Best (mainstream) Shopping cart? Store?

[cherrylula]

Okay so I am selling mainstream products, chick stuff, and have tried a few things now setting up a store but I am not satisfied. I cannot stand sites like etsy, I thought yahoo store platform might be cool but it sucked ass, and I'm not sure I want to use zen cart although I might look at that again at this point.

My problem is while I can do technical stuff, I am spending way too much time on it and the rest of what I am doing is suffering because I cannot get the store part right. I have one site set up with paypal on pages and this has been successful although it takes more time, and now I have a confused customer who told me they had problems making a purchase so I want to find a better solution. I am a webmaster, I don't really like third party sites, but I will use one if they don't try to ass fuck you and steal your traffic (like etsy).

Someone recommended bigcartel, but again not sure if I want to use third party site. Also, I have even setup wordpress with paypal cart and I'm not thrilled with that either. As most successful webmasters know, the magic happens when they fill out those payment forms so when there are glitches everything equals fail.

I need something simple, where I can add at least 3 good sized pics, no small crappy pics, and I'm not about to pay someone 5k for a store design as I don't need anything big.

And if I can't find something good, I swear I'll hand code some shit if I have to. Paypal ftw, but fuck stupid people who can't figure out how that works.

Anyone satisfied with their cart/store solution? I need to figure this out.

[fris]

ejunkie is good

[Coup]

Originally Posted by fris

ejunkie is good

Might try this soon

[HerPimp]

summercart.com - cost money, hard to get style to fit in script, the most options in a admin area that I have seen, not much help available.

osCommerce - sexy open source, many available styles around with plenty of info to help you get the job done.

Magento - not as old, many believe it is a upgrade from oscommerce, also open source.

[barcodes]

Magentocommerce.com

The only main difference between the free and enterprise site is the support (you get none for the free version lol).

They have documents that show you how to skin the cart for your theme. If you are not great at that, you can head over to themeforest.net, type in magento and buy a template.

You can use paypal, authorize.net etc, they have free plugins on their magento connect site for moneybookers, some european payment gateways etc. They have a shitload of free and paid plugins for stuff like custom shipping options, affiliate setup and so on. There is also an option to set up mobile shops but I dont know if you have to pay for that or not.

They ship via usps, ups, fedex, dhl, and you can set up flat rate shipping, table rate shipping, custom shipping, etc.

The first mainstream site I built with it took me a week to skin it myself, figure out the products, shipping, getting it all done. Now I can do it all in a couple of days.

I hear oscommerce and i think its zencart or zencommerce is good as well, but I don't have experience with them.

Here are two examples of layout built on top of magento
http://themeforest.net/item/organic-..._preview/97859

http://themeforest.net/item/furnitur...preview/123693

Best of luck

[barcodes]

I think templatemonster.com may also sell a few decent magento templates.

[barcodes]

Originally Posted by HerPimp

summercart.com - cost money, hard to get style to fit in script, the most options in a admin area that I have seen, not much help available.

osCommerce - sexy open source, many available styles around with plenty of info to help you get the job done.

Magento - not as old, many believe it is a upgrade from oscommerce, also open source.

Beat me to it

[atom]

I run a few stores and use OScommerce. Easy to find templates pre-made for it, its free and there are tons of Free Add-ons. If you have a DB of your products already, you can easily import it. I can have a site up and done in around 1 week.

This took around 10 days and aside from billing and a few small tweaks its pretty much ready to go - Buying Glasses

[dyna mo]

i've run oscommerce on up to a dozen sites at a time, used it for 10 years, over that time i looked at zen cart to change to, passed, look at xcart, passed.

a year ago i finally found something worth trying and am glad i did, it's www.bigcommerce.com set up a sample store to see how easy and powerful the solution is.

very strongly recommended.

[cherrylula]

Wow thanks for all the replies! I am going to check everything out. Yeah so many options I think makes it hard to figure out what is best! It needs to be pretty that is for sure.

[candyflip]

Magento is overkill for what most small ecommerce sites need. It's got a very high learning curve with regards to setting up, theming and customizing as well as using.

[CS-Jay]

I'm a fan of opencart right now. That bigcommerce looks nice though.

[candyflip]

I use Opencart quite a bit. Especially for smaller sites. Easy to set up and get going.

[cherrylula]

Originally Posted by candyflip

Magento is overkill for what most small ecommerce sites need. It's got a very high learning curve with regards to setting up, theming and customizing as well as using.

Yeah I don't need anything too complicated. I also don't feel too comfortable having these pages hosted somewhere else, although I realize for tech reasons maybe this is best. I just have my pages away from my control. I have more than one box I already pay for and really don't want to host my store pages anywhere but on my own servers.

I don't need a fancy skin, no fucking flash, white background simple clean design. Really, I would like to just use zencart and figure out how to add more images to the template which I just haven't really attempted yet looking for a good solution.

I also don't mind paying for this, but I am pretty capable tech wise so if it is too dumbed down solution I get frustrated too. lol.

It is amazing to me how with paypal and so many options it is so difficult to find the simple yet functional solution I need. I don't care about some fucking skins! Just goes to show even with a mainstream store solution most people are concerned about the site design, when the whole purpose is to get them to click BUY your product. Fancy flash and stupid graphics are pointless! Show them the item, big fucking button to buy, done deal. But noooo, it just isn't that simple. Everyone just wants money, money, money. But such is life and biz.

[Eldon Hoke]

Originally Posted by candyflip

I use Opencart quite a bit. Especially for smaller sites. Easy to set up and get going.

Yeah OpenCart is sweet. The new version 1.5 (Beta) looks promising, with an affiliate program feature.

[barcodes]

Originally Posted by cherrylula

Yeah I don't need anything too complicated. I also don't feel too comfortable having these pages hosted somewhere else, although I realize for tech reasons maybe this is best. I just have my pages away from my control. I have more than one box I already pay for and really don't want to host my store pages anywhere but on my own servers.

I don't need a fancy skin, no fucking flash, white background simple clean design. Really, I would like to just use zencart and figure out how to add more images to the template which I just haven't really attempted yet looking for a good solution.

I also don't mind paying for this, but I am pretty capable tech wise so if it is too dumbed down solution I get frustrated too. lol.

It is amazing to me how with paypal and so many options it is so difficult to find the simple yet functional solution I need. I don't care about some fucking skins! Just goes to show even with a mainstream store solution most people are concerned about the site design, when the whole purpose is to get them to click BUY your product. Fancy flash and stupid graphics are pointless! Show them the item, big fucking button to buy, done deal. But noooo, it just isn't that simple. Everyone just wants money, money, money. But such is life and biz.

Im surprised I am getting negative feedback for suggesting a cart to you lol. I work as a web designer for an art studio where i'm at which is why it was my first thought to show you how beautiful you can make a site and integrate the technology. I build my own themes and place them into magento without an issue, I was under the assumption you didn't want anything too technical and was suggesting an easy way to get a nice template if you didn't have the skill to make one in photoshop (since I don't know your skill set with any programs).

You don't have to have flash and the default theme you get doesn't have it. It shows you can easily add flash if you wanted too though lol. If I am going to suggest something to someone I am going to show them something awesome so they feel they aren't restricted to what they have to work with.

If you look at the documentation, you see they suggest duplicating their default folder, and modifying it as needed. Basically you play with the header and footer, play with the css and then modify your various settings in your admin (shipping, payment, etc) you are free to make it as simple or complex as you wish. The way I am, even if I am making a site to sell a 1 dollar toy, I would want to make it look the best I can.

You don't host this in a remote location. It installs like wordpress does, you make a database then run the installer. You can choose to add fake items so if you've never used it you can see how it works, (products, categories, etc).

Either way I was just trying to be helpful. It doesn't affect me if you use it or not, was just trying to give you some insight on what works for me.

Best of luck

[cherrylula]

barcode I'm not aiming negative feedback at you! Please don't mistake my griping as negative flack addressing you, it's just general snipe please don't take it personal! lol

Thank you for your input, really. And your reply above is even helpful. I am just honestly trying to convey my frustration so again don't take it personal. I'm no hotshot designer but have done my own paysites and pages for years, I like KISS and that is just my preference.

And yeah don't mind me, I fall in between everything and can be pretty negative. But I also like happy endings. And drama. It's all good.

thanks everyone else too, I will figure it out and this thread is very helpful.


ps. just saw your reg date... lol... don't be surprised, and welcome to Go Fuck Yourself, we dish it out here.

[ahoy]

+1 for Magento.

This shopping script is a beast, and the community is only growing with more and more plugins added.

Not sure where you got that it was hosted, as you host it on your own servers.

[cherrylula]

Originally Posted by ahoy

+1 for Magento.

This shopping script is a beast, and the community is only growing with more and more plugins added.

Not sure where you got that it was hosted, as you host it on your own servers.

My comments are pretty general, not directed at anyone or anything specific. Some of these solutions they host the store, and that's what I don't want to do. That is all.

Do I really come off as that much of a bitch or what? LOL.. Why do my threads like this always go to me defending my comments and people thinking I am going off on them or something? oh well.

[barcodes]

Sorry about that, I might have commented a bit hastily and sharply.

As a web designer, this comment may have rubbed me the wrong way lol:
"I don't care about some fucking skins! Just goes to show even with a mainstream store solution most people are concerned about the site design, when the whole purpose is to get them to click BUY your product. Fancy flash and stupid graphics are pointless! Show them the item, big fucking button to buy, done deal. But noooo, it just isn't that simple. Everyone just wants money, money, money. But such is life and biz."

But to be honest, I didn't mention anywhere I was a designer so it isn't like you were personally directing it at me. Sorry about that. Being new to gfy I do see some drama once in a while and I guess this shows how quickly I can misunderstand a comment and get butt hurt lmao. I can understand that comment and do understand that there are times to design something complex and times to keep it simple.

I really do hope you find something that works for you and I hope you show us your shop when you are finished. I love seeing what other people are working on.

[Wicked 1]

A few clean looking free Zencart themes here

http://www.12leaves.com/store/zen-cart-templates-free/

I bought one from here,Very slick design for not a lot of cash.

http://www.zenflavor.com/

The Extra images issue you mention I think there is a plugin available to make multiple images easier.
Do a search of ZenCart forums and plugins

[barcodes]

Originally Posted by cherrylula

Do I really come off as that much of a bitch or what? LOL.. Why do my threads like this always go to me defending my comments and people thinking I am going off on them or something? oh well.

I reacted prematurely, it wasn't you =D

[cherrylula]

Yes well, some people just spend all their time on design. And their project will fail, but it looks pretty. lol

But the fact is clients and people do like them. Pretty, flashy designs that is. And we've all seen myspace, lol

I am coming from 10 years of adult design with my husband who has moved on to other things. Essentially his best clients who came back all the time were people with awesome content who focused on that, and kept their graphics clean and minimal. Flash has its place, but for showing off products you want people to buy online it is too artsy imo. Yes clients will pay a ton of money for flash, especially in the art world, but otherwise the money to be made from flash is just that. Flash isn't going to make your site/products sell any better, I promise you that. You are better off using a 30 second video clip to demonstrate and sell something if you want action media. I will probably do something like that tbh, but in general flash pisses me off and wastes my time.

[cherrylula]

Originally Posted by Wicked 1

A few clean looking free Zencart themes here

http://www.12leaves.com/store/zen-cart-templates-free/

I bought one from here,Very slick design for not a lot of cash.

http://www.zenflavor.com/

The Extra images issue you mention I think there is a plugin available to make multiple images easier.
Do a search of ZenCart forums and plugins

Nice, plugins are always good. Thanks!

[Love Sex]

whats your contact.

I can set up a hosted solution that you will really like.

[cherrylula]

oh sorry, I should have specified in the original post no dating gold sig whore responses, please. Thanks.

[barcodes]

Originally Posted by cherrylula

Yes well, some people just spend all their time on design. And their project will fail, but it looks pretty. lol

But the fact is clients and people do like them. Pretty, flashy designs that is. And we've all seen myspace, lol

I am coming from 10 years of adult design with my husband who has moved on to other things. Essentially his best clients who came back all the time were people with awesome content who focused on that, and kept their graphics clean and minimal. Flash has its place, but for showing off products you want people to buy online it is too artsy imo. Yes clients will pay a ton of money for flash, especially in the art world, but otherwise the money to be made from flash is just that. Flash isn't going to make your site/products sell any better, I promise you that. You are better off using a 30 second video clip to demonstrate and sell something if you want action media. I will probably do something like that tbh, but in general flash pisses me off and wastes my time.

Those slideshows are either jquery or mootools slides which are a form of javascript XD. If you right click on the images, it says view image etc instead of the flash player info. I do understand what you are saying about flash though. I don't use it as much other than playing video unless needed, especially with jquery and with html5 becoming more popular. They are making an app at adobe where flash will convert to html 5 or something, which should be pretty cool.

Anyway, i'm not gonna pollute your thread with any more bs.
Best of luck!

[WarChild]

I've been working with Early Impact's Product Cart software. It runs in an .ASP enviroment, which is kind of the downside, but it's only about $700 to buy outright and quite easy to customize.

I can install and setup the store for you for only a few hundred dollars or so and have written some customizations what work quite well, including an integrated Facebook Like button.

Anyway, I don't sell the software personally but can point you at somebody who does if you're interested.

[Wicked 1]

Zencart Improved Image Handler

http://www.zen-cart.com/index.php?main_page=product_contrib_info&cPath=40_ 47&products_id=117

[CyberHustler]

Zencart...

[Bama]

No one has mentioned this one and it might be worth a peek - very customizable and works with a lot of 3rd party processors.

http://www.kryptronic.com/

Scroll down on this page to see some actual sites using it and their design changes.
http://www.kryptronic.com/Shopping-Cart-Software-Demos