Hello all,

I know there are hundreds of posts like these, and I think I've probably read most of them. I'm looking for shopping cart software for a small shop I run selling CDs and sheet music. I currently use OSCommerce with lots of contributions installed, but I want to go to something more robust.

I've recently redesigned my site, and I'm looking for a system that allows me to use my own design. My informational pages already have everything I need on them, so I think it's redundant to have separate store pages with the same information. So I'm looking for something that will allow me to add "add to cart" buttons to my existing layout.

I've considered:

SecureNetShop - Looks like it has pretty much everything I need at a reasonable price. The eBay integration is a nice touch too. My concerns are using a shopping cart hosted on another account. When I shop, I don't like being redirected to some other unknown site to pay, but maybe that's just me. Plus, there's really no option to customize the cart to match my site. All I can do is add my logo. Finally, their testimonial page features a bunch of the ugliest looking stores I've seen in my life. Some of them don't even appear to use the service anymore, while others are completely screwed up. It just doesn't instill confidence.

ShopSite - I was about ready to sign up for this because it's gotten good reviews, and it does what I want. I don't have the money to pay $1200 plus to purchase the software though, and I find it pointless to pay for hosting on another account to use the software when I already have a dedicated server.

DigiShop - This is sort of what I'm leaning towards now, but again, it's a template-based system, which is not really what I want. It does have all the other features I want though, including an affiliate system, good reporting, SEO code, etc.

I've read about many other solutions too, but nothing just jumps out. Ideally, I'd like a shopping cart that's hosted on my own server, with the ability to use my own design (no templates). I'd like it to work with PayPal Website Payments Pro, have an affiliate program, offer coupons/discounts, be reliable, and relatively easy to use. What can you suggest?

Hello all, I know there are hundreds of posts like these, and I think I've probably read most of them. I'm looking for a system that allows me to use my own design

Most of the shopping carts on the market require programming skills. We worked with osCommerce and it was very difficult, sometimes impossible, to customize design. Or, if you later change design of your web site you need to change codes of the shopping cart because design also sits in the code.

Just an opinion about customization osCommerce.

I have reasonable programming skills, so that's not an issue. With those template-based shopping carts, you'll end up with separate product pages for each product. I have an informational site that later added a store, so my informational pages already have what I'd need on a product page. That's why I think it's redundant to have separate product pages in my situation.

Is there a good quality shopping cart system that runs on your own server, lets you use your existing design, and doesn't cost more than $500 to buy or $50 per month?

www.jshop.co.uk just comes in within your budget.

- html templates based using a tag system so you can arrangeyour layout however you want
- hosted on your own server
- inbuilt affiliate system
- coupons/discounts

www.jshop.co.uk (http://www.jshop.co.uk) just comes in within your budget.

- html templates based using a tag system so you can arrangeyour layout however you want
- hosted on your own server
- inbuilt affiliate system
- coupons/discounts

used before and recommended

used before and recommended

Thank goodness for that, I though I was the only one on this board :)

Thanks for all the suggestions. I've looked at them all. I've decided on all of my requests. Not all of them need to be met, but I'd like to get as close as possible. Jshop wouldn't work because of the PayPal integration.

Requirements:
- PayPal Payments Pro Integration
- Affiliate Program or compatibility with IDevAffiliate
- Quickbooks Integration
- Full customization to match my site

Would be nice:
- Product Review module
- eBay integration (I'm probably dreaming here)

I've narrowed it down to DigiShop to PinnacleCart at this point, though I'm still open to more suggestions. Thanks!

Have you looked at SunShop (http://www.turnkeywebtools.com/products.php?p=sunshop&s=features) Shopping Cart? v4 is coming out soon - Great Cart IMO.

I think the only thing its missing is ebay integration, and PayPal Pro but that is coming in v4 (http://www.turnkeywebtools.com/forum/showpost.php?p=11810&postcount=1).

X-Cart is pretty cool...

Hello all,

I know there are hundreds of posts like these, and I think I've probably read most of them. I'm looking for shopping cart software for a small shop I run selling CDs and sheet music. I currently use OSCommerce with lots of contributions installed, but I want to go to something more robust.

I've recently redesigned my site, and I'm looking for a system that allows me to use my own design. My informational pages already have everything I need on them, so I think it's redundant to have separate store pages with the same information. So I'm looking for something that will allow me to add "add to cart" buttons to my existing layout.

I've considered:

SecureNetShop - Looks like it has pretty much everything I need at a reasonable price. The eBay integration is a nice touch too. My concerns are using a shopping cart hosted on another account. When I shop, I don't like being redirected to some other unknown site to pay, but maybe that's just me. Plus, there's really no option to customize the cart to match my site. All I can do is add my logo. Finally, their testimonial page features a bunch of the ugliest looking stores I've seen in my life. Some of them don't even appear to use the service anymore, while others are completely screwed up. It just doesn't instill confidence.

ShopSite - I was about ready to sign up for this because it's gotten good reviews, and it does what I want. I don't have the money to pay $1200 plus to purchase the software though, and I find it pointless to pay for hosting on another account to use the software when I already have a dedicated server.

DigiShop - This is sort of what I'm leaning towards now, but again, it's a template-based system, which is not really what I want. It does have all the other features I want though, including an affiliate system, good reporting, SEO code, etc.

I've read about many other solutions too, but nothing just jumps out. Ideally, I'd like a shopping cart that's hosted on my own server, with the ability to use my own design (no templates). I'd like it to work with PayPal Website Payments Pro, have an affiliate program, offer coupons/discounts, be reliable, and relatively easy to use. What can you suggest?


There are a lot of reviews of commercial and 'free' shopping carts on Hotscripts:

http://url.vg/hotscripts/5a2452

Good luck in your searching.

A new comer you might have not looked at is http://www.cs-cart.com

Give Miva Merchant 5 a try. Miva Merchant 5 (http://smallbusiness.miva.com/products/merchant/mm5/ ) This should be everything you're looking for in one product.

www.mals-e.com (http://www.mals-e.com) lets you use whatever design you have, static or dynamic content, all you do is place "Buy" buttons on your website. They basically host the shopping cart. I have not looked at whether or not you can customie the checkout in order to give it the look and feel of your website.

It does support paypal pro.

regards,
Learner

P.S. There is a way to mask the url in the address bar to where it always has your domain name there, so that combined with the possible change of the look and feel of the checkout will give you what you want.

yes try x-cart, they have a demo on their website, its not free but its really good shopping software which lets you set up the shop to meet your needs... www.x-cart.com (http://www.x-cart.com)
they also have their own forum, a lot of people are there to help you ...

Thanks for all the suggestions. I looked at all of the ones that were suggested. I've decided to give DigiShop a try, and so far, I'm glad I did. I like the look of Pinnacle better, but what it brings in marketing tools and nice layout, is overshadowed by the features it's missing (gift certificates, affiliate program, and advanced template customization). If they were priced equally, I probably would've gone with Pinnacle, but at double the price of DigiShop (when you include buying IDevAffiliate), the decision to go with DigiShop was made easier. I'll let you know how it goes!

Test cubecart.
It best.