I am contemplating setting up an ecommerce site but I was wondering what you folks with experience have to say. Below are some questions I have. 1. Is it best to go with a dropshipper or should I handle the products myself? 2. What do you recommend for a site framework (i.e ZenCart, CubeCart, etc..)? 3. What's the best way to handle payments? (i.e. Paypal, merchant accounts etc...)? 4. Do I need an SSL certificate, if so, where do you recommend getting it from? 5. Who do you recommend for hosting high traffic ecommerce sites? 6. What else do I need to know before venturing in this direction? Those are just 6 of the questions I have. I know it's a lot but it would be nice to go into something like this with a bit of background knowledge. If you can provide anything over and above what I asked feel free to do so. Thanks in advance.
Hello there BoBByCooL. I am new to this forum so I have been browsing around for topics that I am familiar with. E-Commerce happens to be one of them! I have had several stores in the past. I have used several different software programs for each one to test them out. I have also written and sell lessons and an ebook specifically detailing how to set up and run an online store. So here are the 6 answers I have for you. 1. I have used a few dropshippers, and if you have a good one, definitely they can be beneficial. Saves you time on the shipping, etc. But you still need to deal with customer service and if they mess up you are the one who has to replace an order and fix things to keep your customer happy while you wait to work it out with the dropshipper. 2. If you are new to setting up an ecommerce site than Cube Cart is probably the one you will want to deal with. It is the easiest to figure out and configure. Some things may be a little more limited than some other ecommerce software, but this was the site I loved the most especially for digital download items. 3. Although there are many payment gateways out there, Paypal is still the most known and trusted. I have heard some horror stories about Paypal but I have never had a problem in 3 years. It is pretty affordable, with only a small percentage being taken out as a fee for every transaction. 4. It is best if you use an SSL, but if you use Paypal, you can just display their secure payment icon, and since people have to login to Paypal to complete their transaction, the pages are secured through their system. Otherwise you should be able to purchase an SSL certificate through your hosting provider. 5. Reliable hosting is a must for any company selling things online. I have been using HostGator for years with no issues. Although once again, I am sure there are a few people out there who may have come across an issue. 6. If you are going to use a dropshipper, make sure they have an unlimited number of products available before you put them on your site, if you are not sure, try to find a back up drop ship company who offers the same product, that way, if something goes out of stock, you can check a backup. A little bit of HTML and maybe PHP programming knowledge will come in handy, but you can learn as you go. If you are going to sell physical products, make sure the shipping calculations are correct or you will lose money big time!!!! If you are not going to use a dropshipper and use the calculations through their sites, you need to make sure you go to your local post office and pick up ALL the info you can for every country you plan to sell to. (remember, digital products allow you to sell world wide due to no shipping costs, otherwise depending on your niche choice, the heavier the item, the higher the shipping cost) Make sure you RESEARCH the prices other sellers are selling the same products you would like to sell as well. There is a lot of competition for certain products, and if there is a war to have the lowest price to secure a sale, you may want to rethink the product. You should aim to make $2 a product at the VERY least, otherwise it is not really worth your time. Well, I hope I helped here. Good Luck to you. I would be interested in seeing your site when you have it set up! Melanie
Hi Melanie, Thanks for the great response. That gives me a good idea of what I need to keep in mind when I set up a site. I've been doing some research and have gotten a bit of info it's really nice to hear from people with real world experience.
Hi, After trial and error at a few ecommerce sites, we use a GoDaddy Quick Cart for one of our main stores and really like it. GoDaddy will help you with your questions at no charge, and the carts are very professional-looking and easy to use, and cheap (that's important!) They take care of upgrades to software / technology, too, over time, which is great, too. With scripts, you need to take care of that - -among all your other tasks. So if you have no time for this, or don't want to spend time on it, go with GoDaddy and give them a try. Here's an article I wrote about them with a little more info: http://movingaheadcommunications.com/articles/shoppingcarts.html
thanks for the info I've actually hear quite the opposite about godaddy. Some people I know have used their hosting and found that service was horrible. Of course that was with their regular, non-ecommerce, hosting so maybe if you pay more you get better support. Cheers!