Online Shop

[Vicebeach]

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[real_illusions]

the only way you can do this is to get an e-commerce site/program if you dont want to or cant write your own.i have a free ecommerce script that comes with my hosting, but haven't used it, so, i cant really guide you any further.

[Skemcin]

this may go without saying, but this may be over your head. BUT, I am never one to discourage anyone from giving something a try - and I respect anyone who does.So, let me outline a couple things for you so that you can completely understand some vital points (NOTE - this is a high level overview):a.) realize you are dealing with money - and other people's money and if you do not respect that then you can find yourself in a very ugly situation pretty quickb.) first, you need to decide when you are going to accept payments online. Are you only going to confirm a card online then process it offline when the site is launched - or are you going to do it all online from the very beginning. If so, then you need to find a gateway that works with your current banking system. If you do no process cards right now, then you need to start from scratch and make sure the service you select offers online and offline processing. If you have a service, then check to see what you have to do to make online transactions possible - hint, fees involved. Does your merchant use PayFlo, Authorize.Net, or someone else?c.) shopping carts a dime a dozen these days and you get what you pay for - trust me. my hosting comes with its own shopping cart and if I didn't think I had the best hosting around, I would use it. Funny thing is, I do feel I have the best hosting available so I feel that if I were to use a shopping cart it would be the one they offer - I have simply not accepted any jobs that involve e-commerce outside the two I am working on right now. Oh, make sure your shopping cart is programmed to run through your payment gatewayd.) once a shopping cart is selected and an appropriate hosting service, you next concern should be support - both from hosting and from the cart - ESPECIALLY if you have no idea what you are doing. I have used a cart in the past that will set up/configure your cart in a development and production environment - I can provide their information is needed.e.) now that a cart(keep in mind the server-side scripting language used) and a hosting service(keep in mind the server-side scripting language offered) has been selected, you need your "certificate". That would be your SSL or secured socket license. Prices range and typically directly reflect the amount of insurance you need. Just do your research. Many hosting services offer a shared SSL so you can avoid that if you can live with https://ssl124.yourhost.com/yourdomain in place of https://www.yourdomain.com.f.) now you AREN'T ready to go live. You have ot market your site and that takes a little fore-thought. This is not the Field of Dreams - you build it, they won't come - you need to advertise. That may be easy for some situation and harder for others - it all depends on the target audience and how accessible you are to that audience when you plan on launching.g.) still not ready . . . cuz if you did all this before doing a cost analysis and business plan, then you will have no idea if you are going to make enough money to make it worth all the effort. Let me help a littl here, if you do no thing you are going to GROSS more than $3,000 a month in online revenue alone - then don't waste your time.Hope this helps.I need to start a subscription service for all the consulting i do on these forums!!:)BTW, if you truly are not able to use a pre-built cart and you have never done this before, I'd say you are in over your head (with all due respect). I, for one, do not want someone learning how to do things with my money. Leave the financial responsibility up to someone who has already been there - a proven, pre-built cart.