Considering Joining HG

[rsmobley85]

Hello all,

Im new to the site and just found HG today. Im wondering if this is what I need.

I am a crafter, I create finished items for others to buy, I also create digital files for others to use with their cutter machines.

I currently have my files at a online scrapping store. But will be leaving there July 1. And I recently set up a Etsy store for my finished creations. But Im not sure if that is working for me.

I would like to have both my cutter files and my finished creations loaded to one online store. And have it like a shopping cart with a billing. And then some how the money would be sent to me.

For my files, I need to be able to have a qty available like 1000 and it would count down as they are sold. And then an invoice sent to the customer. How would I then get the money. Does it go though paypal or some thing.

Is this the place for me and what plan you would recommend. I have a blogspot blog I advertise from. How would I set this up. Do I post a picture of the item and link to it, Or is there a store front or some thing.

This is so confusing to me.

Any suggestion or sample sites would be appreciated.

Sharon

[wesslayneb]

There are many options you could use. Hostgator is a web host, meaning they offer you webspace for your content, not the webstore etc.. You can put whatever you want and however you want it too work. What I think you need is an eCommerce solution.

Such as:
http://www.magentocommerce.com/
http://www.opencart.com/
http://www.zen-cart.com/

You would install these scripts on your server, and they would manage your store front and payment gateway (eg. Paypal).

[rsmobley85]

Thank you, that is what I was needing to find out, if this was what I needed or if one of the other programs would do it all for me.

Thanks so much, Off to check them out.


Sharon

[GatorSteveN]

There are shopping carts in the Fantastico and Quickinstall installers within cpanel that have downloadable product capability as well as ability to keep track of inventory.

[eurgbp]

E-Store, Shopping Cart, 1000s of files... smells like VPS - Virtual Private Server is up for the job, lowest level 1 for starters.. IMHO

[GatorTimC]

Hello!

We do offer many e-commerce solutions. I wouldn't recommend using Magento on shared hosting if you have many products, as it can be resource intensive and bog down your site speed. However, we have many alternatives you can install with one click via Fantastico or QuickInstall. OpenCart and PrestaShop are two of the more popular choices.

Also, please keep in mind that the main advantage of VPS packages is that it provides root access; a VPS package does not necessarily have more available resources than a shared package, especially lower level VPS packages. Also, Level 1 and 2 VPS packages do not offer cPanel or Plesk, so if you aren't comfortable managing your VPS via command line, these packages may not be a good fit for you.

Please let us know if you have any more questions!

[skyrim77]

I use Magneto on all my ecommerce sites. I have tried them all and Magneto is my favorite.

[qzx]

As suggested by skyrim, magneto would be your best bet to start your online store. Etsy is all messed up and won't do any good for your business's online identity.

All you need is a domain, a hosting package and a site [magneto].
Good luck!

[rsmobley85]

Okay, Im still confused on all this.

I registered with hostgator last night, for 12 months. I paid $15 to register a domain name for my store.

So now what. Do I upload all my files on this site?

Then do I register with some place to have a store front. like zen cart or magneto.

Sharon

[Bes Zain]

Sharon, the best bet now is to start by submitting a ticket directly through your HostGator Billing Panel.

You'll basically upload any files you want to the server described in your welcome email. If you registered the domain name via HostGator, then your domain name side of things should already be up and ready to go.

You only need to focus on uploading and creating the actual website now.