Hi everyone,

After reading all the posts here, I would like to confirm few points here:
I need
1. web hosting: linux or MS hosting? which one better? or any diff?
2. shopping cart: i will probably use OScommerce
3. paypal

Once I subscribe to a web hosting, I need to download, ftp and install the OScommerce by myself? (I know this may sound like a stupid question for some of you, sorry) or there's any webhosting co which has it installed already?

Thank you.

Hello Hong,

Linux hosting is the most common and you traditionally get it for a little less with possibly more features than Windows hosting. One would probably consider using Windows hosting if the shopping cart you want to use is wrtten in .ASP or .NET. You have chosen to use osCommerce which is PHP based and it can run on either Linux or Windows hosting. So I would recommend a Linux Host just for the sake of price and a possible slight performance advantage. If you choose a host that offers Fantastico it will make the installation of osCommerce easier on you. Most Linux hosts that havecPanel as their control panel software has Fantastico installed as part of the hosting package. Fantastico is a set of installation scripts that are designed to automate the installation process of some of the more popular Open Source software. And osCommerce is one of the shopping cart choices available in Fantastico. I hope this helps!

Dave :peace:

1) linux web hosting
2) SSL certificate for client security
3) PayPal or other payment gateway
4) shopping cart
5) advertisement online (AdWords, Search Marketing, SEO & etc.) & offline

Hi,

I would agree going with Linux over Windows is usually a better choice. If I was choosing a shopping cart I would go with Creloaded Oscommerce instead of just regular Oscommerce.

Creloaded is based on Oscommerce but gives you alot more features to work with. It may be an extra hassle to get a copy of it, download it and set it up but in the long run it will be worth the extra effort.

I've designed about six e-commerce sites for my clients (and other hosting companies) in the past eight months or so. I prefer using LiteCommerce which is a commercial PHP / MySQL solution from the makers of X-Cart. Of course OSCommerce works as well, it just boils down to preference.

As for hosting these sites are on a wide array of servers since my main business is subcontracting from other providers. However I can say this, although Windows Server 2003 can easily do PHP / MySQL in my experience with LiteCommerce it just doesn't run as well on Windows. With this in mind, if you're going PHP/MySQL you might as well go Linux.

For SSL certificates I use RapidSSL since they have a very painless signup process and for merchant accounts I partner with www.e-onlinedata.com (https://www.e-onlinedata.com/digisquid) who offers Authorize.net accounts. I think they charge about $79.00 to sign up and the other rates are reasonable as well. About the best I've found, really.

Good luck. :)

In my opinion:

1. Linux, definitely. For MANY reasons.

2. OScommerce is a good choice and pre-installed with many reseller hosting packages these days. For a step up from that, X-Cart and LiteCommerce would be higher-end solutions available on a commercial basis. And there are many other options too of course.

3. PayPal is fine to start. I have also seen many stores that offer a direct payment option via a merchant account in addition to PayPal as an option. That way you can capture the most customers possible... just be sure to keep your merchant account monthly costs to a minimum when you are first getting started by avoiding monthly minimum fees, gateway fees (if possible) and avoid any early termination fees if you can.

Hello,


or there's any webhosting co which has it installed already?


Yes, some web hosting companies are using osCommerce for their eCommerce website. You can PM me if you want to see how it works.

Ok...thank you for the reply everyone..

Another question, I understand the different btw dedicated and shared server but due to the first time setup, do you think I should go with share server web hosting instead of dedicated server at the start? Any good web hosting with reliable service would you recommend?

Thank you...

Hi,

I would start out with shared and would look to a provider that could give you want you need to upgrade as you go along. I would contact each provider you are interested in and see what they provide and if they will help you upgrade when that time comes.

Agreed. Always start out with the least amount of technical overhead. With shared hosting all you'll really have to worry about is making sure the site / e-commerce script is set up properly and running. The server itself is taken care of for you. Now once once the site grows you might want to look into a managed VPS and then perhaps eventually even a managed or unmanaged dedicated server. It all depends on how much power you need and how much responsibility you want to take on. :)

Ok....thank you for your suggestion. Any good webhosting co would you recommend? Like GoDaddy? 1&1? Are they good? Or any other recommendation?

Try Hostgator. com great place. been with them 3 years.

Steve

Hong,

Do yourself a favor and look thru this area:

http://www.webhostingtalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1

there are losts of post about the providers you just suggested.
Also use the search function in that area and search using the providers name as the keyword.

tumble

As many others have already recommend.

1. Linux Web Hosting.
2. OScommerce is great and I beleive it is free.
3. Paypal is great to use to start out as it is very simple. Another reason is alot of people would rather use paypal then credit card so this also let you accept more type of customers.

As many others have already recommend.

1. Linux Web Hosting.
2. OScommerce is great and I beleive it is free.
3. Paypal is great to use to start out as it is very simple. Another reason is alot of people would rather use paypal then credit card so this also let you accept more type of customers.

Definitely a *nix host; although it will work on a MS host there are sometimes issues depending on their setup.
osCommerce is indeed free
PayPal and PayPal Pro (along with a raft of other payment processers) are supported.

A lot of hosts will either install it for you or have a control panel install it. Personally I'd install the latest version myself.

osC is a good choice and good luck!

Iggy

I would suggest ZenCart (based off Oscommerce) as a solution. ZenCart is PayPal certified. However, read the feature list hard. Ask yourself if you need to customize the application to meet your needs. If the answer is yes, consider paying for a more robust shopping cart. Try doing a search for ASP Shopping Carts in Google and look at those as well. PHP is usually open source (and forgive me for saying so) sometimes the features are not there. You will definately find yourself hunting the OsCommerce site for "contributions", which are very hard to install. Its worth paying for a cart with better features, because customizing OsCommerce is a pain in the butt (I have used it a dozen times). I am now using ASP shopping carts and save money because I dont have to customize.

I would suggest ZenCart (based off Oscommerce) as a solution. ZenCart is PayPal certified. However, read the feature list hard. Ask yourself if you need to customize the application to meet your needs. If the answer is yes, consider paying for a more robust shopping cart. Try doing a search for ASP Shopping Carts in Google and look at those as well. PHP is usually open source (and forgive me for saying so) sometimes the features are not there. You will definately find yourself hunting the OsCommerce site for "contributions", which are very hard to install. Its worth paying for a cart with better features, because customizing OsCommerce is a pain in the butt (I have used it a dozen times). I am now using ASP shopping carts and save money because I dont have to customize.

Hi,

I don't 100% agree with this. If you go with the Creloaded Version (creloaded.com) of Oscommerce you have the benefit of already having alot of the Contribs you need already installed plus the community is always working on new updates too.

If you go the ASP route then I believe you will have to go with Windows hosting which can be less forgiving then Linux in ways.

1)
2) SSL certificate for client security
3) PayPal or other payment gateway

If your payment is going to be received with Paypal at Paypal's Website there is no need to purchase an SSL Certificate.

Hi,

I don't 100% agree with this. If you go with the Creloaded Version (creloaded.com) of Oscommerce you have the benefit of already having alot of the Contribs you need already installed plus the community is always working on new updates too.

If you go the ASP route then I believe you will have to go with Windows hosting which can be less forgiving then Linux in ways.


Creloaded has alot installed... which is good. Alot of the features though are not that valuable or basic stuff that we should expect. The last version of it I used has a template system installed which made it hard to customize. Keep that in mind. Again, the best advice I can give is to look hard at the feature lists. Pick your solution based on features, then ask your shopping cart company what host they recommend. Don't worry about platform (php, or asp/ .net). Because in honestly (and reality), if your not a developer, you will NOT know the difference. Your customers definately don't care.

Be willing to pay a bit for a robust solution that has free upgrades, because customizing down the road will be costly.

Look for something that supports Google Checkout because that may be a big thing real soon. They offer alot of incentives for cusotmers ($10 off) to shop through their system.

Look for a Cart that doesnt have a fancy template system, so you can customize it with some simple HTML.

Look for a cart that has order management features like batch processing and UPS/FedEx integration for label printing. If your successful you'll be wanting these.

These are all reasons why I switched from opensource. I dont know what you need, but focus on features.

If you go with the Creloaded Version (creloaded.com) ...

I went to this site since I had never heard of them, and don't get a good feeling. They don't seem very professional. Several of the pages won't load, and the 'contact us' link goes to a page with a revolked SSL certificate. Heck, these people are trying to sell ecommerce and can't get their own SSL cert right?

Hi,

I just visited http://www.creloaded.com and found everything to be working as it should including the SSL Cert on the contact us page?