Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Web Hosting : Online shop help!

[k_t_p_]

this is quite similar to the host below, but i'll ask anyway... I'm setting up a small online shop, to begin with selling around 50 different items, hopfully expanding to a few hundred. I have been completely baffled by all of the web hosting companies, and just dont have a clue what I need!
I know i need a shoping cart, the ability to sell by credit card securely, and the usual bandwidth, space etc. Can anybody PLEASE reccomend a hosting service that could provide this, as cheaply as possible? Or do you buy the e-commerce part separately to the webspace? thanks!

[ANMMark]

Well for the most part, many hosts already have shopping cart software installed and ready to use from your control panel. A merchant account, and SSL certificate is probably something you will need to obtain on your own, unless your host offers shared or private SSL ability. You would still need to obtain the merchant account on your own.

[webefex]

I suggest you do a search for recommended hosting companies. A couple of companies I have had done business with presently or in the past are:

icdsoft.com ::Great (some downtime, not much)
hostforweb.com ::Not so great (lots of downtime, server problems)
cybrisk.com ::Great (some downtime, not much)

And like idoogleceo mentioned most companies have what you need included in cpanel. I too recommend an ssl.

Hope this helps you out a little

[sprintserve]

Generally, as there are carts written in PHP/Mysql/ASP/CGI and so on, any hosts supporting them will be able to help you. Similarly, if you do get a third party payment processor or even Paypal, most have a shopping cart that you can use for free as well.

This topic has been covered quite often. If you need more ideas of what's required, I took out some threads for you here:

http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showth...ight=ecommerce
http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showth...ight=ecommerce

[ANMMark]

ahhh good point SprintServe.

That also brings up the point that many merchant providers offer secure, customizable order pages as well.