I have website that I am trying to add E-commerce features to. The two carts that I have as options free with the hosting package is Agora and osCommerse. Both of these take you out of the main site in order to access the shopping cart. I was wondering if anybody knows of a shopping cart that I can integrate into my existing website. Also, most carts that I have seen thus far want a monthly charge. Are there any that I can just purchase the cart upfront or are they all monthly. Thanks.

One of my programmers is working on a shopping cart that is integrated into your site and costs a one-time $250 set up and integration fee. It works with your existing merchant account and is highly customizable.

If you'd like, I can have him contact you with more information.

Hope this helps

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Sherice Jacob - Media Maven
Websites - Mascots - Slogans

I believe both x-cart and litecommerce allow you to integrate the cart into your site.

If your store is small, you can also use Mals ecommerce or paypal buttons on your pages.

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Watersweb Shops -- Affordable, customizable shopping cart solutions

It is possible to integrate the osCommerce shopping cart features directly into your existing website.

Keep your current website as it is. Then add a $content tag into it. That way your current website becomes your 'layout template' that osCommerce can use. Then you configure osCommerce to use STS template and the content of osCommerce will show up in your existing website in the position you placed the $content.

Do the same for $menu, $cart one at a time and configuring the display of osCommerce so it integrates seemlessly into your current website.

You should know how to debug HTML code and use stylesheets before you attempt to do layout changes for shopping carts.

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Loaded osCommerce Shopping Cart Software

I'm no expert but, here's what I recently learned... You can have a fully integrated shopping cart with software you install yourself on your website's server. However, your hosting server has to have SSL and you usually need to buy a security certificate which can range from $200-$300 per year.

That is why many shopping carts actually have the "checkout" page on their servers. Because in that case, you are using their shared SSL and you don't have to buy one yourself.

I am sure there are actual web designers here that are way more knowledgeable about that than I am.

From what I'be seen, many of the shared server shopping carts have a check out page that is fully customizable. So people wouldn't really know they were off your server at that point when they are checking out.

I Just started using http://www.securenetshop.com/sc_benefits.htm It has lots of features for the price.

My brother on the other hand (golf shop), uses EasyCart and bought the security certificate from his hosting company and has it installed that way.

Good Luck!

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Christine Kelly, Co-Owner
Ulti-Pet
Premium Pet Foods & Treats

A single root domain certificate can be had for $40-50 a year.
The cheapest available at this moment is $35 a year

Correct if your using osCommerce you need to add the appropiate contributions to do this. Currently PayPal and 2Checkout is supported. Your customers are taken to the
PayPal or 2Checkout site to insert their credit card and other vital information and after it is processed the processor returns control to your shopping cart for a 'thank you for shopping' screen.

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Loaded osCommerce Shopping Cart Software

"A single root domain certificate can be had for $40-50 a year.
The cheapest available at this moment is $35 a year"

LOL.. my hosting company wanted $300 for one! I'm glad I didn't buy it, thanks for the info!!!

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Christine Kelly, Co-Owner
Ulti-Pet
Premium Pet Foods & Treats

It depends on who is issuing the security certificate. some are worth the extra cash. As for commerce stores I've only inquired with Miva about cart systems. Free software is nice but when you buy software you usually get support which can be critical if something goes wrong with your store.

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http://mba-forums.com

Philip makes an interesting point I have heard before.

But this needs to be clarified free software is not the same as unsupported software. Many people confuse free and open source and the two are not the same.

The whole concept of GNU/Open source is based on providing support for a cost and the software source for free. A good example is Linux which most people are familiar with. You get various free desktop and server applications but if you want to modify and customize them then support may cost you money, similar projects like PHP and MySql are also open source and almost 'free' and have financially strong companies like Zend,TcX,SAP,HP and IBM supporting these products. Please visit these sites and check their partner information.

osCommerce is also open source and free, this allows you to buy support from a larger pool of talented programmers at a lower cost than from a closed source project. Check the forums for paid support.

I also want to point out that several companies are in the business of providing support for many open source projects like osCommerce, many of them are hosting companies because much of the open source requirements are related to eCommerce and this differentiates themselves from other hosting companies. So just because the product is free does not equate to it being unsupported. If the product is free and open source like osCommerce the reverse if often true. And yes, you will get support for your shopping cart if you select a company that provides the support for osCommerce shopping carts.

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Loaded osCommerce Shopping Cart Software

I like metacart. Just type it in google. You can customize it, but it is not secure and you need to have microsoft access. For a sample, goto www.landersgarden.com.