shopping cart recommendations?

[scamperwillow]

I posted this on the buying tips forum before I realized there was a web developers forum. Hope I'm not breaking any rules...

I am looking for a shopping cart for a clients web page - one that is easy to use and has a variety of shipping options. We would probably connect through authorize.net. He only has three books to sell to start with but wants to add more items later. It could end up being fairly high traffic as he has a pre-built audience.

I'm pretty new to all this so any suggestions are much appreciated.
Thanks!
Marty (aka Martha)

 

[D0ct0rteeth]

miva merchant and monster commerce are both decent companys.

however I have built my own as I hate having other poeples logos on my products.

- Doc

 

[arson]

I recommend X-Cart - http://www.x-cart.com

 

[scamperwillow]

Thanks for the Rec. Do you find X-cart easy to use and does it have a variety of shipping options that the customer can choose from?
Thanks,
Marty

 

[LoopHoles]

paypal

have you considered paypal?

what programming language are you (planning on) using/which ones does the host support?

 

[scamperwillow]

Since I only do wizzywig programs (like GoLive) and have a really basic understanding of html, I need something simple with templates in place and html code that can be pasted into the site etc.

Paypal is too simplistic I think. He already has a merchant acct with Authorize.net - it's the shopping cart program that I need. There are so many out there, I'm trying to narrow it down with some personal recommendations.

 

[arson]

Originally posted by scamperwillow
Thanks for the Rec. Do you find X-cart easy to use and does it have a variety of shipping options that the customer can choose from?
Thanks,
Marty

X-Cart is easy to use, heavily modifying the look requires some html and php skills. They have a large variety of shipping options and even have real-time shipping calculations if you have a UPS or Fedex account. They also support a ton of merchant accounts to process the payments. The drawback is that it costs $185. If you want a free, less polished solution, check out OSCommerce at http://www.oscommerce.com

 

[slightly]

Hi

I'm in a similar situation - I have to recommend a way for a client to make their sales online.

However, what I'm not sure about is, once you have the scripts for an e-commerce system set up (eg with X-Cart), why would you need a separate merchant account somewhere else? Don't these programs handle the whole sales process securely?

Matt

 

[arson]

Originally posted by slightly
However, what I'm not sure about is, once you have the scripts for an e-commerce system set up (eg with X-Cart), why would you need a separate merchant account somewhere else? Don't these programs handle the whole sales process securely?

No, you need a merchant account to process the credit cards. All shopping carts require a merchant account. You'll also need a payment gateway. I've been happy with VeriSign's Payflow Pro. They also have a cheaper version called Payflow Link. Often you can get the merchant account and payment gateway from the same place.

You can always get a shopping cart through a place like Yahoo!, they'll take care of everything (I think), but charge you a fee for each transaction.

X-Cart and other shopping carts support Paypal transactions, so if you went with that method only, you wouldn't need a payment gateway or merchant account.

Also, if your client already accepts credit cards offline, that means they have a merchant account already. If they don't mind manually processing the cards through their machine, you won't need a gateway.

 

[scamperwillow]

I think I need a cart that is also a gateway. I'm still sorting this out too. We currenlty have authorize.net as a merchant account.

It seems that some shopping carts are simply software that you purchase and configure, and some others include a gateway which is active online - i.e. your orders go through them to the merchant account and have active links to shipping and usps rates. Is this correct?

So it seems I need a shopping cart service as opposed to just the software. Are there actually two different types?
Thanks,
Marty

 

[arson]

Originally posted by scamperwillow
I think I need a cart that is also a gateway. I'm still sorting this out too. We currenlty have authorize.net as a merchant account.

It seems that some shopping carts are simply software that you purchase and configure, and some others include a gateway which is active online - i.e. your orders go through them to the merchant account and have active links to shipping and usps rates. Is this correct?

So it seems I need a shopping cart service as opposed to just the software. Are there actually two different types?
Thanks,
Marty

Yes, there are services and software.

I believe Authorize.net offers a gateway with their merchant account. I've used their Advanced Integration Method (AIM), but my client set it up on his own, so I don't know if he paid extra for the feature. You might want to call them and ask.