which is the better shopping cart program? as far as customization, community support in case i need help programming it, and has support for most of the third party credit card processing gateways.

is it like comparing a lexus vs bmw where they're neck and neck in features or is one clearly better than the other?

thanks for reading.

Well I would not choose Miva because you need to have that software installed on the server.

osCommerce can be on a Windows or UNIX server with no problems. As long as you know coding, osCommerce can be customized pretty easily.- although I am not a programmer, I just rely on them to do it :)

Oscommerce is too old to use it, X-cart is times better, have a look at it. Anyway I'd choose OSC not Miva Merch.

oscommerce all the way. Its free man.

Zen cart is also free, and times better!

That is right.

For customize, oscommerce is the best, it is very flexible.

PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DO NOT USE MIVA.

Oaky, sorry for the caps, but Miva is a crappy program. We give Miva accounts on one of the packages at the hosting company I work for and it is nothing but a pain... People always have trouble with it.

Not only that, but their backend navigation is the most horrific thing I have ever seen.

OSC also has many troubles inside you know..Anyway thousands of merchants use it.

they are the largest shopping cart for a reason. additionally, they charge a premium compared to the free carts such as OSC and the like. you would think having to pay for it would impact its market share, but that would not appear to be the case.

don't get me wrong. i'm new to this whole thing, but i have been using Miva for a year or so. it isn't the best, but none are. it appears that 5.0 is a giant step in the right direction. no more need for OpenUI, easier customization, and much more. additionally, there are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of modules to help improve Miva.

now, if anyone can provide anecdotal reasons (beyond "this one is better than Miva") for not going with Miva, i would be most appreciative. i have a couple of different domains hosted with different hosts. these domains have Miva, OSC, Mambo (and the plug-in cart available for it), and a few others. i am in the process of redesigning my website and cart, and i would really like to have some good information so i can make an informed decision.

I think oscommerce is the best choice here but if you don’t prefer it then go for Zen-Cart which is based on OsCommerce and much easier to work with.

I have experience with a couple of sites that I started from scratch using Miva.

I would say that choosing a web host that specializes in Miva is essential. That way you won't have to buy the Miva software yourself. For hosting you can expect probably around $40 to $50/month. From the two sites I've done, I would estimate approximately $1,000 to $2,000 in add-on modules. Both of my sites cost a bit over $2k and have in the neighborhood of 20 to 30 modules purchased from 3rd party vendors.

Depending on the functionality you want for your site, you would probably could get away with significantly fewer modules.

For Miva hosting, I use Hostasaurus....and they've been the best I could hope for.

My next ecommerce site will use OSCommerce or one of the other carts mentioned in this thread, just because I want to be able to compare them to Miva.

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OSC rocks boat. I setup about 10 osc sites

I can honestly say that Miva 5.0 is a decent program. The original Miva (4.x) was not that great because of the way it handled data (no real database support). The new one, however, is much nicer and a lot more stable. The frequent data crashes are a thing of the past and I think that they have made significat progress.

Compared to OSCommerce, Miva has the upper hand for me because with a valid license you have access to a very well informed support center (in America) that will help you solve your problems and get you rolling, something that OSC doesn't have.

Then again, you have to pay for Miva, but what's $500 for a shopping cart if you have a good business plan and can expect to pay for it in a month.

Just my .o2 cents.

Oscommerce is our preference too.