Free ecommerce?

[t_gorganzola]

Is there really such a thing as a free ecommerce service that is also easy to use and inspires confidence from my customers?

My client doesn't want to spend money on ecommerce yet.. wants to try out a few products and see how it goes. Does anyone have any suggestions?

[WebRunner]

What are you looking for in a free ecommerce provider? Just a shopping cart or the ability to accept credit cards.

If you need both, then I guess it depends on the product. It might be possible.

Give me just a little more info.

Webrunner's New discussion board http://www.runtheweb.com

[Tiger_Tom]

http://www.kagi.com http://www.ccnow.com http://www.clickbank.com http://www.verza.com http://www.pointahead.com

TigerTom http://www.tigertom.com/merchant.htm

[Rizal]

Try out http://www.freemerchant.com . I haven't used their services though, but it seems decent enough. Be sure to investigate their site thoroughly before committing anything.

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Sharifudin Rizal
DarkStation.Com
No-Nonsense PlayStation Website
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[WebRunner]

I've got a site set-up with freemerchant. It's not bad, does the basics and does it well. Plus allows you to use your own merchant account.

However, I have had many problems with the reliability of their servers. It's been down too many times and it can be unbearably slow.

As far as free online builders go, it's the best I tried. I've tried econgo and bigstep too.

Justwebit.com is one I'm playing around with now, but I can't give any honest evaluation of it yet.

In most cases you're better off getting your own software, but free storefronts have their uses.

-WebRunner
Check out my new discussion forum http://www.runtheweb.com/wwwboard

[t_gorganzola]

What we need for a e-commerce package is the shopping cart. We have our own merchant account that we want to use but just need the site to be able to securely take orders and send us the info either via email or on a secure page that we can access online.

Thanks to all for your advice, I'm currently doing some big research. If anyone else has any other suggestions please let me know.

Tara
tara@calgarynet.com

[DynaMike]

If you're serious about e-Commerce, get your own SSL hosting account that supports the technology you are going to implement with your shopping cart design. You usually get what you pay for and when one of those free services breaks down, who can you point the finger at?

Also think about how they make their money. It's by placing ads on your web site. If you owned a store, would you advertise for others? If you would, then ad banners wouldn't bother you. But if you wouldn't, I'd reconsider going with a free service.

Mike

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[WebRunner]

Just to keep you updated:

Freemerchant has just been acquired by ShopNow.com

Freemerchant tells me that this will lead to improved server speeds and reliability which were my only real complaint against them.

Also, with Freemerchant you can use your own merchant account.

BTW, freemerchant does not place ads on my site. In only a few places does their name appear anywhere. Like in the invoices and final ordering page.

But I still agree that your own cart will be your best choice.

But your own cart does have its own drawbacks besides the cost. You'll have to use a host that supports it (should not be a problem), technical support will be a question, updates are an unknown.

Not trying to talk you into Freemerchant or any other free cart, but they have their uses.

-WebRunner

Check out my new discussion board http://www.runtheweb.com/wwwboard