E-Commerce and Digital Download

[Kathrine]

Hi,
Im new to this site and found it during lots of googling.

I know a few people have threads but wanted to say what i have and what i need and see if i can get any advice or assistance.

I started a small business last year, i currently sell digital downloads for craft patterns via Etsy and some other 3rd party sites. I upload my templates, people buy them and once payment is made via Paypal or card, the template is then available for them to download. So it sort of runs itself.

I want to have my own website, so i have more control over layout etc. I purchased my domain a while ago and have trialled several different hosting sites but not quite got what i want out of them.

I don't want to be paying small listing fees or commission fees on each sale which is what i currently do. Im happy to pay a monthly fee but as I'm just starting out and have already reinvested most of my profit in supplies etc I'm not able to pay out the lump sump fees for some sites.

Im relatively good with computers but to be honest a lot of the website stuff is unknown to me, so am likely to need a website building package - here my issues lies as there seems so many to choose from ...

Some restrictions i have come across - Either i can't do digital downloads, there are large lump sum payments up front rather than monthly charge, there are restrictions on the amount of listings (i.e. big cartel has a limit of 300 on their biggest package, i already have over 150 listings as they are ongoing and new ones added regularly)

Any guidance gratefully received thanks!

 

[The Technician]

Hi Kathrine
I was in a similar position , and now have website that suits the needs of my business
You may wish to contact . carl at net design and host . Com

Hope this has helped
Kind Regards
Andrew

 

[emmawilliams]

I want to ask a question dear that how to grow and get business with our e-commerce site.Because am working on e-commerce site now a days. so am too much worried about this.

 

[antropy]

Either i can't do digital downloads, there are large lump sum payments up front rather than monthly charge, there are restrictions on the amount of listings

Look at OpenCart. It handles digital downloads, is free, and has no restrictions.

 

[Matt Thorpe]

Hi Kathrine,

You should be able to do this with Shopify and this free app: https://apps.shopify.com/digital-downloads

I haven't used it personally but the reviews on the page are from people who have digital only products.

Shopify is a great platform too. i use it a lot!!!

Matt

 

[emmawilliams]

Matt! It's great and very useful link you have shared.

 

[Faevilangel]

or WordPress & WooCommerce / EasyDigitalDownloads can handle digital sites, my personal preference is EDD but woocommerce is more common and has a lot more themes / plugins to extend it.

 

[fisicx]

^^Agree with Gareth, WordPress with a Digital download plugin is a cheap and easy solution and with thousands of theme to choose from you could have a great looking site up and running for well under £100. Or if you get someone to give you hand configuring everything ad a couple of hundred pounds.

Whatever solution you have to choose between spending weeks learning how to do it yourself or payng someone to do all the graft for you.

 

[Kathrine]

Thanks for all the comments so far, much appreciated I had looked at the shoipify and saw about open cart on another thread. Still undecided on (not sure of the correct term here!) which actual website to use, i.e. wordpress/wix etc. will look at EDD and WooCommerce now. Also to add to the mix I'm after affiliate abilities, so people that i use to promote my work can earn some commission too. Im not too demanding honest ;-) I just want to get it right