I thought there was an e-commerce forum here, but I don't see it now. I guess I'll post here. I need to add some e-commerce functionality to my site. I plan to add password required subscription pay pages / newsletters, etc, to the site and I'm trying to decide what is the best way to approach this. There seems to be monthly services available to do this which includes hosting, software packages, and of course I could code it myself or get someone else to do it. I have perused rentacoder.com and that could be the way to go, but I figured I throw it out here and get some suggestions and recommendations before I make a move. Surely others have gone down this path. Also, if anyone here might be interested in taking on this project, let me know. I have also seen www.zen-cart.com mentioned. I guess it's free. Can't beat that but do you get what you pay for? Any input on this? Thanks!
I use zen-cart and I love it. It allows you to do tons of stuff and it has great support. Pop into the zencart forum and you will see how easy it is to get problems solved. Here is my website, just a basic design but it still looks good: www.ejfineart.com It has all of the features you mentioned in your post
I also use zen-cart for: http://www.skin-care-for-less.com Highly recommended. I will say that they have been pushing the date back for the next release and it sounds like there are going to have some MAJOR improvements and the upgrading may be much more difficult than installing... If I were you, and I were going to start using zen-cart, I may wait until they release the next version. Just a thought.