I’ve heard it said that the barrier to getting into the web design business is very low, to the point that many (most?) websites on the web today have a low-grade amateurish feel to it. I think the same could be said about eCommerce sites, for the very same reason.
As for the requests for the sarcasm disclaimer, you might have missed it in the title of the article.
10 Easy Steps to a Horrible Ecommerce Site
That in itself should let you know about the overall tone of the article.
For the record, I believe that the sarcasm was well placed. This guy is just getting tired of the thousands of subpar ecommerce sites out there that could be improved simply by following a few steps.
I’d be willing to bump that up to 80%.
I really enjoyed this article Jason -
I would like to take this opportunity to personally apologize to anyone who found my article offensive or in bad taste. I sincerely did not intend to offend anyone, and it was all written in good humor.
This article began as a funny forum post to new ecommerce “developers” at a popular open source cart site. It was intended as a humorous look at what new developers do, and nothing more. It received a couple angry replies there too, and I actually wrote a companion post in a kinder, gentler tone to accommodate those who took the jokes as bit too close to home. A couple people recommended to me that I submit it to SitePoint and I did. Months ago when I submitted it, SitePoint helped me out with a bit of polish on it to make it more palatable to its readers (it was really mean before), and to be honest I completely forgot about it until I received an email this morning from the editor telling me it was posted.
This article was only meant by myself (and I think the editor) to be a light-hearted look at what we all do for a living. You are correct in saying that this is not like everything else on SitePoint- quite frankly, if it was I wouldn’t have bothered.
In closing, don’t be such a stick-in-the-mud and learn to laugh at your profession- its certainly laughable enough.
Check out LiteSSL at around $15 per year. I would give you a link, but I’m not sure on this forums policies on such- you can Google it easily enough. It’s cheap, it does not have a big name attached to it, but they claim their CA works in 99% of browsers and for stingy customers its better than nothing.
/no affiliation
Thats probably true, although someones later post about 80% is probably over the top. Most everyone I know looks for the little lock icon before they type in their credit card (although I will admit, my friends are probably a little more technical savvy than the average web user). At least in my neck of the woods, its been pretty much beat into everyones head that “lock = safe” and thats about it. I don’t know anyone who actually bothers to find the brand name of the seal- I know I don’t.
I don’t think the article was offensive at all. It was humorous, maybe a little sarcastic but offensive? Please, some people will be offended by anything. They’re also probably the people who wouldn’t have taken the advice (which is sound) anyway. Great job on the article, it’s nice to see a fresh style of writing at SP!
Jason,
Good approach and thought provoking. I can’t imagine anyone being offended. Well… Maybe not until they start analysing their eComm site that is 
Cheers,
Andrew
Well, I too though this was hilarious. I agree that the folks who’ve been offended likely committed one of the mentioned offenses. But for me, I know I’d rarely learn anything if I didn’t screw it up a couple times first!
I think you put together a pretty good article. I direct an affiliate program and we’ve been sending affiliates to the link to read it so that they can get an idea of what they should (or should not) be doing. I see affiliates every single day doing exactly what youre talking about here. Again, good article.
Exactly. Without that we’re bound to give ourselves heart attacks and strokes and whatnot for taking life too seriously. Frankly, if you’re going to get upset about something, make it something slightly more important than an article… say, I don’t know… our health care system. 
I find it sad & amusing how people assume. I do my best to keep up to date on all aspects of web development. So to me, this article was pointless as well as to those that know e-commerce. For those that have no idea about e-commerce, might have been offended. IMO, this article was discouraging to those that best need that encouragement while they learn. I thought the purpose of this web site was to empower those who are developing their skills.
It’s like saying to a student “yeah you do suck at maths, yah loser” then saying “oh but I was only joking, don’t take me seriously”.
A post it should have stayed.
How many people replying to this article know what e-commerce is all about. How many people have not replied but read the article are those in need of empowerment.
Jason’s goal as an author should have been to empower, the editor should explain them selves as well – If not apologise to Jason. Obviously they forgot what is printed at the top of Sitepoint!
Oh please! There are a zillion articles on the same theme online, and quite a handful on SP here. If your beginners don’t get this one, let them go read someone else’s. All these straight and narrow approach to writing is boring. Think variety for a change.
And since I consider myself one of the people he’s addressing, I don’t “know it all” doesn’t make me a retard or someone incapable of appreciating a style of writing. Give us some credit please.
Surely it’s Jason who should decide what the goal of his article should be?
Great article, beautifully written with care and humour. 
Paul
Great points in this article! If you didn’t ‘get’ the humor you should have moved on, but don’t waste your time on your opinion as opposed to commenting on the individual points he’s making. I took this article for what its worth and felt the title was simply used to grab our attention, only to humor us with obvious ‘tongue in cheek’ structure.
I thought it was a rather entertaining read. And also, a lot of the points Jason makes apply to other types of sites, not specifically eCommerce.
They don’t need to know what SSL means. So long as their browser understands it, and displays the little padlock icon, then that’s fine.
To be honest, I’d be pretty suprised if 30% of web developers understood what SSL really is. I doubt more than 3% understand how it actually works. I don’t really get the maths behind it. Public key encryption is a very complicated subject.
Which was my whole point, so thanks for backing me up
They don’t know or care what company makes the little padlock appear, they just care that it appears. So to say that certain “padlock companies” are more trusted by users and to put numbers like 80%, 60%, 30% etc is ridiculous.
For those of us who ‘get it’, this article was very funny. May I suggest a #11 for your list - #11 Use osCOmmerce.
Oh get over it. The article is great as it really drives home what MANY ecommerce newcomers do, and when they read it, hopefully it gets them hopping to correct some of the listed sins. If the sarcasm (yet dead to the point truth) offends someone enough to go replace all their 1.5mb images scaled using the img tag with thumbnails, GOOD!
Anyway, great article. You know what I do if I buy something online and come across a cookie cutter oscommerce site with the default layout?
I LEAVE.
This actually really made me laugh, great article!