Need advice on setting up a website

Hello,

I would like to have my own website and not have to pay monthly to Ebay or to Amazon ..I would welcome any advice as to the easiest and most cost effective way to do this...


Jimmy if you read this please give us some advice.

Best ,

Soule2009

Hello,

I would like to have my own website and not have to pay monthly to Ebay or to Amazon ..I would welcome any advice as to the easiest and most cost effective way to do this...


Jimmy if you read this please give us some advice.

Best ,

Soule2009[/color]

I am also a very new member and still learning the ropes but I found out from Salehoo that eCrater is a great tool and basically they give you all the tools needed to setup your own site and host it and even when you list your items they are for sale on the ecrater marketplace all for FREE. They also have a partnership with google so they you can integrate your shopping cart with them. I am not sure how much of an advanced website your looking for but ecrater is I guess less pretty of a site than amazon or one of the big dog websites but its very professional and you can just do a lot with it. Hope this helps!

I use Bonanzle Booth. its free and you can upload your items to Google base.
I also use ecrater but don't get as much traffic as bonanzle.

If you want something custom built you can PM singapore, he is doing a lot of that work at the moment.

Power sellers union are also offering free shops for their betta testing phase.

Hi all, this is all new to me and can be quite confusing with so much information avaliable. I would like to open an ecommerce store but not quite sure which is the best company to sign up with for a ready built store.

I am aware, I can access suppliers from Salehoo but my main concern is the ready built estore. So who should I sign up with?

Also how can I receive payments for my goods, as paypal does not allow me to receive payments from my country(Trinidad, West Indies). Is there another way for me to receive payments ? Thanks in advance for your advice

Hi Jazzi,

Getting started with a ready built store is a convenient way to start your e-commerce venture! I’ll try to address your questions to best that I could.

So who do you sign up with? Here are a few cheap and easy ways to get an online store up and running:

eCrater Link hidden: Login to view (find out more here: Link hidden: Login to view)

BuyItSellIt Link hidden: Login to view

Auctiva Commerce Link hidden: Login to view

To have a brief background of each one, I suggest you read this article found in our blog section: Link hidden: Login to view

Other sites you may want to consider are Bonanzle, the new and exciting eBay alternative, and Atomic Mall.

Here are blog posts on both sites, please have a read:
Link hidden: Login to view
Link hidden: Login to view

If PayPal will not allow you to receive payments in your country then you can try using other online payment options such as Google Checkout, Money Orders/Cashier’s Checks, and Personal Checks. Most of the sites that offer ready-built stores will also have a list of payment options for you to choose from.

Hope this helps. Cheers :)

Hi Richelle,

Thank you for your response, I will definately look into the sites and options you have suggested and make my decision. Once again thank you.

Regards
Jazzi

Hello,

I would like to have my own website and not have to pay monthly to Ebay or to Amazon ..I would welcome any advice as to the easiest and most cost effective way to do this...


Jimmy if you read this please give us some advice.

Best ,

Soule2009[/color]

Hi soule2009,

For some basic information on setting up an e-commerce store/website, check out:

Link hidden: Login to view
Link hidden: Login to view

If you are looking for a cheap and easy way to get an online store up and running, try:

eCrater Link hidden: Login to view (find out more here: Link hidden: Login to view)
BuyItSellIt Link hidden: Login to view
Auctiva's Commerce Link hidden: Login to view

Cheers!

You can also check out osCommerce. I would suggest spending some money to get a good design. After all look is the first impression for new visitors.

ZenCart is also a good alternative, for a fully fledged e-commerce shop.
Link hidden: Login to view

Second that, I use Zen and would recommend it to anyone.

Auctiva Commerce - no, so full of problems, still has many bugs to work out - may be best to look elsewhere (at least for now) and save yourself a lot of time, energy and frustration, especially if you are new to this. You don't want to get frustrated and give up before you have even begun. One good thing to do when seeking this type of thing is to read the forums for the site in question. See what is being said. You will learn a lot this way. All the best!

If someone is truly serious and wants to build an independent ecommerce website, but just not sure where to start..PM me. I may be able to throw you a great idea..the rest will be up to you. Peace