Setting Up A Website Shop

craftingmad

Hello all,

I hope you can help me. I would like to set up a website to sell my items and wondered the best way to go about this. I have registered my required domain name at 1&1 already.

I am also looking into the possibility of a multi vendor site (similar to www.craftsuprint.com. Does anybody have experience of setting something like this up and if so could give me rough ideas of costs etc?

It would be great to get some advice.

Thanks

Suarez

Hosting : £40 per year
Domain Name : £4-£10 per year
OsCommerce : free
Security Certificate :
Payment Method : Paypal?

texranger

Suarez wrote: »

Hosting : [STRIKE]£40 per year[/STRIKE] £20 a yr
Domain Name : [STRIKE]£4-£10 per year[/STRIKE] a .co.uk domain £6 for 2 yrs
OsCommerce : free Opencart is a better solution and free
Security Certificate : from £10 a Yr you will also need a dedicated IP £1.50 a month
Payment Method : Paypal?

those in red are more realistic

millymm

texranger wrote: »

those in red are more realistic

Hi TR
I'm in the early stages of setting up a business around vintage/shabby chic items as gifts & pieces for the home.
A Website is definitely on the to-do list! Could you offer any more info on how to set up a website? Those costs seem well within reach, I've been hesitating as I'm a bit clueless as to where and how to get it up and running.... was almost about to plump for the vistaprint option......

any help greatly appreciated
TIA
MM

texranger

millymm wrote: »

Hi TR
I'm in the early stages of setting up a business around vintage/shabby chic items as gifts & pieces for the home.
A Website is definitely on the to-do list! Could you offer any more info on how to set up a website? Those costs seem well within reach, I've been hesitating as I'm a bit clueless as to where and how to get it up and running.... was almost about to plump for the vistaprint option......

any help greatly appreciated
TIA
MM

not allows to advertise my own business but if you look on http://www.webhostingtalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=45 either shared or reseller hosting will do.

find a host that offers Softaculous as thise has a 1 click installer for several ecommerce carts, so you can see which 1 will suit you the best. also find out their costs for a dedicated IP and even if they offer ssl certs.
sites like 123-reg.com do .co.uk domains around £7 for 2 yrs

but you can get rapidssl cert from namecheap.com from $10 a year (approx. £7)

millymm

texranger wrote: »

not allows to advertise my own business but if you look on http://www.webhostingtalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=45 either shared or reseller hosting will do.

find a host that offers Softaculous as thise has a 1 click installer for several ecommerce carts, so you can see which 1 will suit you the best. also find out their costs for a dedicated IP and even if they offer ssl certs.
sites like 123-reg.com do .co.uk domains around £7 for 2 yrs

but you can get rapidssl cert from namecheap.com from $10 a year (approx. £7)

many thanks TR - I think I need to decipher that before I go any further! Clearly I am clueless!! thank you

terra_ferma

On the crafts forum they have a lot of posts about setting up your own website, costs, shopping carts, hosting etc.
http://www.craftsforum.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?56-How-to-Sell-my-crafts

It's great because you get a lot of objective information from genuine users, and posters can link to their own website so you can actually see what they have achieved.

www.create.net is quite popular, great price and value for money if you don't sell a huge number of objects.

millymm

terra_ferma wrote: »

On the crafts forum they have a lot of posts about setting up your own website, costs, shopping carts, hosting etc.
http://www.craftsforum.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?56-How-to-Sell-my-crafts

It's great because you get a lot of objective information from genuine users, and posters can link to their own website so you can actually see what they have achieved.

www.create.net is quite popular, great price and value for money if you don't sell a huge number of objects.

really useful, many thanks, will look properly when I am awake!

steve1980

You don't really get a lot from create for the money that they charge.

alexmoneysaver1

Hi Milly,

This is something I have done twice myself, it's not an easy task. I can quickly run through things with you if you like...

Option 1 / Off the shelf
Off the shelf solutions seem to be the most affordable way of setting up an online store these days, and especially a professional one. What you will need however is the help of a web developer to tailor your store to your needs, and also possibly a designer if you want to make radical design changes. These can range from as little as £10 a month (big cartel) up to a few thousand.

Option 2 / Bespoke
This is a better option as you have the store built from the ground up for your business and you can tailor everything to your needs. We had this done, however the only downfall is the expense, our store revamp was 30k however we do have a lot of technical features due to selling software rather than clothing so I am sure yours would be cheaper. The best advice I can give you is don't cut corners. We tried firms abroad to cut the costs down and overall it cost us a lot more in the future doing this, if only we had of gone with the pricey option to start.

With regards to payment gateways, have a look at Sagepay they are very good. You'll also need an SSL certificate, and make sure you're site is safe that is a top priority. A lot of stores which are hacked into are unaware purely because hackers take a revenue of say 70% rather than all of this so it makes you think you are having a bad month when really you're being stole from. This is a regular thing in the e-commerce business and we've already been attacked 4 times, luckily we have a good enough system not to be affected - however very cheap hosting maybe provide loopholes for this so just be a bit careful.

Any other questions feel free to ask, I run ours on a day to day basis and have been for 3 years now so I am quite up to date on everything out there.

terra_ferma

steve1980 wrote: »

You don't really get a lot from create for the money that they charge.

£9.99 for 10000 products for a fully supported hosted package seemed good to me, and I have not found anything offering better value, particularly from a reputable company recommended by so many genuine users.