the start-up cost for e-commerce

[kstan1122]

I have a plan to start up an online store in the UK and I need some guidances on the start-up cost (from web designing to website maintenance).

I don't expect to earn any profit for the first 6 months, so I wouldn't want to spend too much money for the first 6 months but will consider to invest more after six months.

Is there any problem for me to use US service companies since I will be operated in the UK?

Many Thanks

Andy

[Rich]

As with most all things, how much you spend on payment processing services will depend on many factors. For U.S. companies, I usually recommend planning on spending about $200-$500 to get things setup and about $25-$40 per month with most of the monthly costs offset by your gross sales. Note that this is for your e-commerce portion only and does not include the costs for your website, shopping cart or other software.

You should seek a payment processor who is located in your country. It is very difficult to obtain a U.S. account without U.S. residency. If you search, you should find many UK solutions.

[kstan1122]

Thanks for the information. How about internet hosting? Do I have to look for UK company? Is there any problem if I use FutureQuest's service?

I didn't know that I have to buy shopping cart and other software. What kind of software do I need? How much do I have to pay for shopping cart?

Let's say in total if I set aside $1,000 for start-up cost, it should be able to keep my online store running smoothly, is that right?

It is really cheaper than opening a real shop.

Is there any other thing that I have to be aware of?

Andy

[phppete]

I host a UK ecommerce site here and I am developing another 2 which will be hosted here when completed.

First of all I wouldn't host any site I am connected with anywhere but here, I also strongly advise my clients to host here, if they host elsewhere then they do so at their own risk. FQ IMHO is *the* place to host, scan this forum for reasons why :)

Cost is as Rich has stated.

You need a web site and a method for people to add items to their shopping basket, that can cost anywhere from nothing (by using open source solution) to £10,000 if you pay a web design agency.

You accept payments by using a payment processor to handle real time CC checks. Some that I believe don't require a merchant account are World Pay www.worldpay.com , they handle payments for you but they do hold your money for so many weeks.

The ideal method is to set up a merchant bank account at your bank, Barclays have some excellent solutions so visit their web site and do some research/reading.

If you have a merchant account with a bank other than Barclays then look at www.securetrading.co.uk and www.secpay.com, there are others but these two are the most reliable from my experience.

At the low end of the scale you can use PayPal and setup a PayPal shopping cart.

What are you selling? This is an important question, if it is jewellery or software then its important to use the correct solution because jewellery and software attract every fraudster online, they somehow smell you a mile off and order with cloned/stolen Credit Cards. This is why real time processing is important so you can decline orders that are not address match and security code match.

You also need to be realistic about what you are selling and the current competition. Setting up your online shop is the easy bit, getting customers to it and then getting them to buy is more difficult. If you are selling something that anyone can sell such as jewellery, web type software (e.g templates, php apps) you have to stand head and shoulders above everyone else and of course you then have to learn about search engines, marketing e.t.c.

Give us more info and perhaps a break down of your requirements then myself and others can give you more specific information.

Rich who replied to you handles the Secure Certs for FQ, and he also has some excellent PGP tutorials which helped me (thanks Rich :)). So that takes the mystery and stress out of that part of setting up your online store.

Pete

[kstan1122]

Thanks Pete.

When you mentioned about your client, what kind of service do you provide?

I am planning to set up a website to sell my graphic design collections. Since I have a full time job, this is just part of my interest and a starting point for me to get to know e-commerce. As this is not going to be a multimillion dollars business, I wouldn't like to commit a lot of money on this website but would like it to be presentable.

I will still prepare to folk out around $500 as a start. Please let me know if it is unrealistic.

[phppete]

When you mentioned about your client, what kind of service do you provide?

I'm a web developer, concentrating on PHP/MySQL applications including ecommerce solutions. $500 would probably be on the lean side, it would depend what you want though.

Unfortunately I am fully booked until the end of September, I have 4 main clients, web designers, who out source to me so I have a constant flow of work along with some personal projects.

Take a look at www.oscommerce.com (free open source) or www.x-cart.com (commercial).

I tend to create solutions for clients whose needs aren't covered by off the shelf carts.

Do you have a portfolio, sometimes I need logos and other graphics, so if you have some examples let me know, it may lead to some work for you.

Pete

[kstan1122]

Thanks for your detailed advice.

I don't have a portfolio because I am not a professional graphic designer. I earn my living by working as an accountant.

I have an interest in graphic and would like to take this interest further.

[kstan1122]

I tend to create solutions for clients whose needs aren't covered by off the shelf carts.

Pete [/i][/COLOR]

What are their needs that aren't covered by off the shelf carts?

[kstan1122]

Take a look at www.oscommerce.com (free open source) or www.x-cart.com (commercial).

Pete [/i][/COLOR]

I have checked out on the websites that you suggested. Both of them are very much sufficient for my business. I reckon x-cart provides more administration tools than oscommerce, is that right?

Andy

[phppete]

Originally posted by kstan1122:
What are their needs that aren't covered by off the shelf carts?

Usually stuff like discounts based on multiple items purchased from certain ranges, ability to set delivery times and dates for specific items, stock control based on SKU and product options and not on the base product.

Front end design of these off the shelf carts is often difficult to change, that is why you can spot an oscommerce site a mile off, same goes for x-cart.

Search engine optimisation is also a major consideration as is content and data caching to ensure that MySQL isn't queried on every page view when the content doesn't change from week to week.

Another problem with off the shelf carts is options, a product that has multiple options such as shoe, lets call it 'Red Shoe', this may be available in 7 colours but each colour has various permutations of width fitting and size fitting. Unless you create a new product for each colour you are stuck. With custom solutions you can overcome these common restrictions.

It is faster creating a custom solution than hacking about some elses code and when the site you have recreated requires changes, because I have coded it all myself I can quickly make modifications, add on modules e.t.c.

Another problem can be when a client requires a wholesale site that needs to automatically talk to another database and automate ordering from the clients wholesaler. There are unlimited situations where a cookie cutter solution just doesn't cut it.

Another point worth mentioning is security, oscommerce earlier versions are easy to manipulate, I have managed on 5 occassions to find out for my clients how many customers each competitor who uses oscommerce have registered just by causing an error when registering which shows the last insert id of the customer table, therefore you know how many customers they have.

Custom made solutions don't have their code exposed for every hacker to look through and find security holes.

[phppete]

Originally posted by kstan1122:
I have checked out on the websites that you suggested. Both of them are very much sufficient for my business. I reckon x-cart provides more administration tools than oscommerce, is that right?

Andy

Not sure I don't use them but I have looked at them. X-Cart is a solid solution from what I have heard but you are best doing your own research on google groups e.t.c

Demo both of them and see which best fits your requirements.

HTH

Pete

[vanguard]

I know this site that provides Ecommerce hosting and costs less than $10. And you don't even need a Merchant Account. Take a look here:
http://www.sirunet.com/