I can understand. It's not too expensive though and it will probably save you money on the time to implement another solution. It'll make the purchase and the download easier, which I think is worth the $55.
I can understand. It's not too expensive though and it will probably save you money on the time to implement another solution. It'll make the purchase and the download easier, which I think is worth the $55.
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I would tell you from experience that you get what you pay for when it comes to carts. My Zen Cart was hacked twice so we ended up switching to a cart that we paid for......worth the money. I agree with vangogh......spend the money and implement the right one the first time. It does save time.
Welcome to the forum GirlyGirl. Yeah you do get what you pay for. I've worked with both osCommerce and ZenCart and wouldn't want to work with either again. I've also seen both hacked on more than one occasion.
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Agreed. If it's free and/or big name and popular, there is a hoard of hackers with nothing better to do than find the vulnerabilities and exploit them. It's a biggest bang for the buck sort of motivation. If you write a virus, make it for the PC because it will affect the most users. I steer people away from Norton and McAfee because there are a lot of infections out there written specifically to slip right past either one. It's the exact same principle, only in this case, we're talking about payment processing. That's a much more attractive target for the riff raff.
I'd be very reluctant to use the big name freebies. Even if you stay safe, it's a constant maintenance task just to stay updated with security patches. And logic tells me that many people will get hacked before the patches get produced and distributed.
I've observed that many people think they are safe because there are millions of web sites and their chances of getting targeted are small. That's a false sense of security because hackers can scan tens of thousands of sites per minute looking for specific vulnerabilities. If they automate their search, it's a fair bet they can also automate their attack. This all plays dangerously close to scare tactics, but the more you know, the scarier it gets. I know plenty enough to be cautious (and to recommend caution).
Steve Chittenden
Web design, graphic design, professional writing, and marketing.
"Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat." -- Theodore Roosevelt
I used to do that..."I'll upgrade to the better or paid version later" and it bit me in the butt a few times. Now, if I can't do it with the tools and options that I want and know that I need, I'll wait until I can afford the investment.
For something like your business, selling themes...you want the solution that is going to provide the functions that you need, and make you you look the most professional to customers.
You can't shortcut perception. If you are going to sell Wordpress themes, you should have the best Wordpress tools on your site, including a good shopping cart system...at least one that is equal to your competitors. One of the easiest ways to sell is to make it easy to buy.
Sometimes when you wait to upgrade to a more professional version of something...you know the attitude of "Let me see if I make some money first, and then I'll spend some more money on it"...you never get the chance.
Last edited by Harold Mansfield; 07-28-2010 at 11:51 AM.
Yeah, you guys are right.
I took a look at Steve's suggestion Shopp behind the scenes and I'll probably go ahead and purchase that shopping cart (it's the best one I've seen so far). It was specifically built for WP too, plenty of options and features to keep track of Customers, Purchases, etc. Even if I'm only selling a few themes.
Maybe I was just hoping there was a good free alternative due to the fact that my bills are starting to come due (a bunch of them) and there was something out there well coded that someone provided freely.
I am the first person to look for it for free or GNU, or GPL. I know where you are coming from, it's the first of the month for everyone, but, it is your business. You have to work it as if it is going to be a success from the ground floor up as much as possible. Where you actually take the money is the most important part of the whole darn shootin' match..you don't want to shortcut there.
I used to tell bar owners this all of the time, "How can you spend this insane amount to open and trust the whole thing on a couple of $250 cash registers? Taking the money is the most important part".
I also search for the free stuff too. Sometimes though you have to consider how much time you spend looking for an alternative to a pay option. I won't suggest Shopp is a perfect cart, but for $55 if you spend an hour looking for an alternative just to avoid the cost you've really spent more money in terms of opportunity. Searching for something else because you think there might be a better solution is one thing, but searching to save what you might charge for an hour of your time is another.
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Yep, very understandable to want to save a buck, but one of the benefits to this forum is having people challenge you and share their knowledge. I know it helps me for sure.
Steve Chittenden
Web design, graphic design, professional writing, and marketing.
"Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat." -- Theodore Roosevelt
I only didn't want to purchase it immediately because I had never heard of it before, and I had no experience dealing with any Shopping Cart programs (front-end or back-end). Also because I wasn't entirely sure that's the solution I wanted.
Previously, I started to build a simple one myself. All I have on my site though is a simple table for where the themes would be inserted. Then I realized I was going to need a lot more than a table and a few PayPal "buy now" buttons. And Shopp already comes with everything I'll probably need. (Except for the demo factor, I haven't quite decided how I'm going deal with showcasing my themes to customers yet, but that's an entirely different discussion.)
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