We've used various combinations of Google Checkout, Paypal, straight HTML,
and Ubercart (a shopping cart that works nicely with Drupal). All of the
above are rather inexpensive, as you only pay credit card processing fees
(that are close to what you probably pay when you swipe a card in house).
If you decide to use a service that requires you to pay something extra
(such as Yahoo Store), be sure you research your options, and know what it
is you're paying extra for. Plenty commercial services charge hefty fees,
sometimes monthly, whether or not you've actually sold anything.
We don't do a ton of business through our online store, but we do enough
that it certainly qualifies as profitable. We didn't spend a lot of time
setting it up (and didn't pay anything, unless you want to count my salary
for the bit of time I spent configuring it), and we only pay fees when we
actually sell something, so if a month goes by and we haven't done any
business through our online store, it's not a big deal. It has more than
paid for itself.
And one thing to be sure to check is whether Microsoft/IE thinks you might
be a phishing site. I don't do much in IE, so was rather surprised when a
patron called and told me IE was giving him this warning. I've had to
correct the issue twice now, so you have to periodically check. (There's
nothing to fix on our end, it's a matter of filling out MS's form.)
Kaia
---
Kaia Landon
Assistant Director and Curator of Collections
Mesa Historical Museum
www.mesahistoricalmuseum.org
On Wed, Dec 16, 2009 at 2:06 PM, Sandy Moore SMoore at toledomuseum.orgwrote:
Hi All,
The Toledo Museum of Art is rethinking our on-line retail store presence
and we are looking at economical alternatives that would make sense for us
(and hopefully dollars!). We noticed more than a few Museums use Yahoo
Store, among others. What on-line store/shopping cart works well for your
institution and what has your experience been like (likes and dislikes,
profitability, etc.)? Thanks.
Happy Holidays!
Sandra J. Moore
Information Technology
Toledo Museum of Art
smoore at toledomuseum.org
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