Should I set up my own shopping cart?

[arnold931]

I couldn't find a "I don't have a clue what I'm doing" area to post to, so I guess "General Questions" will have to do.
I maintain a website for my wife's business (kalico.com). She sells craft patterns. We are currently moving the hosting of the site to BlueHost.
We currently use another service to maintain the shopping cart. When customers complete their order, we get an email notification, log into a secure server, get the order and credit card info, etc. This shopping cart service costs $14.95 a month. From what I have read in this Forum, I can't beat that price even if I decide to maintain the shopping cart myself.
Does that sound right?

[Sonny]

I use Zen Cart which is available to install using Fantastico on your Bluehost site. There is also CubeCart and OS Commerce. All are FREE. Zen Cart has a great support forum. I use a PayPal business account as my payment processor for credit cards. Most shopping carts support multiple processing options. If you're a small business person like me, I sure wouldn't PAY someone to maintain a shopping cart. Just my opinion, of course.

[arnold931]

Thanks.
Does PayPal charge you per transaction or is there a monthly fee? If you go the PayPal route do you not need to buy a static IP address and SSL certificate that I have read about? Plus the cost of going with a bank like Authorize.net? Are your customers sent to the PayPal website, or don't they even know?

[charlesgan]

Thanks.
Does PayPal charge you per transaction or is there a monthly fee? If you go the PayPal route do you not need to buy a static IP address and SSL certificate that I have read about? Plus the cost of going with a bank like Authorize.net? Are your customers sent to the PayPal website, or don't they even know?

paypal only charge per transaction.
a small fraction of the sales amount will goes to paypal.
not require ssl or statis IP.

[Sonny]

The customer is taken to PayPal's secure site to complete the transaction. After completing their purchase the customer is returned to your site. It's a very easy and cost effective way for many to do business online. Plus you do not need a dedicated ip or SSL Certificate. Most shopping carts come with PayPal modules. You might want to look into Google Checkout also.

[Smoothice]

for your information, I just setup CubeCart in a matter of minutes on my domain thevoidnetwork.com. I am going to be selling advertising space on my other sites and I thought I would try to use a shopping cart. I signed up for paypal and did a test transaction and went perfect the first time.

Very easy to use and setup.

[arnold931]

Excellent!
Thanks everybody.

[pwillis]

PayPal rocks, and I have trouble understanding why everyone on earth doesn't use it. IMO, PayPal is the exception to the "If it sounds too good to be true" rule.

[charlesgan]

PayPal rocks, and I have trouble understanding why everyone on earth doesn't use it. IMO, PayPal is the exception to the "If it sounds too good to be true" rule.

why not paypal??
the chargeback is always a concern, merchant is not protected much.
paypal wont listen to what you said, resolution centre put customer in first place. ya, i got buyer once... took the product, and file a dispute. its total disaster.

last mth, for no reason, they not allow my account to accept payment. few emails to them get me nothing. And finally have to ask them to patch my account so i can continue using it. ya, they realise this can be patch and i am back to business.