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Stobbs45

  • #1
    hey, I am thinking about setting up an e-commerce website selling specilist clothing. ie t shirts etc. I have my business plan wrote out nearly and now thinking of how to make a website, design it and host it. I have little ICT knowledge and my idea is to :

    get BT business broadband with fixed IP address = £35 a month
    Bt web hosting with e-commerce = £25 a month

    But this would be £60 a month to get website up and running!!!

    This comes with a WUGIWYS software, should i order this then build a website or anyone have any other companys or ideas how to create a website?

    Whats the best way to go about making and hosting a e-commerce website??

    Would love any help or advice Thanks Peter
     
    B

    BusinessRookie

    Free Member
    Mar 25, 2010
    149
    23
    Cheshire
  • #2
    Why use BT when you can shop around and save much more? BT provide wholesale services to many other operators so in theory you're still getting the same infrastructure except it's being "white labelled" to other businesses.

    XLNtelecom have a broadband package that would be £20 cheaper per month than BT and

    Godaddy dot com (who provide services worldwide and sell in pounds sterling) have amazing top of the range hosting for less than £10 per month including a free SSL certificate, 1000 email addresses, unlimited storage, unlimited bandwidth and a dedicated IP address is an additional £2 per month.

    Get away from BT. They rely on people who have used them for the past 20 years or more to stick with them for life. They are no longer the best, or most reliable.
     
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    H

    HFServices

  • #3
    There are many free ready made ecommerce webscripts available, Zencart and osCommerce to name only 2.

    These can be hosted on any webhosting account that supports php and mysql.
    As for broadband, your basic home broadband should be enough.

    Post on the hosting section of this forum and somebody will be able to provide hosting at around £6 month for an ecommerce site, and some may even offer to help you setup your site.
     
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    S

    Stobbs45

  • #5
    hey thanks for replys, not even sure what that link is about Rob thanks anyways thou. I am finding it so hard where to start. Think ill look through all the past posts for advice. Just need a WYSIWUG web programme to make my website and someone based in UK to host it. Need a static IP address so needs business broadband as I have residential at the moment with dynamic IP :(

    Has anyone on here set a website up from scrath and if so what programme did you use to design the site and who hosts your e-commerce website?
     
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    L

    Leo-InstallingIT

  • #7
    Hi

    Are you sure you actually need a static IP address? There's obviously nothing wrong with having one, but if your just going to be editing your hosted website you won't really need one.

    You can go for the subscription services such as BT's ones, and for starting up alot of people find it very usefull. However others prefer to a package which they setup on some hosting, as you usually have more control over changes & design.

    On the subscription side have a look at openmindcommerce - I've never used it personally but know many on this forum who have.

    Another option are opensource packages such as OsCommerce, Prestashop etc. These are free and you would just have to host it. However you would probably need to spend a bit of money customising it to your needs.

    If you going to be selling clothing will you need many "specialised" components (customisation, size / color attributes etc)?

    I hope this helps,
    Many Thanks

    Leo
     
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    shopintegrator

    shopintegrator

    Free Member
    Apr 22, 2009
    379
    76
    London, UK
  • #9
    I am thinking about setting up an e-commerce website selling specilist clothing. ie t shirts etc.
    Click to expand...
    How many products are you intending to have for sale on your website? (the answer to this will mean some solutions are more suitable than others)


    Will your specialist clothing be very high value, exlclusive items where you don't expect to sell a high volume?
    (the answer to this could make certain payment gateway [credit card processing] suggestions more/less appropriate)

    Do you have any requirements as to how to process debit and credit card transactions? For instance, you may use PaPal to take payments online where customers who don't have a PayPal account can pay you using debit or credict cards. There is no monthly charge or set up costs and the initial per transaction charge is 3.4% (reducing fee as your sales increase). However, you may already have a business bank account and want to have a merchant account with them to take online payments, paying the set up costs and monthly charge to get a lower per transaction fee.
     
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    FreelanceSoftwareDeveloper

    FreelanceSoftwareDeveloper

    Free Member
    Sep 14, 2009
    1,556
    348
    Barrow-in-Furness
  • #10
    If the business is home based, regular broadband should be fine. That's what I use with a 3G dongle as backup.

    Hosting would be around £5/month, SSL £15/year if requried, then get an Open Source cart installed and customised template from around £200.

    So for the cost of 3-4 months with BT you could have your own store configured which much lower ongoing costs.

    It depends a lot on what you are expecting from the business but BT sounds like an overpriced unnecessary hosted solution.

    Feel free top contact me with further details if you would like a quote for an eCommerce solution.

    What kind of specialist clothing? I wholesale Designer Clothing such as Ed Hardy, Firetrap, Armani, Evisu, Sonetti to name some of my current stock. All guaranteed authentic from the proper channels, PM me if you want to be added to my mailing list, website coming soon.

    Matt
     
    Last edited:
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    L

    liams7

  • #11
    Why do you need a fixed IP address? Are you looking to host the site your self?

    Why not just get a hosting package from some one like www.names.co.uk.

    If i was you i would talk to a web development company to find out exactly how these things work.

    You need so much more than to just put a £200 website up im sorry this isnt great advice.

    If you want to make money how are you going to advertise. Its not something that is easy to do. Are you looking at PPC to drive people to your site or Social Media to gain trust?

    You need to look at web presence and how you will connect with the customer. There are hundreds of sites out there that are selling t-shirts. Bespoke or not.

    You need to understand the market and also the technology a little more first.

    I would talk to a Digital Agency in your area if you can find some one who will sit for an hour with you just to explain how things work.

    We have to help alot of our clients when they start out so they can understand how these things work. Its not as easy as you might think to setup a succesful ecommerce site.
     
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    C

    computer emporium

  • #13
    Peter


    look for a profesional hosting company the free ones are great if you are confident in web buiding and FTP

    But they don,t provide the support when things go wrong ( and it will happen)

    i use a company in glasgow for my hosting where a friendly voice is at the end of a telephone to help if required.

    most hosting companys only want to comunicate via a help desk

    if you need any advice drop me an email

    Jim
     
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    Ian Mac

    Ian Mac

    Free Member
    Feb 8, 2010
    99
    9
    39
    Bridgend
  • #15
    have a look on moonfruit.com to host and build your own website. its brilliant and cost effectve and very easy to use... HOWEVER it is flash based which makes for little benefit on search engines (it does offer feature to help with that though)

    As for business broadband/line rental

    i work for JL Data (www.jldata.co.uk) just so that u can go about getting more quotes if you need them.

    if you want me to check the availabilty of certain speeds and bandwidths in the area you are in, let me know.
     
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    E

    ecommerce84

    Free Member
    Feb 24, 2007
    1,145
    434
  • #16
    I think you are confusing your web host and your broadband. Your broadband can be a dynamic ISP, but your web hosting will be fixed. Your hosting is a totally seperate issue to your broadband and can (and should) be hosted away from your ISP (as dedicated hosting companies give a better service for less).

    Someone else recommended godaddy who are good, I personally use compila as I have used them for years without a problem.

    You will also not want to create your own website design. Trust me - get a decent design made for you. You will not achieve a good enough design with a WYSIWYG editor if you don't know how to use it properly.
     
    Upvote 0
    L

    liams7

  • #17
    ecommerce84 said:
    I think you are confusing your web host and your broadband. Your broadband can be a dynamic ISP, but your web hosting will be fixed. Your hosting is a totally seperate issue to your broadband and can (and should) be hosted away from your ISP (as dedicated hosting companies give a better service for less).
    Click to expand...

    What? Dynamic ISP, Think you meant IP address.
     
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