e-commerce apps

most of the virtual hosting on apache/php servers are implimented with cpanel or a hack of cpanel. in there, you'll find something I have used often for several different customers: osCommerce - you can see it at www.oscommerce.com and get it there. it is free and you can do whatever you want to with it. I've done simple setups and I've done greatly hacked setups where it doesn't resemble much of osCommerce at all. it is easy to get setup, but I feel that you need to know what you are looking for in some parts of the code to figure some parts out. otherwise, it has a great admin tool for managing products/orders/customers.

 

most people will have horror stories regarding paypal. I haven't... yet! but again, it is only a matter of time before I'm screwed.

paysystems works fine and doesn't require an up keep fee per month, but on the other side, you float a lot of money because 1) the money doesn't hit your account for a week to two weeks as opposed to 24 hours with bank of america, 2) the transaction fees are very high.

with any internet based business, that you do not see the plastic in front of you, the transactions will automatically be three to four times as high. expect to pay no less than 2.9% per transaction and no higher than 3.99% - that range will be in addition to a transaction fee of 3 cents to one dollar PER transaction.

I have worked with a few other merchant accounts. two of them screwed me royally and will no longer respond after a year and a half of haggling with them. they've kept lockedup, 8500 in one account and the other around 6000. and that is... gone. (and that is a lot of money in my current position) that is of course, unless I persue them in court, which is difficult due to lawyer expenses, and the distance between myself and that merchant.

don't expect to be screwed. just keep good books, get a bookkeeper or an accountant to keep them up and work out projected numbers before hand, which will show you if paying a bit more up front and a monthly fee for something like a bank of america account which will be very immediate transaction when you charge someone else's account. or else... you'll wait and you'll float the product on your dime, while you wait days or weeks for your money that you actually charged.

it really depends on what you will be selling. drop shipping is fine, but make sure you aren't too far away from your wholesaler. I prefer to work with the manufacturers directly to avoid any complications - even if it costs me a few bucks more. mass drop shipping wharehouses can be fine... eh... for some people and some businesses, but in the end it can lose a lot of contact.

most wholesalers and accounts will require that you send them the business license, some will require that you have a storefront, no matter what the product, and some of them will require that you have a bank account under the business name.

if you have any further questions, let me know. I've also written a few ecommerce apps and worked with several merchants on them before - but have resorted to oscommerce for ease of installation and because I'm too familiar with it from multiple implimentations.