Ecommerce Web Hosting solutions??

bigmackloud

Active Member
Joined
Apr 6, 2005
Location
Raleigh, NC
Hey,

a 4x4 site probably isn't the best place to get info, but we've got a variety of people here, so maybe some of you guys have some knowledge about ecommerce web hosting.

basically i work for a local offroad & diesel shop in north raleigh and we'd like to develop a website so we can start selling products online. i'll primarily be the one doing the developing. i have limited experience right now, though this fall semester i'll be taking a web design class so hopefully i'll be able to learn the basics of stuff like FrontPage, etc. but for now it would be best to start with some type of template/wizard that walks you through stuff, and then as i learn more be able to add stuff in.

so any suggestions as to a good ecommerce web hosting company? Yahoo Merchant Solutions seems good though their 1.5% transaction fee could get expensive. I'm doing a google search as we speak, but there are thousands of these hosting companies. any particular features i should really be interested in??

thanks,
bigmac
 
North Raleigh ? Where???

Anyway, Are you looking to be just a typical web reseller and drop ship everything or to creat, sell your own products ? If yove got actually stuff on hand to sell. Id keep it simple to start off, post your pics and prices more/less a standard price list and have a # to call, attract people to the store/location etc.. See how that goes..

IMHO, so many people work hard at thier online buisness and ways to avoid customer interaction. Click here, pay here, drop ship etc. Automated thank you email... This works great if you don't have much mark up on items and are tring to be competitive. But its also not doing anything to distinguish you from the next guy...
 
NOOOOOOOOO!!!
Don't use FrontPage!
The web doesn't need another site designed with that junky program.

Get a book or search online & learn HTML & CSS (That's all you *really* need to know to make a nice looking site that works). If you want to use a WYSIWYG editor go with GoLive or Dreamweaver instead. They produce 100x better sites, but just a bit more difficult to learn.

If you're gonna take classes, and want to do your own shopping cart, you'll need to know databases. PHP & MySQL at least. And all the security issues that go along with it.

Otherwise, look into a third party shopping cart system. Coolcart.net is one I've had good success with. It takes a little work, but turns out to be a good system for small biz use. Ask Rob/Rockcity on here. I set his site up using that... see what he thinks.

Here are some services I can hook you up with through GoDaddy:
https://www.securepaynet.net/gdshop/rhp/default.asp?prog_id=300637
 
Hey,

our shop both sells aftermarket accessories (lift kits, tires, lockers, bed covers, etc) and we have a full installation shop. we don't do a lot of custom fab work though. our website will primarily be a dropship type deal. so a shopping cart, order process, etc is a must.

I'm going to school for a graphic communications degree. i want to focus in mechanical design (SolidWorks, AutoCad, etc). but i was able to get this web design course to count as a major elective so i could do the website for work. i know i'll have access to GoLive, FrontPage, and DreamWeaver on campus (NCSU).

i'll check out the websites you recommended.

as for our shop, we're just off of glenwood, not far from the CarMax.

Global Performance Motorsports
8624 Barefoot Industrial Rd
Raleigh, NC 27617
(919)-784-0411

thanks,
bigmac

PS: i'm hoping to work it out so that we can have a booth at the next BDOR event, so maybe i'll get to meet some of you guys there.
 
I use bluehost.com. They have excellent customer support and numerous features and add ons. For $6.95 a month you can get hosting and domain name registration.

X2 on the no frontpage. Frontpage is crap especially if you want to tweak the web page. The HTML it produces is cumbersome and hard to follow.

The 1.5% transaction fee that you mentioned is not that bad. I think you are going to find that any credit card transactions are going to cost you a small percentage. One of the simplest ways to have credit card processing on your site is to use paypal. You can set it up so that users don't have to have a paypal account to buy from you. However, paypal is about 2.9% transaction fee.
 
Hey,

what's a reasonable figure for monthly bandwidth usage?

we have a merchant credit card account already here in the office, so i'd like to avoid using paypal credit card stuff.

and i think the 1.5% transaction fee is on top of any c.c. fees. so if we're doing even just $3000/month in sales, that's an extra $45 that goes to the host. so $40/month becomes $85+/month.

thanks,
bigmac
 
Trail Forge is hosted with Powweb.com...
20GBs of space & 400GBs of bandwidth/month for $7.77/month (with a 1yr. agreement) and *NO* payola for running eCommerce... All PHP/MySql based, & a myriad of installables (eCommerce, photo galleries, forums, etc.), but does support FP2k/2k2 for those unable to shake the M$ "monkey" :rolleyes:
 
contact this company www.schogini.com

They are from India and will treat you right. The owners name is Sree whom I speak with on a daily basis, we will always do what is right. They have thousands of USA accounts but you would never know it. They do just about everything and I have never had a problem. There prices cant be beat either. I have had them for a few years and have never had a security issue at all. They are very good at what they do.
 
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