Needing some input on different webstore solution

[OscarTheGrouch]

A co-worker and I are contemplating opening an online store to sell some products that he can get wholesale. I am looking at something that would be relatively easy to set up and maintain but is safe and has some flexibility. Also do not want the cost to be prohibitive. I've looked at ebay and amazon stores, but am also toying with a dedicated solution. Do any of you use one, or can anyone suggest a place to get started with this?

 

[SrWebDeveloper]

One suggestion would be osCommerce, open source, decent support, plenty of plugins, plenty of payment methods and customizable cart. Written in PHP and supports MySQL, very easy to modify and install.

http://www.oscommerce.com/

-jim

 

[ryanjm27]

If you're relatively versed in web development, I would recommend Magento. It's open source (free) and very robust. I've done quite a bit of front end dev on Magento, and while there is a definite learning curve, it's not that difficult to work with. There are everything from small resellers like yourself to very large companies running on Magento.

If you're not comfortable with development, look into Yahoo! stores. Though I've never worked with them myself, I've heard pretty good things.

Good luck!

 

[ChicoWeb]

Depends on your requirements. Both of the solutions mentioned above are great general solutions for general stores, but all open source solutions require modification to match business requirements and process. It's like asking how much/how to build a car? Depends on tons of things such as shipping methods, payment gateways, coupons, newsletters, taxes, etc.

 

[OscarTheGrouch]

I think we are going to start with an ebay store or yahoo store to see how this thing goes before we dump a lot of resources in to it, though if it takes off we will definitely move to a stand alone type environment

 

[design-is]

Having briefly explored the area myself, I can recommend Magento too. It is definitely very capable.

 

[vivithemage]

oscommerce is probably the best way to go...looks like the original DEV has finally picked it back up and is updating it.

From what I have heard magneto is VERY bloated.