Hey, my sister just opened an business, and she asked me to make her a website in which she can sell all her items and stuff.

Im taking a webpage desing class, so i allready learned HTML, and basic CSS, but havent gotten deeper into uploading files via FTP and using SQL and all that, so i wanted something that had customizable templates, and i could get around with ease.

My sister is also looking for something that has a shopping cart, and people can then pay via Paypal, or any other methods, so i kinda need help with that too.

and finally, i wanted to know a list of things i should know and be proficient in before opening an eComerce. ex: should know html, laws of eComerce, basic photoshop for making icons and banners. you know stuff like that. or know a website that explains all the basics of it.

Thank you all for your time in reading this. :)

-Rafael

Welcome to the forums prototypezero!

It always helps to know what contry you are based in as well as maybe what items you might be selling. There are numerous websites that would be able to help you start up an ecommerce website using only Paypal. If you think your sales are going to be more than $1,000 a month you might consider a merchant account (if you are in the United States) along with Paypal.

As far as laws (like taxes, etc) - you should contact your CPA. Only he / she can actually be forthcoming & make sure that you are complaint with local, state, and federal laws. You can also check out www.workz.com for some more information.

Coreybryant,

hey, thanks for help so far, i'll take a look into that.

Im Located at Los Angeles, California. And my sister will be selling items such as kichenware, and utensils for restaurants and stuff. basically any items you find in a regular kitches.

And i don't think the first month alone we will be selling over a thousand dollars, so i guess not getting a merchant account with paypal would be better don't you think? and then if it does get close to selling more than U$ 1,000 we can upgrade the account right?

annnd... CPA? sorry, i dont know what that is...

im checking out that site you refermed me to.

If you want prototypezecore we can help you setup your shopping cart system and help you integrate it with paypal.

Give me a call or message me and I'll try to help you the very best I can.

proto

He just meant to check with your accountant on tax issues .. CPA = certified public accountant.

There are a few places that make building a shopping cart and taking payments very easy ... yahoo stores for example.

Proto

Take a look at these 2 examples http://jerdoueihy.com and http://www.amaretticaffe.com.lb

These are Oscommerce (free) but customized, it goes well with paypal, 2co and some 100 of other pyt gates.

If you need advice in this concern just ask

Charbel Sarkis

osCommerce is I think the best e-commerce software out there, plus it is free.

But you know not everyone do the customization very well with nice layout, otherwise your shop will look a clone copy of other hundreds of thousands.

Charbel Sarkis

ahh thanks for the help guys. im looking into all that stuff right now.

does anyone know where i can find custom templates i can use online? and able to modify them later?

Proto

Are you looking for something like these samples www.jerdoueihy.com www.amaretticaffe.com.lb ?

Charbel Sarkis

hostaway.cc,

Yeah, thats kind of what im looking for, take a look at this website, i really like the design of it, and its really simple to navegate, do you think i can find something like it?

it gives a thumbnail of the item with the name and a little information, then when you click on it, it describes the item in more detail and also gives you the option in adding the item to cart, to a wishlist, or refer this item to a friend via email.

also when making a new account, its also very simple and user friendly.

If i could come up with something like this i would really like it, and i dont think it would be hard to customize it either.

-Rafael

One quick question, when i put picture of items on the page, what do you think would be better? JPG or PNG? i know that JPG is really small file size and quality not soo great, but it opens up really fast in webpages, so for people who have 56k modems its def better. But PNG is a little bigger file size, but quality is a lot better, but 56k modems would take a little more time to open the page with the item, so in the end what would be better in your opinion? Quality or Speed?

Oh, sorry, i forgot to give you the link to the site, here it is:

http://www.megagear.com/megagear_site/default_display.aspx

-Rafael

Proto

Send me pn or email me hostmaster@hostway.cc and I will lead you in details how to get into this.


Charbel Sarkis