Not Sure If osCommerce Is For Me.

[HondaPartsSeller]

I am looking for a shopping cart system to begin an online store. Right now I sell things on ebay and it has been successful. I was told that osCommerce is pretty good. However, I am having trouble just installing the cart system. I downloaded the file to my desktop, when I click on the folder it says it is corrupted. This makes me think that maybe this system isn't for me (I mean, I can't even install it!). My problem is I don't have alot of time to devote to figuring this out. Are there other systems out there that are more easy/straightforward to use? Or is osCommerce just as good as anything out there? I'm not necessary looking for a free system. I am looking for something that works with minimal headaches involved. Feedback would be greatly appreciated.

[♥Vger]

You could pay thousands of dollars for a commercial system that isn't as good as osCommerce.

 

What you've probably done is to download the .tar.gz compressed file and your computer doesn't know how to open it. Download the zip file of osCommerce and unzip it. They contain the same set of files, and are suitable for use on either Windows or Apache (Unix/Linux) servers. Some people think that they have to download the Unix compressed file if they intend using the files on a Unix server - but the files are the same and only the compression mode is different.

 

Whichever cart you choose you will have to be prepared to get stuck in and learn how to set it up, and then how to run it.

 

Vger

[Avec]

Jessica

I put together an osCommerce shop for my wife's business. Sounds like what you have going on - started on eBay, then thought that it could be taken to another level.

 

I looked at a number of different store options, and flat-out lucked into osCommerce. To be honest, I initially chose it because it was free and I wanted to plunk around before making a decision. It took a while to get the look close to what she wanted, but I found the software to be extremely stable, very professional, and far beyond adequate that every time I make a modification I am amazed that it is free.

 

This forum is invaluable in helping with problems, as Vger quickly examplified. When I began, I had some extra time and wanted to learn. I did not really have a good understanding of HTML, but once into it, I realized that it is really not that difficult. Not only did I not invest anything but time, I can quickly make any changes / modification / upgrades at an equally low price!

 

If you have any other questions, let me know. I recommend osCommerce to anyone I talk to that is thinking of an estore.

[cockeye]

I just got approached by a friend who knew I knew a little about the web and asked me to design a web site for her. She had sold exclusively on ebay but ws fed up with the charges she had to pay and wanted to have her ow site.

 

I found OSCommerce, and found it dead easy to install. I have had some minor problems, but the guys on this forum helped me out a lot.

 

You do need to have a basic knowledge of how a web site works, and of FTP'ing but once you have that the rest is dead easy.

 

The person has been quoted really stupid money for designing web sites, and I did it for hr for less than 10% of her smallest quote.

 

I have also been well impressed with the back end, and all the customisation options that are in there. It seems to be excellent, although we haven't actually gone live yet (hosts servers went down tonight) :(

 

It is an excellent piece of software that will do everything that a system costing thousands would do, and more.

 

if you need any help, plenty here will offer it I'm sure.