Question
I've been very pleased with the results of setting up my osCommerce store. It wasn't easy, and I have yet to modify it's overall look to match my site, but I love the way it works. Especially the fact that it's FREE. There is excellent support for the package, as well.
Am I the only one here using it?
Answer
Heya, Steve! Nice to see you back here as well.
Actually, after our discussion over at FAs, you inspired me to give OScommerce a second try. Needless to say, I tore down our Miva site (our secondary retail website is still up and running--essentially as our main site right now) and I have been fine-tuning it so that I can launch it to replace our Miva site.
Answer
I've installed my osCommerce software and doing a bit if changes to suit my needs.
My osCommerce store would be in addition to my eBay store
I love the way it looks..neat and cool!
Answer
Might i suggest you use the CRE loaded version of OSCom, as it is afar mor search engine friendly.
Answer
curious - thentavius - how long did it take you to set up your main site using that software?
Does it require programming knowledge?
We are ready to give up on MIVA as well. Cannot get the bugs out without hiring a programmer!
Answer
another merchant has recommended Instanestore:
http://www.instantestore.com/
Anyone here use them? All evaluations welcome.
Answer
I don't know a whole lot about Instanestore but it appears to run a minimum of $500 a year where OSCommerce is free. Maybe you get what you pay for. I don't know enough about it. But the price is a deal killer for me right now.
-y
Answer
Understand about the price - if you have time and an understanding of programming.
The cost of paying for hosting of a large site, plus paying a programmer (or alternately, paying a commission on all sales, as we do on TIAS) is small compared to the $499.
Answer
Originally Posted by Display Anything!
curious - thentavius - how long did it take you to set up your main site using that software?
Does it require programming knowledge?
We are ready to give up on MIVA as well. Cannot get the bugs out without hiring a programmer!
It look us about one month to set up two dummy shops for testing, and the main shop, to get the new store up and running. You can see it here:
http://www.darkelfcollection.com/main/
It probably would have gone faster if we weren't also doing a million other things. The main site I actually put it up over the course of two days (after having messed around with the two dummy shops to get everything right over the course of a month).
It officially does not require programming knowledge. However, the more you are willing to learn or the more you know, the easier it will be for you to customize your site. You can learn just enough about what do do or what not to do to make little tweaks yourself. The more I work on it, the better I get. There is also abundant help in the oscommerce forums (and probably here at here as well).
Your best bet is to get a webhost who can install it for you--then let you configure the rest (the installation is only one small part of the process, but it sure makes it faster if you don't have to try and worry about configuring the server). You can still count on about 30 days (maybe less, maybe more, depending on your experience) worth of tweaking to get the site working exactly the way you want it to, even if your webhost installs it for you. The installation is just the basic skeleton.
We gave up on Miva because it was literally losing and eating orders--and was leaving people hanging. Baaah. And they want HUNDREDS of dollars for official support? Oh, yeah, Miva? !*#$ you! (LOL).
Since you have Miva already, it will make your job a bit easier, as you'll be able to download your products from Miva and upload them to Oscommerce using Easy Populate. We did the same thing. You just have to move some of the columns around to match the Easy Populate format.
Answer
Thank you! Good advice!