1 Topic by Lily86
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I was wondering if anyone has any experience with online shopping sites because I want to put up an e-store but there are so many options out there that I just don't know which one to go with.

I know there are many free options but since I don't know too much about managing an online store I thought the best option would be a complete solution that includes hosting and marketing and so on, something like volusion or bigcommerce. What do you think?

2 Reply by eth0
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Hi Lily86

I would say it all depends on the level of control you want from your shopping cart solution and the level of experience you have with shopping cart solutions and websites in general. Personally I prefer to own rather than rent my shopping cart as that does give more freedom (although possibly more to think about as well). In terms of good value options to get started, Magento E commerce is completely free and very powerful, and will cost nothing more than a cheap hosting account to get going. I know NuBlue have a very good one click installer and will even install for you if you're not comfortable using it. Hope that helps.

3 Reply by alana
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I didn't know that you could rent a shopping cart.  That's wild. 
Eth0-- would you recommend purchasing from the outset and eating that amount of money as an investment, or is it possible to switch between services once you've been using something for a while?

4 Reply by webmumz
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I prefer BuyItSellIt. They have total customization and adding the products is a cinch. I have tried a ton of different ones before I found this one and I think it has a lot of what the others offer combined into one.

5 Reply by bella3
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Webmumz-- BuyItSellIt?  Is that a program online? It sounds like you really like it. Have you used it for very long?  Does it have any downsides?

6 Reply by camble
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You could go with a host that runs cPanel as I know many allow for cart systems with simple installs. I can not think of any names right now but I am sure you could ask around about it.

7 Reply by Lily86
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Thanks everyone. I will have a look at both magento and buyitsellit. The thing I am trying to avoid the most is having to modify a template with code. I could eventually do it with a lot of searching but I would rather be able to just simply connect my headers and designs and so on without having to figure out what goes where.