Ecommerce, webshop providers, views please.

Hopeful harry · 02-06-2005, 06:12 PM

Hi

I've got the domain name, i've found my suppliers, i have a decent selection of affiliates, and to start i've almost settled on my payment provider (Nochex, Protx) BUT i still haven't settled on who to actually use to build the ecommerce site?
-'ve looked at Easycatalogue......too cheap and nasty for me.
-Looked at oscommerce but i found it complicated.
-I've had a quote from sitepro media and they'll build a similar site to Keytohealth.co.uk for around £800,
-And i've just recieved a disk from clara-net, not looked at this yet.
However today i downloaded at free trial demo from shop-factory (to buy is just £256) and this seems incredibly easy to use. I've already loaded pictiures text etc.
Are there additional costs, shopping cart etc for Shopfactory, or is this included? I suppose i'll find that one out myself in the next day or so.

Anyone using shopfactory or any of the others. Any recomendations or ones to avoid?

Cheers

Harry.

James · 02-06-2005, 06:22 PM

I can reccomend Vengavenga. They actually have a section on the forum. For Commerce sites they use OSCommerce but they make them look totally unique and very classy.

I get them to build all my sites, and they are very reasonable. I think it was around £300 for the complete design of the site, logo, and future modifications and support etc.

If you contact them (ali@vengavenga.com) say that James from thewholesaleforums forwarded you.

James

Hopeful harry · 02-06-2005, 07:40 PM

Thanks, James. Much appreciated.

Hopeful harry · 02-06-2005, 08:28 PM

James, i've taken a look at vengavenga, and it does look ideal. Particularly as they create logos etc and give the site its own identity. I have emailed them, and informed them of your recommendation, but could you confirm that the uploading of images is simple? Also i saw no sign of affiliates on the example sites. My site is gift orientated (with a good domain name), and as such i think it will benefit from good use of complimentary affiliate sites and wonder does the site allow for these links? I presume it does.
(Domain name is buygifts, thus i'm loking to use the front page almost as a portal to other high quality gift/lifestyle sites)

James · 02-06-2005, 09:08 PM

They will be able to make something designed to your spec. Everytime I have used them, uploading products etc has been simple.

They actually created thewholesaledirectory

Regarding affiliates, you will be able to get them on. Just let them know thats a requirment and I am sure it will be explained in detail

Hopeful harry · 03-06-2005, 08:17 PM

James, Having had enormous help from Ali at Vengavenga the decision to use them was easy. Exchanged ideas regarding site theme, banner, affiliates etc, all of which they will do for me. And all this including cart etc for £300. I must say it has made what was becoming a difficult decision very easy.
I'll post a link to the site when its live (you can delete it later if you wish) so members can see just how easy it is to get up and running for £300. Perhaps more member might take a similar route, rather than just the cut-throat, price slashing world of ebay!

Thanks again

Harry.

Hopeful harry · 17-06-2005, 02:31 PM

Site is almost complete. I'm still loading products etc, and have to edit a few erroneous descriptions but i'm very pleased with the site. Built by Vengavenga for £300.
www.buygifts.co.uk
Site goes live Monday (I think!) on temporary hosting at the moment.
If you're thing of ecommerce, Venga must be worth a look.
Also pleased to see that by typing buygifts into google it comes out no1 of 4730. Not bad.

(I havent listed it yet!)

Phil_2k4 · 17-06-2005, 04:26 PM

Nice site,I wouldn't pay £300 for a site though ,I would if i had it but i need to build my money first

**MustHaveMobiles** · 17-06-2005, 04:29 PM

You have to balance off the long term investment that it would be, spend the money to make the money later. All business's require an investment..

Hopeful harry · 17-06-2005, 06:38 PM

Online advertising and search engine submissio. Any ideas?
I've a few plans for off-line advertising, but what are the costs of reasonable online advertising?
Ebay has many offering the world for as little as £4 a month! Alternatively many more reputable companies sdtart from around £800. As the store will be a slow builder, i'm tempted to go cheap (I'm giving money away aren't I ?), and then rely on Ebay, off-line advertising, and any cheeky ideas that come along (A friend works on a Girls mag, i'm trying to convince her to slip in a mention of the site! )