I've managed to stay somewhat out of the loop while my client thrashed
around with shopping cart solutions. It sounds as if their main problem was
with credit card verification services. You'll want to avoid CyberCash,
which apparently is in its death throes.
My client ended up with two solutions, one being Americart and the other a
joint marketing solution with WebRing and MerchantPlanet. Americart's
shopping cart isn't all that attractive. Apparently there's more I can do
to customize what the client set up, but right now it's low on my priority
list. Merchant Planet's system is nice. WebRing is operated by a local
company which has a licensing agreement with MerchantPlanet. They offered
advertising on WebRing's Next Five pages in exchange for a hefty percentage
of sales (on top of MerchantPlanet's percentage). So far, the arrangement
has been a dud: not one sale in the first ten days online in spite of heavy
click throughs from WebRing. Meanwhile, the other unadvertised site, is
generating a steady stream of sales. Go figure.
I believe both sites run credit cards through AuthorizeNet, but I could
easily be mistaken.
If you want to check out the shopping carts on these sites, they are at:
http://www.tenderlovingcare.cc
http://aftermathmedia/tlc/
Click the purchase option at the bottom of the page.
Using an off the shelf solution like Merchant Planet or Americart might be
a good route for you, as it sounds like your client is pretty tight with
money and won't cover your time spent learning how to do stuff. All you'd
have to do is figure out how to get your client's catalog of items for sale
into the database, instead of having to figure out all the database and
scripting stuff that operates behind the scene. I am teaching myself to do
similar things with Filemaker, but am no where near ready to offer these
services professionally.
Suz
>> I would also recommend that you estimate on the high side for the shopping
>> cart. Whether you build it yourself, or use an off the shelf commerce site
>> like Americart, MerchantPlanet, ShopSite or Viaweb,
>This is excellent information. Knowing me, I'd be inclined to price out the
>shopping cart according to what the software or company was charging, then
>think I could get by with my usual fee per page. I can't remember if you have
>previously recommended a particular shopping cart service of those listed in
>your message. The only one that sticks in my head is iCat.
Suzanne Stephens, Dave Stephens Design; Ashland, Oregon
541-552-1190, 541-1192 http://www.KickassDesign.com/
CyberCircus Grand Prize Winners http://www.thecybercircus.com/
Web Page Design for Designers: http://www.wpdfd.com/wpdres.htm
Clip Art: http://www.freeimages.com/artists/
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