NAREKS2k

Hey guys,

Well I'm in the process of starting an e-store. I have already bought the domain name, gotten the proper permits and paperwork. I have narrowed my host down to justhost.com. Now im stuck in the web design aspect of it. The more I read the more confused I get. Im somewhat familiar with html so Im experimenting with dreamweaver and frontpage to try and create a template for my site since I dont see a premade template I like. Question is: whats the whole "ecommerce" aspect to designing a site. I have made a website but never a store that includes items, quantity and shopping cart. So I really need some direction here. Im thinking of just hiring a web developer to do it for me and but the cost is quite high.

Can someone explain the ecommerce aspect of creating a website, would I also need someone to maintain it or is it possible to maintain the site myself.

Its one of those times where theres so many questions in my head that im really frustrated so any input is greatly appreciated.

Narek

espelirS2K

Expect to pay $10k+ (sometimes up to $30-40k) for a good ecommerce site

There's some input

rustywave

damn...you want to start an e-commerce site without any experience in web programming? there are a couple books out there that will help, but making a nice-looking, smoothly-functioning web app ain't easy...especially w/no experience.

you can try rentacoder.com or something, then you outsource to programmers living in places w/a lower standard of living, which in turn will allow them to work for less. just look at their work first.

RabidRat

I hate to say this but building a site like you've envisioned is a lot harder than you can probably imagine if basic html is beyond your experience level. Probably much more expensive than you've budgeted for as well, if you're planning to look into outsourcing this work.

This situation can be salvaged though.

Here's a thought: how about piggy-backing onto a pre-existing infrastructure? You can still use your domain name that you've registered, just link 'er up.

Yahoo stores for instance: http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/ecommerce/

Or even eBay, if you'd like to spend absolutely nothing. At the very least, you can make a site that advertises your wares, and create links directly to your items for sale on eBay.

thebig33tuna

coding a checkout/purchase system yourself, especially if you have no web app experience, is not a good idea. use something off the shelf that's already made.

ou818

The e-commerce side is primarily processing transactions through a CC processor, saving them, and dealing with shipping and inventory.

There's a lot to learn if you want to do this yourself and do it right. You'll want to learn at least one scripting language (ColdFusion, PHP, Python, .Net). You could get shopping cart add-on for your site through your host, but these still have a learning curve and might not meet your needs.

If you can develop the web site, you can get a web developer to work with you in creating a shopping cart and set it up with a CC processor like NPCsecure.com

You should expect to pay around $100/hour for a decent developer.

The amount of hours it will take a developer to do this depends on a few things - primarily how much of the work you can do yourself (forms and other non-server-side stuff). If all the developer has to do is write an order to a database and communicate with the processor, you can expect to pay for about 20 hours.

However, it's a good idea to hire a developer you can contact later. That way, if there are any changes you need made to the site, another developer doesn't have to take extra time to figure out the first developer's code.

Also, make sure you hire somebody with some good experience.This is the most difficult part since you don't know what questions to ask. So it might be a good idea to educate yourself just enough so you know what questions to ask when looking to hire somebody.

Nin009

http://stores.detailersparadise.com/StoreFront.bok

$1,200 for the design, iframex2 and flash. Real time inventory, link to my UPS account, USPS and so on. Shipping labels, web receipt and whatever, click, click done. The only mistakes that can happen now are in packing the box.

My store is hosted for $150 per month which includes 30 minutes a month design time.

Don't do it yourself. If you are going into ecommerce, you will have your hands full running a business. Why become an expert in web design when you really need to become an expert at not going broke?

Nin009

BTW-I've been in ecommerce for seven years. I've had this version of my site for six months. Not a single hiccup or crash. I can't say that for my old "custom" site.

sal_flip

I am looking into this also. I am going to be reselling a product that I am buying from a supplier. The supplier drops ships from their warehouse. I need to design a site and have it so customers can have a shopping cart and pay. Since the supplier will be drop shipping the product I need to find out how to get the order from my site to the supplier for delivery?

So much to learn about this it can be frustrating.

sal_flip

who is your host and where did you get the templates??