Setting up an online shop

LTripleJ2 on 10/03/2015 - 13:38

Hi everyone!
I'm looking to set up an online store soon and was hoping for some advice on the best services available. Ideally I'd like something that allows PayPal and a bit of customization.
I've had a look at Storenvy which is free but they force you to use their Stripe payment system. Now I'm considering Wix (wix.com) which costs about $18 pr month, but includes hosting, a domain name and several really nice templates. If anyone has any experience or advice in regards to these or other ways of setting up a shop it would be very much appreciated!

thanks in advance!

Find Me A Bargain

Comments

  • jennkei on 10/03/2015 - 15:49
    +1

    Wordpress with woocommerce is a fairly popular option. I've set up Ecwid for people too, which is free if you're selling a small number of products.

    Apparently Wix doesn't have good SEO so unless you aren't gonna be getting customers that way..

    • TripleJ2 on 11/03/2015 - 02:23

      All my visitors would be coming from my YouTube channel, so I'm not too worried about SEO. I did look briefly at woo commerce but I'm not too great with fiddling with my own HTML code and unless I missed it there doesn't seem to be many themes available. Or would the themes come from Wordpress?

      • jennkei on 11/03/2015 - 11:16

        Woo templates are here - http://www.woothemes.com/product-category/themes/ Those aren't generally free, though, but if you sign up, you'll find some free themes.

        If you want something easy to use, then Ecwid's probably good. It's free for up to 10 products.

    • adam149 on 11/03/2015 - 12:04

      WooCommerce is well built and is a good solution. I think long term it could be an expensive solution as every feature you need is an extra plugin, so you have to keep paying for licenses and updates which will add up.

  • TopCat on 10/03/2015 - 15:51
    +1

    Wordpress + Woocommerce compatibility caters for a wide range of business requirements. Quite easy to use as well.

    What does the nature of your business entail?

    • TripleJ2 on 11/03/2015 - 02:25

      I introduce toys on a YouTube channel so I'm looking to set up a small shop to sell the things I introduce. Is woo commerce pretty straightforward to use?

      • TopCat on 11/03/2015 - 09:00
        +1

        It sure is. And since you like youtube…

        Tyler Moore has some classic videos that guide you step by step (the videos are long because he skips nothing). Very beneficial: https://www.youtube.com/user/Conutant/videos

        Another good one is the lady from 77webstudio. I havent seen her vids but shes ranking pretty high so perhaps that will help you too and give some variety: https://www.youtube.com/user/77webstudio/videos

        Good luck!

        • TripleJ2 on 11/03/2015 - 19:15

          Thank you! Those were amazingly useful.
          Much appreciate the help!

  • shadowarrior on 10/03/2015 - 16:01
    +1

    I third Wordpress+Woocommerce option as well.

  • adam149 on 11/03/2015 - 12:07

    WooCommerce is a poor choice and it will cost you a fortune. WooCommerce itself is a bare basic system and you need to add on so many extensions just to make it useable. All the extensions you buy only come with a 1 year license which gives you updates during that period until you pay again. Have a look for yourself: http://www.woothemes.com/product-category/woocommerce-extens…

    • TripleJ2 on 11/03/2015 - 19:20

      Thank you for sharing! That seems a bit worrying. Does that mean that you can't continue using them after a year or just that you won't get the latest updates?

      • adam149 on 11/03/2015 - 20:30

        You can use it, you just won't get updates. You will want those updates though, especially when Wordpress will get updated and your plugins will be out of date. Don't get me wrong, its decent software, its just missing everything and you have to add it on. It really benefits those selling it. Ideally you'd just pay a fee for the software, not each individual module.

  • piggyfund on 28/10/2015 - 08:59

    It depends on what you are selling, if it is physical products or delivered digitally or even an affiliate site dictates what would be the best solution and take into consideration your own ability to manage the site.

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