Impressed again. TheTBN folks are a great gang.

[coffeeman]

I was impressed with the wealth of info this group offered on creating a web site.

However, here's a harder question. What suggestions does the group have on creating a shopping card? The cart should be done as cheaply as possible. The thinking here is to buy cart software and add credit card supported by some bank or credit card company who would be happy to to help at a reasonable cost. Some companies that sell carts set up start cart cheap. But the cheap offer is never enough and to go forward and the price goes up past the point where a start up doesn't justify the cost. So, as usual, the little guy is locked out.

I know this question is difficult. But, I am posting here because I know we have a smart group here. A point in right direction is all that might be needed.

Cheers.... Coffeeman

 

[alchemysa]

I've used this one for about 5 years.
Mal's e-commerce - A FREE Shopping Cart Service

Its secure, free and excellent. You dont have to have any software of your own and you dont have to 'maintain' it. Theres a code that you slip into your website. When customers hit the 'buy' button it takes them to 'Mals' cart where they can buy using credit cards. You then get instant notification of the order and all the details. Its seamless and fast so they dont even notice the change. You can customize many aspects of it to suit yourself.

I dont use it as a payment gateway. I still have to log onto Mals and get the card details and process the orders through my seperate payment gateway with my bank. But i think they do have extra option that lets you link directly into some payment gateways.
Mals make their money by getting you to upgrade to more specialised services. I havent needed that.

I couldnt recommend this highly enough as a simple way to get into internet selling.

It requires a little bit of computer nouse to set it up but its basically designed for beginners and small businesses.

Click the 'MARKETPLACE' button in the top corner of the link above and you'll see examples of sites using Mals Shopping cart. Most of the sites are pretty awful and too busy but you'll get an idea how the cart works.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

I'm only familiar with this as a customer, but I've found the paypal driven sites to be pretty user friendly. It's a great way to get into internet sales without having to start out big.

The problem is that customers need a paypal account to buy unless this has changed recently. Of course, most (not all) internet customers have a paypal account and are familiar with the paypal brand.