New Business Seeking Advice on eCommerce Website Creation

[cmacfarlane]

I need to design and build an ecommerce site for my startup business selling (technically I will be renting) 3 unit "kits". Prospective customers would gather 3 different variations of my product and place them in a shopping cart for checkout. The kits are sold at a fixed price. I'd like them to be able to select the products from my inventory via drop down box. Once a customer selects three products, they will be able to checkout.

I'm looking for some guidance/advice on the below:

1) Where to host? I currently have an account with iPage. It is cheap - that's about all I can say about it.
2) Best service for my needs to accept credit cards (more detail on that below)
3) What to use to design the site? I have a Mac with iWeb 08. I own no other software.
4) What to use for the shopping cart/ecommerce portion of the site? I would like to tie #3 and #4 together if possible.
5) How and where are people with limited/zero experience in website/ecommerce learning to to create ecommerce sites?

What I have done so far: I started out with non ecommerce enabled website that invited customers to contact me to place orders. The site contained two pages 1) the landing page and 2) the inventory list. Customers were encouraged to email me with the three products for their kit and I would email them an invoice via Paypal. I was about to release the site last month but I decided that I want to integrate ecommerce/shopping cart into the site prior to launching the business.

Here are the details on what I'm looking for in a website -

- I'm starting small, no more than 25 products to begin with
- I'd like one "landing page" that gets the concept of my business across
- I'd like one "about us" page
- I'd like one "contact us" page
- I'd like one "Returns/Customer Service page"
- I'd like one "FAQ"
- I'd like one "Inventory List" Page
- I'd like one "Order Now" Page

As for the actual ecommerce part, again I am selling, or rather renting, a kit containing 3 products. I'd like users to be able to select 3 product varieties to build their kit. Here's what I envision from an ecommerce perspective:

- The Order Now page will be very simple. There will be three drop down boxes that are linked to my inventory list, from which a customer can select each product variant to build his/her 3 unit kit. There will also of course need to be an "Add to Cart" button.
- I'd also like the ability for a customer to add products to his/her cart from the Inventory page.
- I'd like to find a way to prohibit customers from checking out with an incomplete kit. The customer must have 3 products in a cart to enable checkout.
- I'd like to address how to structure and present the pricing. The kit price is $99. Each component product shouldn't have a price when it's added to the cart. Rather, the customer should see a total of $99 and be forced to have three components in the cart before it will allow him/her to checkout.
- I do not have a merchant services account. I am looking for suggestions. I am open to using Paypal, Google Checkout, etc. I'm also open to a merchant services account.
- I would like the ability to put a hold on a credit card for the value of the "kit", similar to a deposit on a rental car/hotel/etc, to help ensure the products are returned to me. I talked to Paypal and I need a Pro account to do this ($30 a month + fees).

And the key part of all of this is as follows:

I don't want to sink money into a high tech website before the concept is tested and proven. I'd like to have a respectable (I know that's an arbitrary term) site that has basic ecommerce functionality described above, and really focus on selling and marketing. If my concept succeeds, I can invest more money in a more robust ecommerce solution.

I have no experience in designing websites. I'd like to do this myself. I'd like to do it for free, or very low cost. I have read articles on entrepreneur.com and other sites referencing volusion, corecommerce, bigcommerce, shopify, etc. I've seen joomla and oscommerce mentioned as well, among others. I need to bridge the gap. I'm looking for feedback on the 5 points I mention above. Certainly any other information/advice is appreciated.

CMac

[chanson]

The thing is if you want it to do somethign specific and you cant find a product available that does what you want it to your going to have to get something custom, and in that case you would need to dish out some money to get what you want. I would suggest looking at all the products available such as the ones you listed and see which is closest to the idea you have. At that point even pay for a tech to set it up the closest they can to what you want without modifying the code. OR you may be able to find a cheap freelancer to modify existing software(assuming it isnt breaching any eula etc). Paypal is most likely your best choice for the payment solution and possibly for the entire ecommerce portion. Of course I can offer you my companikes service, but if your not looking to spend money on it then you will have to find an alternative. What your looking for is not TO complex it can definitely be done with a bit of work! Vaiz Enterprises if you decide to get it done professionally. IF you dont I would still recommend having the design and layout done by a professional. Save yourself the time and money now by doing it properly and i can assure you your going to be happy you did. Hope that helps!

[SparkDesign]

Hello Cmc,
I am a Website Designer. Basically, what you are trying to achieve here is simple to comprehend, but a very tough feat to achieve. I'll compare it to an example of a shop. If you walk past a rubbish, crumbling, tacky shop, you wont buy their products, heck you wont even look twice and you'll walk past, no matter how good their items are.

Specialise in your area, which is the products. Dont branch out to much, because other elements will suffer. As an Entrepreneur, i know you want to get this done in lowest amount of money possible. The problem is the thing you are trying to do are rigorous tasks for an experienced designer,let alone someone who has no experience.

Get it done by someone else, who knows what they are doing, because in the long run it will help you. If your looking to not spend much, dont go for the big ones, because there are plenty of others that are just as good. If you need more advice etc.. then contact me through PM

SparkDesgin

[Encrypted]

Send me a PM and I'll see what I can do for you.

[z1freeride]

Here's something you could try to gauge interest and save money. Built the site so that it appears to have an ecommerce component (but doesn't) and list the products as "Out of Stock." You could then get the user's email or ask them to follow you on twitter (or however) to be notified of when the product will be back "in stock."

A website without a fully functional ecommerce package is cheaper and faster to build. If you notice a lot of interest, then perhaps it would then be wise to invest in the ecommerce backend.

[peteVA]

Cmac, this is not a complicated deal at all.

I host about 150 various Shopping Cart websites for people from around the world. I will install a couple a week for folks, and am familiar with many.

All you need is a basic shopping cart script, maybe a bit of modification, but I think all you need could be done with the Free Version of CubeCart, as well as with others.

Designers and developers will always try and sell you their services, but there is no need to reinvent the wheel on this. And there are hundreds of free and low cost templates to change the look of your site. Or, to really set it off, you could get a truly custom template for a couple of hundred bucks - max.

I can offer you experienced, "hold your hand" shopping cart hosting in the $5 per month range (depending on payment frequency).

I promote "hold your hand" service by starting someone out with their own cart and encouraging them to do it themselves. I'm there for backup and to point them in the right direction, but the goal is to make them self-sufficient.

If you don't want to do it yourself, I can do it for you. I can't imagine the cost being over $50 or so, plus any template / design costs.

Don't get sold a bill of goods, this is not a big deal. I could have you selling in one day.

[cmacfarlane]

Thanks for the responses. I'm going to play around with some of the free tools available and see what I can do. I'm not opposed to hiring someone because I feel like I'm going to struggle with the "kit" functionality, but we'll see.

[cmacfarlane]

Here's something you could try to gauge interest and save money. Built the site so that it appears to have an ecommerce component (but doesn't) and list the products as "Out of Stock." You could then get the user's email or ask them to follow you on twitter (or however) to be notified of when the product will be back "in stock."

A website without a fully functional ecommerce package is cheaper and faster to build. If you notice a lot of interest, then perhaps it would then be wise to invest in the ecommerce backend.

This is actually what I originally did, but got second thoughts about it and never released the site. As of now, I'd like to see if I can figure out the ecommerce portion for free or under a few hundred...if so, I'll probably integrate the ecommerce portion.

[cmacfarlane]

I'm interested in exploring how much it would cost to build the site I am envisioning. If anyone who has replied is interested in quoting, PM me your contact info and a good time to discuss via phone.

[AMSPCS]

Lots of questions, let me answer as many as I can.

Paypal is useful as ONE payment option, but not as the ONLY payment option. Long story, but it'll cost you lots of lost sales.
You need a merchant account AND Paypal, not JUST Paypal.

Be careful with merchant account. As a newbie with unproven volume and history, you need one without long term contract and heavy early termination fees, and one with low monthly fixed fees. Don't tunnel vision on the lowest discount rate---that a BIG mistake lots of newbies make.

There are a couple of very suitable low-priced shopping carts right for you, but you'll have to search them out. Let me know if you need some help in that area.

Re the 'deposit' issue you mentioned. You are referring to Authorization Only". But beware, credit cards are NOT designed for non-refundable security deposits, all the customer has to do is initialte a dispute and you the merchant will lose 10000 percent of the time. Be sure you understand the legalities of cc processing before you get in a pickle.

Good luck. Let me know if you need help.

[DevrinB]

I have an online store that is free through vendio.com and I absolutely love it. They also offer alot of paid stuff but they also have ALOT of free services for your site.