Online webshop + CMS at a good price

MyBusinez.com

I've built an online webshop and CMS using PHP/ MySql. It cost me a bit to develop but, considering the economic slowdown and the fact that nobody seems to be spending any money, I think I can sell it for a decent price of around 650 - 800 (but I would need to sell a few to cover costs).

The product has a robust database and can handle thousands of products. It also has an easy to use administration interface.

I'm just wondering do you think that people would be willing to pay the above price for online shops these days? Where is the best place to find buyers for this kind of thing?

Thanks for any help provided.

KoolKid

It really depends on how good it is compared to all the free software that most hosts offer.

Axwell

I think you will find it hard to sell. There are many open source options available with support forums etc setup. There would be no gaurentee that you would be around to give support if needed in say 1 or 2 years if something happened. Also the open source ones have people making templates and skins for them to change the look and feel which designers can use and edit. Yours wouldnt have templates being developed regularly so you are offering it as is so to speak.

MyBusinez.com

Axwell wrote: »

I think you will find it hard to sell. There are many open source options available with support forums etc setup. There would be no gaurentee that you would be around to give support if needed in say 1 or 2 years if something happened. Also the open source ones have people making templates and skins for them to change the look and feel which designers can use and edit. Yours wouldnt have templates being developed regularly so you are offering it as is so to speak.

True, and thanks for the feedback as it gives me things to work on. I find with freeware there might be the issue of users not being able to install it properly and not understanding how to use it. Forums are great but it's no substitute for being able to pick up the phone and vent your abuse at the developers. But you can do that when you buy from us

Axwell

Most people wouldnt go about installing it themselves though. They would hire a web designer/developer looking for an ecommerce solution and then the designer would choose an open source option like magento or zen cart, cs cart etc and install and setup for them, apply a skin to it or change the design to suit the clients branding. Then if there is a problem the owner of the site contacts the web designer who is able to look into it and has the support and forums to look at if they cant fix it themselves.
Really with the numerous options out there that are open source it would be a tough market to get into. As i said people go to web designers and ask for a solution to allow them to sell online so I cant see them buying directly off you and installing it when it is out of the box with no branding or templating work done, they would still want/need this and wouldnt be able to do it themselves.

W!zard

Web Designers / Developers is the prime market for such systems for them to deliver to their clients but with many open source versions on the market, you will need something much more & different (features, functions, etc) to make any impact.
Start with building a showcase of websites using your tech and this will help new customers to judge your system, along with a demo.

MyBusinez.com

Axwell wrote: »

Most people wouldnt go about installing it themselves though. They would hire a web designer/developer looking for an ecommerce solution and then the designer would choose an open source option like magento or zen cart, cs cart etc and install and setup for them, apply a skin to it or change the design to suit the clients branding. Then if there is a problem the owner of the site contacts the web designer who is able to look into it and has the support and forums to look at if they cant fix it themselves.
Really with the numerous options out there that are open source it would be a tough market to get into. As i said people go to web designers and ask for a solution to allow them to sell online so I cant see them buying directly off you and installing it when it is out of the box with no branding or templating work done, they would still want/need this and wouldnt be able to do it themselves.

You're misunderstanding what we're selling. We're not just selling the system. We are selling a design, e-commerce system and a CMS. We are installing it and if there are any problems with the system we are also fixing those problems so the client doesn't have to deal with it. How much would a web developer charge to install an e-commerce system?

PDD

Prices on e-Commerce systems run from outrageous to incredulous :-P Ive seen people pay for a barebones system for anything from €1,000 up to €2,500 and in the tens of thousands for more complex systems and to be honest its more the fool them. In most instances its a case of the Web Development company trying to get as much as the customer is willing to pay which can be big bucks if they have deep pockets.

Anyone who does any amount of googling will find any number of turn-key e-Commerce systems based on open-source implementations (OSCommerce, XCart, ZenCart etc) costing less than €200, if you use one of the included templates then violla instant online store. You could spend another few hundred for customisation etc.

I think if you were to do a side by side feature comparison against the mentioned software above it will give you a good idea of what your feature set your product needs to compete in the market place. Although my opinion would why re-invent the wheel plus I would have concerns over code quality. Im not saying your code wouldnt be up to scratch but when compared to the thousands or hundreds of thousands of hours gone into many of the open-source options I doubt there would be much of a comparison.

With regard to support your right that some customers won't mind paying a premium for the ability to directly contact the developers but if there is a serious issue/flaw its your ass on the line and your companys reputation. At least with open-source software there is some seperation there which in my mind is worth more than any potential profit from selling your own. Just my two cents.

lecheile

Have a look at something like

http://www.bluepark.co.uk/products/retail-park.html

and see the functionality that is on offer for £24.99 per month. Its one of the best that I have seen around and offers retailers the chance to 'dip toe in water' with online selling with only a monthly commitment. For your solution to be considered as a value alternative you would really need to offer a load more functionality or support.

It is also worth considering how you may spread the cost of purchase - if your software is as good as you say - €20 per month for 5 years will be better for you than €800 up front.