Best of Breed

[silklink]

Hi

 

I wondered what people on this forum make of this Wiki write-up on the comparison of eCommerce systems

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_shopping_cart_software

 

I set up osCommerce on my wife's shop website a few years ago, but had to close it (just the eCommerce that is) for various reasons. I'm now about to re-open it and I'm wondering if I should go with another product. Not just because of the Wiki article, but also because I don't see a great deal of support in trying to bring  together eBay, maybe Amazon, and osCommerce to do things like list products from osC to eBay and maintain stock control

 

What do you think?

 

[Harald Ponce de Leon]

Paul, each store is unique. Fortunately for you and for every store owner in the world, there are many choices you can look into to help get you started without costing you a cent.

 

If you need to consult a comparison list to make your choice, then the underlying technology doesn't mean squat to you.

 

If you ask what is the best solution on Magento's forum you will get Magento as an answer. If you ask what is the best solution on PrestaShops forum you will get Prestashop as an answer. If you ask what is the best solution on osCommerce's forum, read this:

 

try each solution out and go with your gut feeling. It doesn't cost you anything to download each ecommerce solution and see how it operates. In some solutions you can do things out of the box and in others you will need to install Add-Ons. Some ecommerce solution providers only offer commercial add-ons and some offer free add-ons. We have over 7,400 add-ons available for free.

 

Look at communities of each solution - where do you feel most comfortable in?

 

All this doesn't cost you anything. If you can't even install any solution, try a hosting provider that provides a free trial.

 

Wish you a great selling experience!

[Jack_mcs]

@@silklink I think it is also important to note that most of the results listed for oscommerce on that page are wrong. For example, it says Paypal Pro and USPS are not included and both internal and external site maps are not available. The latter, among many other mistakes on that page, are in the form of addons but the form makes it sound like they just aren't not available at all.

 

Regarding Ebay integration, there are quite a few addons for that. I don't use them so I can't say how well they work. You may want to ask in their support threads, or post a question about them in the general forum. For Amazon, their listings are not free so little has been done to write a feed for them since, though I think there is an addon for it.

[♥14steve14]

Harald is right when he says you should try all of your available options before settling on one. Most hosting today offers once click install on many products. Using this you can try each of the packages before making a final decision. You will then see how easy it is to do tasks, and can even make notes about functionality that is missing. Out of all the ones you try, oscommerce will have the least functionality available in the standard pack, but there are many addons available freely. Most other packages you have to pay for extras. get in quick before osc goes the same way.

 

There are several packages out there specially designed to link all sales channels, but you do have to pay for them which is no bad thing.