Can anyone recommend a reliable and inexpensive web hosting company that offers ECommerce solutions for a home based business?
Clarification added March 1, 2008:
I am an open networker - please feel free to send an invite
Good Answers (1)
Bob,
To simply try out selling stuff on your own site.. get a free or low cost blog and use a solution like BlinkCart (http://www.blinkcart.com/) or RightCart (http://www.rightcart.com).
If you want more features I would check out GoodBarry (http://goodbarry.com/) and Shopify (http://shopify.com) to see if they meet your needs.
If you would rather host your own store (e.g. get more into the details which is often overkill for many businesses) then I would look into an open source solution like Magento (http://www.magentocommerce.com/) which you will have to host. On the Magento site you can find information about what hosts are best for the Magento solution.
Links:
More Answers (29)
Simplex Computer Professionals provides affordable solutions in web site design, web development, web hosting, ecommerce solutions, search engine optimization and web site maintenance. Stop by wour site simplexcomputers.com or email us at info@simplexcomputers.com and I'll get you a quote. No Hassle
www.webmasters.com
www.1and1.com
Michael V
Director, Digital Ad Operations and Innovation at Transcontinental
Best Answers in: Internet Marketing (1)
Bob,
I do not dole our recommendations easily, but I do not hesitate to refer my friends to great companies I have had good experience with.
I have been a customer of Hosting Metro for several years, and have been extremely pleased with the service. They are not the cheapest, but the hosting is feature rich with a control panel and fantastico, a collection of great best web software, including eCommerce systems, CMS, Blogging, Email marketing, and more.
Service and support has also been excellent. Check them out.
Links:
Rein M
director at Granny's Wereldberoemde Appeltaart
Best Answers in: Using LinkedIn (4), Facilities Management (1), Mentoring (1), Personnel Policies (1), Staffing and Recruiting (1), Professional Networking (1), Starting Up (1)
They should be able to help you out on your request and what's even better, they have very reliable systems (never down in the last three years) and are surely not expensive. The CMS is very easy to understand and even easier to work with. What you see is what you get.
Despite we haven't been able to translate our website, you can take a look at www.grannys.nl and go to 'webwinkel'. There you will find the webshop adn take a look at the different items. We make and adjust at any time and rally isn't a minute work to add new products e.g.
Good luck and if you need a demo, just mail me at management@grannys.nl Kindest regards, Rein
godaddy is the best. stay away from 1and1. .they have horrible tech support. godaddy has the best tech support and are really helpful.
Bob
I have used site5.com for a while and they are pretty good.
Gary
Juha H
COO - TELLUS International Inc.
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We do taylored solutions at a reasonable price range.
juha.harkonen@tellusinternational.com, let me know what you are looking for.
Debra G
Creative Development and Implementation
Best Answers in: Business Development (1), Branding (1), Industrial Design (1)
Yahoo's Small Business segment is worth a look.
Links:
Belle D
Executive Recruiter-Accounting & Finance Cell: (818) 481-1296 Office: (818) 992-7676, Ext. 231 belle.daily@ajilon.com
My husband always raves about dslextreme.
Randy K
eCommerce, eBusiness, online innovation
Best Answers in: E-Commerce (8), Web Development (5), Job Search (1), Blogging (1)
I have the exact OPPOSITE opinion regarding GoDaddy and 1and1. My experience with 1and1.com has been very good. My experience with GoDaddy was "one of those days" where you wished you had taken up farming instead of a tech career. I'll spare you the details--I got over it.
Just so you have one more vendor to pick from - the guys at Applied Tactics have a good suite of add-ons like e-commerce that can be hooked into a web hosting package. They can also do website design. Good, but not discount rates.
I have used bluehost.com, godaddy.com and ICDSoft.com for web hosting in the past. The only e-commerce solution that I have used in the past is the eBay spin-off, prostores.com.
PROS: quickbooks integration, ebay integration, ease of use, free trial
CONS: limitations on presentation, additional cost for any customization
There is no shortage of ecommerce hosting top 10 lists(http://www.webhosting-features.com/ecommerce-webhosting.htm, http://www-thehostingchart.com/?type=pm&kw=ecommerce%20hosting&cid=723833467&igojo=1&mej=406&gclid=CMCf27mxrY8CFREDWAodlTI6Og, and so on), but I question their independence at times, and they often integrate thee same generic shopping carts that might not fully meet your needs.
Globalsystemsconsulting.com
Ebay Prostores, hands down is the best option. They have over 500,000 customers using their eCommerce Solution.
Links:
Jason W also suggests this expert on this topic:
Yes, contact Chris at cyu@studioadvent.com. He's a friend of mine and can cut you a great deal based on your needs.
Links:
Peter W also suggests this expert on this topic:
Rose B
Owner, Peak Performance Business Strategies and Professional Training & Coaching Consultant
Bob,
I don't easily recommend either but have used the following company for all of my clients and have had outstanding results. She is exceptionally reliable and thorough, you will recieve personal hands-on attention. She can handle your web hosting as well as ECommerce.
Links:
Sue S
President at Training Insights, Inc. and Associate for Contacts Count
Best Answers in: Career Management (1), Using LinkedIn (1)
I use hostway.com
good luck.
Sue Schnorr
Heartily recommend Brinkster. No gimmicks, just reliable web hosting with numerous options.
Links:
Gwendoline L
International Online Advertising & Marketing Director, Customer Acquisition
Go Daddy
I have used Aplus for the past 3 years. Standard price is around $8 per year on a domain name and you do not need to attach it to a hosting plan right away. This is one of the reason why I paid a higher cost on the domain name. Hosting plans seems to be competitive and I have not had any problems with them.
Links:
http://www.theschafergroup.com/
Excellent service, top notch web designers and very good maintenance and support too.
Joseph L suggests this expert on this topic:
Michael Likens is a web designer is the owner of a web design house that's got numerous years of experience web development and working with web hosting services. Give him a shout at michael@gopixel.com - he can give you the "low down" on the hosting services. Happy Hunting
Mark L
Chief Technology Officer, Strategic Advantage Technology Solutions - Specialists in e-Business and e-Commerce
Best Answers in: E-Commerce (3), Web Development (2), International Law (1)
Bob, a number of home based businesses, and some larger ones too, utilize our My EZ Agent ecommerce solution - this is completely turnkey and is FULLY PCI compliant. Please note that even small home based businesses are not immune to tighter regulations - your hosting and ecommerce store should be secure and PCI compliant. Our servers are hosted in a secure, certified data center and unlike the majority of commodity hosters out there, your site is not being shared with tens of thousands of other sites doing goodness knows what!
Best regards,
Mark
Links:
Hi Bob you are going to get 1000's of answers and there are many good organisations that provide a fully hosted service for eCommerce. We run eCorner which provides just such a solution so yes we are bias. We operate from Australia but have customers in many countries. Please take a look at our websites. Being in Australia we are strategically very safe and cost effective. We use a world leading technology, ePages, which is amazing in its capability and is used by 10,000's of businesses.
Links:
dreamhost.com
Frank B
Senior Engineering and Operations Manager offering expertise building and leading high-performing technical teams.
Best Answers in: Education and Schools (1), Web Development (1)
A couple considerations:
1) Avoid the overselling nature of a lot of the cheaper hosting providers. 100gb space and 2tb for $3.99/mo is not where you want to host a serious home based ECommerce site.
2) Be upfront about your needs and ensure your hosting provider can grow as your needs change
Fused Network (http://www.fusednetwork.com) has been a great web hosting company to work with. The staff is very personal about the service they provide which you just can't find from larger providers.
Links:
Joe R
Experienced Usability Executive & Speaker specializing in UI/Web Design and Evaluation, Marketing and Strategic HR
Best Answers in: Direct Marketing (1), Internet Marketing (1)
Pragmeta Networks recently partnered with R.L. Nelson and Associates. Pragmeta offers hosting and web development solutions (including ecommerce). I've known Bob Nelson (founder) for many years and he's wonderful to do business with).
Check out their site at http://www.pragmeta.com/
You can mention Joe Rotella from Delphia Consulting sent you to them.
Joe
AN HOSTING has a great deal. 5.95 for month (500 GB) and commitment is only a year. It is regularly cited by multiple hosting reviews resources.
