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Easy Shopping Cart For Non Techy - HELP!

by Sheryl Polomka
41 replies
I need a shopping cart. I have no idea what I'm doing.

I can't afford to spend hundreds of dollars buying a shopping cart and hiring someone to create a website and install it.

I want a shopping cart that can be integrated with 2checkout as I don't want to rely on Paypal.

It's all very confusing, does anyone have any recommendations on a shopping cart that is reasonably easy to install, setup and use? And won't cost the earth!
#cart #easy #shopping #techy
  • Profile picture of the author JB
    It will cost you a bit initially but BigCommerce is very easy to get up and running. I'm a noob too and even I am able to get my head around it. There are loads of videos to help and tutorials for whatever level you are at. OScommerce is free but impossible for a newbie to setup - I looked at it and the first line of the installation manual read like an astrophysics paper. There are a few free wordpress plugins too, not sure how easy or not they are to install and configure though. If you go the wordpress route I recommend hosting with Hostgator, they already have it built into the admin account so you just have to click to install it. Do a search on the forum here and you'll find the WP plugins and maybe even an ecommerce template or two. Hope that helps a bit.
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  • Profile picture of the author gmil88
    opencart is another good one, very easy to manage as well.
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  • Profile picture of the author Anoopchawla
    I have tried creloaded it's based on oscommerce but is very newbie friendly and best of all its free.

    Yes, you can integrate it with 2checkout, paypal and many others.
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  • Profile picture of the author Robert Mangan
    Sheryl,

    Magento is a great shopping cart and is the one I use.

    You can read up about it's features here: Magento - Home - eCommerce Software for Growth

    It's open source and can be install very easily.

    Here's a site that has some cheap templates you could use - some are actually free - all you would need do is change the images (banners) with these templates : Free Magento Themes 1.5.1.0 Get Free Magento Theme 1.4 > Download

    You could go with a free template and pay someone to do the graphics very cheaply for you.

    There is an Magento extension for 2checkout: Magento Connect - 2Checkout Payment Extension - Overview - eCommerce Software for Growth

    If you don't feel confident in installing it yourself you could get someone to do it for you for about $30 tops.

    If you send me a PM I can let you have the Magento manual.

    Robert
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  • Profile picture of the author UncleHQ
    Hi Sheryl,

    I use and would recommend Delavo as a shopping cart, the core version is absolutely free and is well supported - as a Delavo Ambassador, I would be more than happy to set this up for you.

    Brian
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  • Profile picture of the author Kerryrus
    Have you looked at nopCommerce? It's free and easy to use

    www.nopcommerce.com
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  • Profile picture of the author ritchierich
    I'm a web designer/UX specialist by trade and for a great cart out of the box, I recommend opencart.
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  • Profile picture of the author AndreStoelinga
    It also depends a bit on what you're going to sell.
    Are you creating a full ecommerce shop or just ebooks or other digital products with a dedicated sales page ?

    If it's the latter you can just use paypal to start with and get a merchant account at 2Checkout for example. Or even clickbank...

    Andre
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  • Profile picture of the author Sheryl Polomka
    Andre it's for tangible products.

    Robert Magento looks good but it doesn't look like it supports Australia Post as a shipping option. My target market to begin with is the Australian market so I need to integrated Australia Post shipping.
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  • Profile picture of the author triojobss
    Banned
    Integrate with PayPal, click on merchant services and there should be an option for a checkout system, I hope this works for you!
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  • Profile picture of the author go4wealth
    This shopping cart is easy to use - full featured - plus it is 100% Free https://my.ecwid.com/cp/
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    • Profile picture of the author Cali16
      Hey Sheryl,

      I take serious issue with your headline. You are definitely not a "non-techy" person!! (I know for a fact that you're way more tech-savvy than you're giving yourself credit for!)

      Okay, now that I got that off my chest...I'm completely useless with regards to answering your question...

      With a little help from others here, however, I have COMPLETE confidence in you that you'll get this figured out!
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      If you don't face your fears, the only thing you'll ever see is what's in your comfort zone. ~Anne McClain, astronaut
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  • Profile picture of the author moaid123
    I suggest that you use wp eCommerce with wordpress
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  • Profile picture of the author Robert Mangan
    Sheryl,

    Here's a FREE Magento extension that provides you with Australian POST handling (and other features): Magento Connect - Fontis_Australia - Overview - eCommerce Software for Growth

    Hope this helps,

    Robert
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  • Profile picture of the author John Racine
    Hi Sheryl,

    I use 1ShoopingCart and it will handle digital or physical products. It is $100 US per month, but I find it easy to use and works well for me.

    John
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  • Profile picture of the author Catapult
    Try simple cart. Easy to use and it looks great.

    http://simplecartjs.com/
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  • Profile picture of the author Benny Busker
    Thank you Sheryl for starting this thread - it has been very useful!

    Thank you Brian, especially, for the information about Delavo - which I'd never heard of before. I've now registered with Delavo and downloaded the licence and software for my website. It was very easy and entirely FREE!

    Good luck to everyone!
    Benny
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  • Profile picture of the author kodyabbott
    I use Joomla for my websites and run Virtuemart on it. Free, tons of options.

    Oh btw Joomla comes with a quick install with most hosting as well. If you need help I would be more then happy to help. I enjoy this stuff!
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  • Profile picture of the author Catapult
    I wouldn't use Magento, unless you can get someone to set it up for you. I find it extremely frustrating.

    On the other side, if you know how to use it well, you make make an amazing site, and customize it however you want.
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    • Profile picture of the author Sheryl Polomka
      Originally Posted by Catapult View Post

      I wouldn't use Magento, unless you can get someone to set it up for you. I find it extremely frustrating.

      On the other side, if you know how to use it well, you make make an amazing site, and customize it however you want.
      Aaaahhhhh! This is really frustrating - I don't want one that isn't easy to set up but so far I don't think any of them are easy to set up.
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  • Profile picture of the author Robert Mangan
    Sheryl,

    to add to the confusion:

    A lot of hosting companies make installing the basic, free magento very easy - usually done via cpanel or fantastico. When I was thinking of using Magento as a shopping cart this is what I did. It took a couple of mins to install a fully functioning Magento shopping cart. admittiedly, the design was basic and not something you'd want to begin selling products on. However, by installing the free version you can get to play around with it and decide if it's for you or not.

    I don't know if the addon I mentioned is compatible with Magento Go. I'd image that it is - a Magento extension is just a Magento extension. I would contact Magento Go (there's a contact us page on the website) and ask them.

    Magento Go looks good inasmuch you get the whole deal and configuring the layout seems to be easy for non-techies. You also get a30 day trial so you might try this option and see if it's as non-techie friendly as it claims.

    The major downside with electing to go with Magento GO (rather than the bog standard Magento on your own hosting) is price.

    There's no easy choice or clear winner with choosing any shopping cart software.

    I chose Magento because it does have a good reputation as far as functionality goes, is used by both small and large businesses and there's lots of developers out there who are very familiar with it, so getting any enhancements/changes you require is pretty easy (and fairly cheap too as there's lots of competitionamong developers).
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  • Profile picture of the author 3antz
    If you have experience with Wordpress you can try out WP E-commerce. It's just a plugin on top of Wordpress. It isn't meant for shops with a lot of products, mine slowed down after reaching 500 products. Themes are pretty accessible as well you can get good looking ones within 20 - 30 USD.

    I have used Prestashop but I wouldn't recommend it if you are not fluent in PHP (applies to me) and the modules are expensive. Finally resorted to Opencart, which is very easy to use and configure.

    Hope this helps.
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  • Profile picture of the author Sheryl Polomka
    Thanks everyone (except for the idiot spamming) I'm still looking around and still very confused. At the moment I think I'm leaning toward Bigcommerce (thanks JB) as it looks pretty easy to set up even if it is on their hosting. It has 2checkout as a payment gateway and also has Australia Post as a shipping option. It has a free trial so I might give that a go and see how I go.
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    • Profile picture of the author thriftgirl62
      Originally Posted by Sheryl Polomka View Post

      Thanks everyone (except for the idiot spamming) I'm still looking around and still very confused. At the moment I think I'm leaning toward Bigcommerce (thanks JB) as it looks pretty easy to set up even if it is on their hosting. It has 2checkout as a payment gateway and also has Australia Post as a shipping option. It has a free trial so I might give that a go and see how I go.
      Hi Sheryl,

      You're doing just fine and you know why? You aren't afraid to ask questions and that means you know how to THINK for yourself. I've used BigCommerce before and they are good but Free Shopping Cart Software for Google Checkout and PayPal - Mercantec.com cannot be beat.

      They have been around the longest [since mid 90's] and they are the best and the most expensive for those who can afford the "best in the World" but for YOU and ME, their e-commerce service is absolutely FREE and there are no strings attached. I've had an account there for years but I haven't used it much lately . . . let us know what you find out in case something has changed but I seriously doubt it.

      Leah

      P.S. Normally I would have made sure they are still just as I remembered them from years ago but I don't have to this time - I know you will and that's great for all of us!!
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      I retired in 2005 at 43 and now I give away websites like these for FREE [hosting excluded]

      When you make at least $100+ per month, we split the profit 80/20 and YOU get the 80% Until then, you keep 100% and I'll help you drive traffic, get backlinks and put the domain in your name too!
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      • Profile picture of the author dsouravs
        Everybody mentioned all the tough ones.
        Why not Use our good friend WordPress.
        There R free WP plugins to make ecommerce site. Yes absolutely free plugins.
        And then there R WP ecommerce themes from elegant themes and bla bla bla companies...

        thnx
        need 2 know more then ping my skype.
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        • Profile picture of the author thriftgirl62
          Originally Posted by dsouravs View Post

          Everybody mentioned all the tough ones.
          Why not Use our good friend WordPress.
          There R free WP plugins to make ecommerce site. Yes absolutely free plugins.
          And then there R WP ecommerce themes from elegant themes and bla bla bla companies...

          thnx
          need 2 know more then ping my skype.
          You need to see this: http://www.12scwin.com/12steps.html

          This is mainstream business and because there are no affiliate links, who's going to tell you or anyone else about the latest in technology or what was discussed at the World Business Forum last week?

          Marketers won't but possible PARTNERS will because when there's more in it for you, there's even more for everyone down the road . . . if you think long-term. I'm telling you and everyone else because . . . doing anything I can to help professional web designers and marketers makes sense simply because I'm neither one and we all need help.

          The reason there is so much confusion is mainly because nobody is working together to make a better anything. Instead they all compete with each other selling whatever makes the most money to whoever will buy it. That's not how you build a real business but what choice do most people have? Nobody knows what they don't know just like nobody knows everything. If I only knew then, what I know now!
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          I retired in 2005 at 43 and now I give away websites like these for FREE [hosting excluded]

          When you make at least $100+ per month, we split the profit 80/20 and YOU get the 80% Until then, you keep 100% and I'll help you drive traffic, get backlinks and put the domain in your name too!
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  • Profile picture of the author Michael Meaney
    Prestashop is worth considering, I use it for my offline clients because it's easy to use, easy to install and easy to customize.
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  • Profile picture of the author tmcca
    I like ejunkee, they will also host your downloads. Its not free but the cost is reasonable.
    I sell digital content there.
    Best Wishes
    Ted
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    • Profile picture of the author aduer
      Another good and free cart is zencart. It is based on commerce but much much better and user friendly. There are tones of free templates that will make
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  • Profile picture of the author Sheryl Polomka
    Wow - so many different options. Aduer I took a look at Zencart and from memory I don't think they had 2checkout as a payment gateway and I want one that has 2checkout.

    @Tmcca I want the shopping cart for tangible items not digital. If I was doing digital I would use DLGuard as I have that on another site and am happy with it. In fact, if DLGuard did a tangible item shopping cart I wouldn't be asking this question, I would have set it up with them in a heartbeat.

    @dsouravs - I started off with Wordpress using the Tribulant Wordpress Shopping Cart plugin - which I paid for. But I couldn't get it set up how I wanted it and I got no reply from their support. Having said that...... now that I asked for a refund they have replied and offered to help me set it up. So I might see how that goes before I look any further.
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  • Profile picture of the author Sheryl Polomka
    @thriftgirl62 I just had a look at Mercantec and it doesn't look like they have 2checkout as a payment option either.
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  • Profile picture of the author Christine2011
    Originally Posted by Sheryl Polomka View Post

    I need a shopping cart. I have no idea what I'm doing.

    I can't afford to spend hundreds of dollars buying a shopping cart and hiring someone to create a website and install it.

    I want a shopping cart that can be integrated with 2checkout as I don't want to rely on Paypal.

    It's all very confusing, does anyone have any recommendations on a shopping cart that is reasonably easy to install, setup and use? And won't cost the earth!
    You can check this out...

    6 Free Open Source Shopping Cart Software Options — eCommerce-Guide.com
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  • Profile picture of the author AndreVas
    www.delavo.com - Free and beats all the paid ones, easily! (Source: 7 year experience with processing orders through: XCart, MerchantTrack, 1SC, Magento, Zen, Open, tons more that unable to remember).
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    • Profile picture of the author Sheryl Polomka
      Originally Posted by AndreVas View Post

      www.delavo.com - Free and beats all the paid ones, easily! (Source: 7 year experience with processing orders through: XCart, MerchantTrack, 1SC, Magento, Zen, Open, tons more that unable to remember).
      Ah Delavo - I had Brian install Delavo for me but I was too stupid to work out how to use it. It seemed really confusing to me!
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  • Profile picture of the author GettingBetterAtIt
    I use bigcommerce as well. For $25 a month, fully hosted, DNS, numerous modules, SEO friendly etc why fool around installing and maintaining your own system?
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    • Profile picture of the author barbarajean
      Hi Sheryl -

      I know it can be confusing! Been there - lol. I have 2 ecommerce stores currently. I spent countless hours checking out carts & software for my stores.

      I have checked out Big Commerce myself, and it looks really good (love so many of their features!), but there is limitation w/how many products, bandwidth, etc. for dollars spent. One of my ecommerce stores has like 850 products! But If you don't have a lot of products that shouldn't be an issue for you.

      I know a guy & his brothers who configured a really good cart/store software system called "Zulu cart", and for $34.97/mo you don't have any product or bandwidth limitations. They also give a lot of free training and are stand up sort of people. You get a month free trial so you can see if it works for you. Super easy to use! I don't want to sound like a commercial, but I am a member of their free forum and I like these guys. I am not an affiliate but they do have a referral program - if you like it tell them "brfiles" sent you

      I am moving to them shortly myself - right now I am using Python cart. Zulu takes that even farther!

      When I started, I didn't know ANYTHING about carts or ecommerce, so I can tell you from experience you will do fine if you keep asking and researching. Pretty soon an option that is just right for you will stand out from the rest. If not, you can always change it to something better down the road.

      I don't know if it's ok to put links to resources here - let me know & I can edit my post if it's not cool.

      Zulu Cart Features

      Good luck!

      Barb
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  • Profile picture of the author bkat52
    i am using prestashop for my online store. i started out with OS commerce but couldnt get the hang of it so i switched. Presashop was very easy to install and i was ready to sell within a few days. i too was looking for a free cart. but as someone mentioned above, the modules to do everything you want to do can get expensive but i just avoid buying them and use the free ones available.
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  • Profile picture of the author mdyson
    Hi Sheryl,
    For me, PrestaShop is definitely the way to go. They just updated it a couple weeks ago too, so it's easier than ever to get started. I actually messed up my installation when it came to connecting the database for the first time, and I still had it up and running in about 15 minutes!

    Cheers,
    Matthew
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