is included or costs extra. You shouldn't be spending over €100 on an SSL certificate.

Sorry .. my 125 was including fixed ip and cert ...

CoNfOuNd

Yep but some web hosts won't charge you anything at all for the IP address, others will charge you monthly or yearly subscription charges. It should really be included since it is required for any SSL certificate.

mneylon

CoNfOuNd wrote:

It should really be included since it is required for any SSL certificate.

A lot of companies like to hide the cost by making the IP a monthly extra cost.

As for price ... It varies a lot and some people will insist on getting the more expensive Thawte certs etc.,

CoNfOuNd

I understand that people feel safer buying a brand name, but it's not necessary to pay any extra. Many companies sell the same Thawte or GeoTrust certificates for 10 or 20 times too much.

Last time I compared prices, UTV Internet charged €424.98 more than us.

Of course, I'm not sure if their €444.98 certificate comes with a dedicated IP address!

nellyshark

There are also a lot of templates available for Zen Cart, far more than osCommerce I think, maybe you can use some of these and alter the template of osCommerce. Just a suggestion, like

mneylon

CoNfOuNd wrote:

I understand that people feel safer buying a brand name, but it's not necessary to pay any extra. Many companies sell the same Thawte or GeoTrust certificates for 10 or 20 times too much.

Some people mark them up quite a bit, but also there are huge price differences within the product offerings. A low end Comodo cert may cost only a few dollars, but if you need to support some devices you need to get one with a different signature and it costs quite a bit more.