Setting up an Online Store, Godaddy or Shopify? Any others?

Hipmumma on 02/03/2014 - 11:47

As the subject suggests i'm looking at setting up an online store.

Im not too web savvy in the way of programming so would prefer something easy to manage.

I'll need paypal, Direct Deposit and credit card payments in checkout.

The two main sites I have found are Godaddy and Shopify. Ive researched a lot into these two some say godaddy is ok others say its not great and shopify is much better.

The main issue is shopify is quite expensive and godaddy is more affordable and currently on special.

I now have an ABN however am starting to wonder if there is a way to set up shop as a "hobby", due to just starting out and after researching through the ATO and business website my business may be more on the hobby scale.

Would love to hear others suggestions, experiences and if im missing a reputable company that does these?

Thanks :)

Internet

Comments

  • bossmode on 02/03/2014 - 12:02
    +1

    Personally I've had issues with GoDaddy - I went in for one of their promotions as well but honestly there are so many coupons for that site lying around all over the place that it shouldn't be an incentive to rush your decision.

    GoDaddy is an 'ok' host. I've seen companies construct fantastic sites with it but with mine for some reason the bandwidth just won't support all the images and it takes longer than usual to load it. Just something to consider when constructing your website and choosing your host.

  • brilliances on 02/03/2014 - 13:06
    +1

    years ago when I was looking into shopify, it didn't integrate into Aus Post so I straight out rejected it. Not sure if they have added that feature now.

    You might also want to try weebly or bigcommerce

    I like BigCommerce because the founders are Australian (http://www.theage.com.au/small-business/managing/blogs/enter…)

  • fruitbat on 02/03/2014 - 20:33
    +1

    I've been running a "hobby" business for about 6 years now and until recently I was using a shopping cart I had written with extensions to Dreamweaver.

    Last year, after becoming frustrated with the limitations my website had, I went for an open source cart. I tried three different carts before settling on one that suited my needs. At the same time, I decided to change hosts as my existing host was Windows Server based and I now wanted/needed Linux.

    I now use Alegrocart (http://www.alegrocart.com/) as my shopping cart and Arvixe (http://www.arvixe.com/) as my host. Arvixe has "Softaculous" installation for quite a few shopping carts too. Basically, this means that you can install (and delete) any of the software available at Arvixe automatically (not just shopping carts!) and this is how I tried three carts before deciding on Alegrocart.

    I'm not associated with either of these two entities and I can only tell you from my experience that Arvixe is very well priced and their support is outstanding. The people at the support site for Alegrocart are also excellent as they answered any questions I had and gave advice without hesitation. Although I don't use it, Alegrocart has Aus Post integrated already.

    Being a bit of an Ozbargainer, I reckon that at $4 (US) a month for the hosting and shopping cart isn't too bad considering I was paying $8(US) for Windows Server and some limitations on data and disk space as opposed to unlimited now!

    • Hipmumma on 03/03/2014 - 10:28

      Great thanks for the info! sounds a bit more affordable :) did you need an ABN for your site and will it do paypal too? Ill check out these sites now :)

  • fruitbat on 03/03/2014 - 11:43

    No, you don't need an ABN, although I have one as I'm on a farm. Yes, it has PayPal integrated and does IPN callback as well. There are LOTS of features and payment gateways, as well as post options. Some can be a little confusing but are easily worked out. (I use the "Zone Plus Shipping" option) Check out the Alegrocart site and join the forum, the developers really are helpful and will answer any questions you have. Do search the site first as you'll find most of your questions have already been asked/answered. I'm using release 1.2.8 and there is a new release (1.2.9) due out sometime soon but the current version does everything I want (and more! - I was so impressed that I donated $50 to the developers….true Ozbargain fashion! $50 for something that commercially would cost hundreds!)

    The cart, being Open Source, has a couple of links to their website. They are quite happy for you to remove them if you like and will even tell you how to do that! In fact, they will help you to remove/modify much of the cart if you want. I did a few things by myself as I wanted to learn a little about PHP (not a programmer!!)

    You'll find my user name there is the same as here….fruitbat! (I really MUST get out more!) :)

    Please let me iterate that I am NOT associated with either of these two entities nor do I gain any benefit for recommending them. Isn't that what Ozbargain is about?

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