Starting an e-commerce site.

[lolage]

Not quite sure what im going to sell yet but im definitely interested in starting one.

Firstly what qualities do i need?
Do i need to know HTML+CSS?
Do i have to be of a certain age to start one?

What is the start up cost? Running costs? What program to run it?

How do i get stock in the first place?

Any e-books?

Thanks, Ben.

 

[Visage]

Cant help but think you're putting the cart before the horse here. Decide what you're going to sell, start off small with something like Paypal and then, if you're succesful, move on to things like a merchant account.

 

[Ladforce]

Dont you have to be 18 to have a paypal account?

 

[Inquisitor]

I have to agree with Visage here… work out what you actually want to sell, start off small, and if it picks up then start thinking about expanding and making your own website.

And yeah, 18 or over for a Paypal account.

 

[FreeStream]

I started my acc when I was 16.

So I doubt it really matters

 

[Stretch]

"I have a plan. I'm going to become a dot com millionaire"

"Don't you need a good idea before you become a dot com millionaire?"

"It is a good idea… All that money… I'll be rich"

 

[K.C. Leblanc]

How do i get stock in the first place?

Easiest way is to add hot water to a crumbled oxo cube.

Seriousely, there are many things to consider. It's not just about the web site. There are many ways to go about it and you could even get a company to develop and run everything.

If you wanted to build your own e-commerce site you would deffinately need to know HTML & CSS. You'd also probably need to know some sort of server side scripting to interact with a database.

 

[Vai]

I wouldn't bother with a website. I certainly would not trust a brand new company with a website no one has heard of.

You would have more luck selling through eBay. Although you need to have something to sell first.

 

[Stretch]

If you wanted to build your own e-commerce site you would deffinately need to know HTML & CSS. You'd also probably need to know some sort of server side scripting to interact with a database.

If he wants to start really small scale he shouldn't bother with a database and hardcode everything as HTML. This is always the best way forward in the short term for a one man company. It will dramatically reduce you hosting costs, development time and also give you a better idea about how to develop the site on larger scale with backend db etc in the future.

The key is to keep everything very simple and don’t invest lots of time developing something that scales to be a multi million £, international site from the off set. The idea might not work, and even if it dose the requirements will have moved on so much that you need to redevelop it anyway.

Just get a copy of dreamweaver and start. The one thing it would be worth investing in is a decent design from a professional graphic designer. This will give your site a certain amount of legitimacy without spending too much money.

 

[blade007]

I don't necessarily agree, although I do in part. Keep it simple at the start.

I'll be doing a small ecommerce system, to sell say 15 products. Might seem a bit overkill for Zen Cart with a PayPal gateway but the company wants to add more products later if successful and wants a simple order/ invoice system.

So Zen Cart it is.

People recommend OSCommerce but I like Zencart and can work on its template structure easily.

 

[gord]

Not quite sure what im going to sell yet but im definitely interested in starting one.

Firstly what qualities do i need?
Do i need to know HTML+CSS?
Do i have to be of a certain age to start one?

What is the start up cost? Running costs? What program to run it?

How do i get stock in the first place?

Any e-books?

Thanks, Ben.

You do realise this is effectively a business you are starting?

 

[kilvano]

Phase 1: Start website

Phase 2: ?????

Phase 3: Profit

 

[paulsheff]

"I have a plan. I'm going to become a dot com millionaire"

"Don't you need a good idea before you become a dot com millionaire?"

"It is a good idea… All that money… I'll be rich"

 

[boycee]

IMO, anyone who starts out trading online not on "the well known auction site" is mad.

With the ease of searching and traffic you'll get through it, I'd suggest starting there.

Then once that proves to be a success you can then branch out to have your own hosted website, even then I'd imagine it would take a while to match the trade you'd get through the auction site.

 

[SooTyLaD]

IMO, anyone who starts out trading online not on "the well known auction site" is mad.

With the ease of searching and traffic you'll get through it, I'd suggest starting there.

Then once that proves to be a success you can then branch out to have your own hosted website, even then I'd imagine it would take a while to match the trade you'd get through the auction site.

+1

it would take a ridiculously long time to match the visibility your products would get on the auction site...

 

[lolage]

Originally i was going to use a dropshipper. Would i still do that with eBay?

 

[Tican]

Originally i was going to use a dropshipper. Would i still do that with eBay?

Even more reason to use eBay !!

 

[LazyManc]

Phase 1: Start website

Phase 2: ?????

Phase 3: Profit

Heh, exactly what I was thinking