Are website designers worth considering?

Hello you guys/gals! I am just wondering, is it worth it to have someone build your website? I see alot of people offering their service building quality website on craigslist. I just want to extend my ebay business to the next level. I want to have my own website where I can send potential customers from ebay to my website.

To salehoo members that have their own website, how much do you guys pay monthly? and what are the fees? I'm really sorry if I am asking so much questions.

Thanks in advance :D I'll appreciate all the inputs!

GR

I use godaddy for my website. However I did all the Website design Myself using Dreamweaver and Flash 8 .. Its not too hard to build a website if you can sit back for hours and hours reading up on how to do certain functions in your site..

I pay godaddy about 3 dollars a month to host my site. 2 or 3 bucks for website stats tracking and I think 5 dollars for the Opt in email service. They are the best and most reliable site host I have ever used. I have never had any downtime so far.

Wow! Thanks Jimmy for that info. I went to craigslist and search for website designer and found some people that are offering their service to the community. Average price is about $500-1500. I don't know if that's pricy for a website as I don't have any idea how much it really cost to have one but I'll try your advice and buy Dreamweaver program to build mine and just pretty much play with it until I learn. I did ask those people for quote and they still need to reply back =) Thanks again!

Oh I never Said I bought the program :twisted: Torrents torrents torrents

As far as website design $500 does not sound bad. I was charging $2000 minimum to build sites for local businesses here in Decatur back in 98 and All of them considered it a good price.

Oh really? Wow! Sorry =( Now you can really see that I don't really have any idea about website design LOL!... They have this options like 10 pages and stuff which I really don't understand so I need to know more about it that's why I ask for quotes =)

Wow! Thanks Jimmy for that info. I went to craigslist and search for website designer and found some people that are offering their service to the community. Average price is about $500-1500. I don't know if that's pricy for a website as I don't have any idea how much it really cost to have one but I'll try your advice and buy Dreamweaver program to build mine and just pretty much play with it until I learn. I did ask those people for quote and they still need to reply back =) Thanks again!

uh, dreamweaver retails for 399.95. U would be dollars ahead if you could get it designed for 500.00 Also, jimmy has a degree in computer infomation systems.
If you have no web design experience, I wouldnt attempt it. If looking for a easy
website try Link hidden: Login to view. they are supposed to be easy to setup with complete control. However dont know if big enough to handle what you want in a website.Rated best for 2007-08.Never owned 1 but am considering it myself

Oh I never Said I bought the program :twisted: Torrents torrents torrents

As far as website design $500 does not sound bad. I was charging $2000 minimum to build sites for local businesses here in Decatur back in 98 and All of them considered it a good price.

The person that I emailed for a quote to build a website responded today with a quote of $795 for a 3-5 pages. I don't really know what that means LOL! Sorry you guys, I'm a newbie regarding this. I told him I have a shopping cart and a merchant account ready and here are the answers he said

'I haven't worked with that software. Do you have it installed already?
Shopping cart is a software and there are a lot of shopping cart softwares out there. Some you can customize by adding a design to it. Some come with already pre defined designs.
I charge $795 for design integration, but that depends on what the software cart allows me to do.

The shopping cart admin area is where you manage your online shop, so you would be uploading your products etc. Since everything in the shopping cart is dynamic there are unlimited number of pages for that and you will manage all of those.
Anything that is outside the shopping cart are static pages(i.e home, about us, services, contact....... etc).
If you need 3-5 pages outside the shopping cart that is $295 if the shopping cart that you have does not allow design integration. If it allows design integration, 3-5 pages is included in $795.

Text + picture content is the content that you will have on your web pages(i.e home, about us, services, contact....... etc). that are outside the shopping cart.

You will need SSL certificate with your webhosting though for the secure part of the site. Do you have that with Godaddy?'

'If you have a software it needs to be installed on the webhosting server unless it sits on your merchant account's server and only is linked to from the website. Do you have the software files and the hosting requirements for the software?'

I don't really know the software he was asking because when I signed up with merchantinc, the shopping cart was included.

Can you guys give me some advice? Specially Jimmy because I know he's using merchantinc as well. Can I just ask him to build me a website and just upload that on my shopping cart?

Thank You!
GR

Here's another email he just sent me. I ask him if I can somehow update the site like change pictures of the products or descriptions and this is what he said:

'Regarding updating the site outside the shopping cart........the pages outside the shopping cart would be static, but we can install a script where you can update simple text edits etc. That would be extra cost though since it requires script and database(which you should have with your Godaddy webhosting - must be a LINUX platform though) .
The products and cart related stuff you will update and manage in the shopping cart software admin system. I don't know this particular shopping cart, but that's the way most shopping carts work. I can take a look at this when you have your shopping cart setup.'

Jimmy, does godaddy lets you update your site? I am really sorry about asking so many questions. I am really a newbie regarding this but I am willing to learn =) Thank you!

Jimmy, does godaddy lets you update your site? I am really sorry about asking so many questions. I am really a newbie regarding this but I am willing to learn =) Thank you!

Yes Godaddy has a Built in interface where you can Access everything on your site. However I would personally use an ftp program like cute or Leech Ftp. Both you can get for free. Cute will spam some junk as you start but Leech is completely free.

If your using the same shopping cart as I am, one you create a payment link you have the option to use the html they provide If you have dreamweaver or frontpage. You can edit the site with a Visual view of how it will look. All you have to do is copy the code from the shopping cart and then click on what part of your site you want the payment link. Then goto the HTML view and paste right were the cursor is. Then when you go back to view mode you can see the payment link right where you want it.

If you have a friend that knows basic html they can help you with this. Once you see it done 1 or 2 times its really simple.

As far as simple text edits you can just view the code yourself. And you will see your text and you can change it. I really would recommend you try dream weaver. If you not skiddish you can download a fully functional version from any torrent network and avoid the $300 - $1200 price tag.

Thank You so much for that info Jimmy! I really appreciate everything! I am really new to this game that is why I ask a lot of question as I do not understand what the person is really saying. He was talking about a code I have to email him but I don't really know what he is saying. I emailed him this instruction from the shopping cart:

Follow the steps below to add a product to your website and set-up credit card processing.
Click on Products in the top menu bar.
Click on the Add New button.
Enter the name, description and price of your first product and click on the Save button.
In the box labeled 'Add to Cart Link 1,' click on the 'Select All HTML Code' link.
Right click on the highlighted HTML code and select Copy.
Use your website design software (e.g, FrontPage, Dreamweaver) to edit the product page where the 'Add to Cart' button will display. You will need to be editing the HTML code of the page for this step.
Right click on the specific part of the page where you would like the 'Add to Cart' button to display and select Paste.
Publish (upload) your changes to your server or web host. You should now be able to see the 'Add to Cart' button and quantity box on your product page.
To set-up credit card processing:
Click on Settings in the top menu bar.
Click on Online Payments.
In the Credit Cards box, select the credit cards you accept and click on the Save button.
Click on Payment Gateway and select the payment gateway assigned to you by your merchant account provider.
Enter the payment gateway settings, as provided to you by your merchant account provider. Complete all fields on this page and follow any special instructions.
Click on the Save button.
You've completed the basic steps needed to set-up your shopping cart! You can now begin exploring other areas of the Settings and Products sections to customize your account to fit the needs of your business.

and this is his reply:

Yes, that sounds exactly like a Paypal version shopping cart.

The difference from a normal shopping cart is that you don't have the power of doing the product uploads online. You would have to send the code to me and I will add it to the site.

The cost depends a little on how many products you are planning to sell.

How many products will you be selling online?

I'm going to ask my programmer and see if he possibly have script solution with database where you could upload the code yourself. I'm not sure that can be done, but I'll ask him.

Any though what code he is talking about? Thanks a million jimmy for your help =)

OK GR take a look at this link. I made a rough guide in PDF format you can see how You can create your payment links and enter them on a webpage.

[Link is no longer available]

LOL! That product was funny Jimmy! =) 'Product of High Value' LOL!

Thank you so much for that info. I really appreciate everything. I will go ahead and download a free trial of dreamweaver and play around for a bit so I can learn some basics but I trully appreciate everything Jimmy =) A million Thank You!

Hey no problem. Anything else I may be able to help you with just hollar.

Will do Jimmy =) and Thank you so much for your time! I did a research last night on how to do certain codes and I found some so I will give it a try to build my own website but if it is too complicated, I will just have to let some website designer build one for me LOL! Thanks again Jimmy! I truly appreciate everything. =)

Hi,
You have to try this site. This is the one I go through for my online store. I think it so simple to build you own website from here, I think a first grader could do it. The hosting fee is only $19.97 per month.

As astonishing as this sounds, in less than 5 minutes you can have a website for your business live on the internet.

The amazing SiteSounder technology enables you to quickly build your own professional website, complete with email, pictures, newsletters and much, much more in just a few short minutes.

The secret to this earth shattering technology is an incredibly powerful, yet simple software interface.This interface is so easy to use, over 172,000 websites have already been built using it. Most of these sites were built by people who have little internet experience and some by people who have such limited computer experience they only knew how to use their mouse.
Your website is totally customizable!

I know this thread is pretty old now but considering it just got resurrected by someone, i figure i may aswell ask a question.

If your building a website, what languages do you need to learn. Can it all be done in html and css, or do you need knowledge in others such as PHP or Visual Basic?

There is another site that is low cost if want to check it out.
It is called Tiptopwebsite.
Here is the link if anyone wants to check it out.

Link hidden: Login to view

I am new here so , still doing alot of researching on products and what should sale. Got about five narrowed down that may be more of a money maker then others.

I myself have ebay , but still have nothing on it. Can not figure how to put the dang stuff on it. lol

Are you serious? $20 bucks a month.. Wow I pay about that much for a whole Year of Godaddy.

When it comes to computers in a real hands on kinda guy. I don't just want to pay somebody to build a website, I'd rather build it myself. I just need to know what coding languages are required.

Yes, I am really interested in learning how to build a website. You can alway research on the internet about certain codes or buy those books that teaches you how to build a website. I going that route too because I am willing to learn that's why I started this thread. I just need a dreamweaver program or such so I can start experimenting =) I know it will be alot of reading but in the end, I think it will be worth it. I just want to give it a try because I pay $500-$700 a month on ebay. If I can build a website and send customers in there, that will be a big savings for me. I am looking forward to using dreamweaver CS3 =)

Yes if you can just do your own website and not pay those ridiculous astronomical eBay fees, you'll be doing yourself and the whole world a favor!!!!

sitesounder.com and that other one I give an average rating.


If you have to get hosting, GoDaddy is practically free and offers the best hosting worldwide- BAR NONE. Much like GDI offers free domain hosting.

As for the FEES they are absolutely out of control and stupid beyond belief the game of eBay monopoly is over as uBid now has 30% of the market.

Also eBay finally has some very stiff competition in iOffer.com, Website stores, Craigslist and now finally Bidville.

As far as auctions go I anticipate Bidville will be the ultimate competitor to eBay within less than a year. They now get thousands of hits per day. I am moving them up the Alexa rankings.

People buy from others there all the time and its basically FREE to list any auction whether your feedback is 0, 1 or 349 it does not matter. You can list and sell your items EVERYWHERE for no cost. eBay is so arrogant they'll never allow that!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi,

Don't spend all your money on software
& hosting, if your just starting NEW you should
get a free ecommerce
website at Link hidden: Login to view

Try selling your products there, its easy
its free, this way you can find out if what
you have will sell.

Too many times someone thinks that they
can build a website & they'll start selling right away
and make tons of money. But it don't work that
way.

When I first started on the Internet, I paid
someone $3000 for a website hosting & everything
that I needed, I thought now all I have to do is
sit & wait & orders will start pouring in, Well I waited
& waited & waited for a whole Year and nothing happen.

Best thing to do is try all the free stuff available
& when you think you have it conquered than go for the gusto.

Just my input

John (aka bacpro)

PS: Just after (5) years I have started to see light under the tunnel.

Homestead is $20 a month (yes steep price in hosting fees compared to most) but if you dont have a clue how to do stuff like that it might be worth it. its super easy to use and make unlimited pages and do many things with including shopping carts.

Website.ws is $10 per month, gives you your own website domain name, includes professionally designed website templates with an easy to use website designer/builder, up to 10 custom email addresses, URL forwarding, etc. AND if referrals sign up through your site, you can actually make money and build a residual income. Check it out at Link hidden: Login to view.

I think it's crazy if you design website yourself. I ever do it... -,-)

I think it's necessary to build a website (online shop), you can not put most time on the website in the early.
Because it may be a long time before your website earn money.
If you want to build a ec website.
You can use zen-cart or magento template.
They are good and free.