Magento, is it really the best?

**guitarmax42** · 07-29-2009 11:31 PM

So i've done some research and it appears that Magento is one of the best shopping carts out there. Problem is that their site doesn't say how much it costs, or give a great description on why its better than all the other shopping carts. could someone enlighten me?

**inle** · 07-29-2009 11:45 PM

I am unsure about it but I think we can do Magento for free?

**guitarmax42** · 07-30-2009 01:27 PM

thats what i'm guessing so I think i'll just try it out. Is magento really the best for a small ecommerce site though?

**andrewhawkins13** · 07-30-2009 01:53 PM

The website has a sales phone number...did you try calling?

Get a list of all the services you want and compile a list of features you need to have or it will break the deal and then call and see what they offer.

**Neustance** · 07-30-2009 05:46 PM

Its an open source project, its free, but also has a licensed edition. Its also the best e commerce platform I have found, a bit difficult to learn doing complex things, but the features and flexibility is great. Can't go wrong.

Just make sure you get a quality hosting provider. Its really eats up a lot of resources and gets slow sometimes.

Francisco

**inle** · 07-31-2009 07:13 AM

I tried using Magento before for a project last year..
So far, I didn't pay anything(except for the domain name)..

**offshoredevelopment** · 07-31-2009 09:30 AM

Hi,

Magento is more powerful than any e-commerce shopping cart scripts its free and you can customize according to your requirements. We are working with magento for e-commerce solution and we feel its best if you know MVC structure.

**adjectival** · 07-31-2009 02:55 PM

I keep seeing posts on how slow Magento was when it first came out. Has this improved any? Is it feasible to run it on a server that isn't built like a tank?

Right now I use DreamHost, but I have heard bad things about them from people. Apparently their servers can't handle the load much of the time. Others have recommended Simple Helix, but I've heard REALLY bad things about them.

**Caelanseth** · 08-03-2009 06:06 PM

I have heard really good things about Magento... I am just a little worried about its ease of use, even their webiste is a little clustered and difficult to navigate. I have also heard very good things about goEmerchant.com, they are not free but are feature packed and often rate #1 of ecommerce software comparisons, anyone have any experience with them?

**Unhyper** · 08-04-2009 12:55 PM

Originally Posted by adjectival

Right now I use DreamHost, but I have heard bad things about them from people. Apparently their servers can't handle the load much of the time. Others have recommended Simple Helix, but I've heard REALLY bad things about them.

Don't use DH for an e-commerce project. They are good for hosting static html, but e-commerce needs a snappy database server. Dreamhost does not have this.

I used ZenCart on DH servers for a year, and then got tired of it. What slowed down the site was the MySQL server, which was horribly overworked. We're talking about 10-second processing times sometimes when browsing pages. This was unacceptable. I use HostGator now... It's a lot better, but it's still shared hosting. If you really want great speed and reliability, consider dedicated. Personally, that's just not in my budget at this time. But I've been very happy with HostGator so far.

**juztin** · 08-04-2009 01:43 PM

It is definitively one of the best...but to say the best? not so sure...It depends what you are looking for... If you are looking for something very stable and reliable for your ecomm then go to Magento. Programmation on Magento tend to be a little bit more complex than other carts...maybe its just me... I might be wrong. You also need a very good server since it takes a lot of juice...Most of the server using Magento are running on LiteSpeed...

Personally I prefer Oscommerce... It is something like Wordpress but version ecomm. There is a big community sharing advice and ready to help you. Most importantly thing are the contributions by the members... There are always news contributions, plugins etc. to make your ecommerce better.

my 2 cents.

**pacificfame** · 08-04-2009 02:01 PM

Who will be using as your payment gateway?

**guitarmax42** · 08-04-2009 09:06 PM

I think I'm going to be sticking to Paypal and use my dad's account (i'm only 16) but if you guys know of a way for minors to accept credit cards, i'm all ears.

**youngmoneyblog** · 08-04-2009 10:36 PM

magento is the best, by far. Its free and will take time to learn. Do not use Magento on Dreamhost, its super slow. I suggest using one of Magento's preferred servers. Nexcess.net has been great for me.

As far as getting payments online, authorize.net is the usualy default. you'll also need a merchant services provider, if you PM me I can pass my contact.

**Wayne Liew** · 08-05-2009 04:07 AM

Did some research for my upcoming venture and Magento seems to come out on top of the list as well. The downside that I have read over and over again seems to be the consumption of resources. This may prompt us into signing up a dedicated server package instead of a shared hosting package.

Any other cons of Magento to share?