Wordpress with Paypal?

[CheekyChappie]

I am in the process of creating a giftware brand, the products of which I plan to sell on Amazon to start with.

I also want to set up my own transactional website at the same time, in order to convert those who buy from Amazon.

I have an idea of the type of website I ultimately want, but my budget won't stretch that far until I get some sales under my belt.

Therefore to start with I think the best way forward will be a Wordpress site which allows purchases via Paypal.

Can anyone point out any flaws with this plan, or point me in the direction of more suitable solutions?

 

[Faevilangel]

2 major flaws:

1) WordPress - It is a cms and not an ecommerce system, which needs custom code to make WordPress run as an ecommerce site.

You need to be using a ecommerce system such as Opencart (free) or use a hosted system such as EKMPowershop which is £20 a month but they make the site secure and host everything for you.

2) Paypal - Using Paypal will kill your business, as they are like the gestapo, locking your account for no reason, letting users scam you and don't play by the UK rules (as they are based in Luxembourg).

Best bet, sign up for a hosted ecommerce system such as EKM, then use the credit card gateway. You won't need to deal with Paypal and they make sure you're site is running fine.

 

[j600com]

I agree with the above, Wordpress is not a good foundation to build an eCommerce site on. Plenty of other alternatives though.

 

[fisicx]

I also want to set up my own transactional website at the same time, in order to convert those who buy from Amazon.

Why would anyone buying through Amazon want to buy fro your site?

Amazon (and eBay) buyers are a different bunch to those who buy from 'traditional' websites. Getting them to shift from one to the other isn't easy.

 

[Cyborg Industries]

there are plenty of Wordpress plugins which will give you basic "sell on line" features, but they all fall short of being great and will be difficult to grow without scrapping everything and starting again.

Hosted shops such as EKMPowershop, although giving you a quick and cheap way to get going, may give you problems in the future when you want to start to personalise things as being a templated system is limited in design options, if you want more flexibility in the future and move to some other self hosted system at a later date, you're potentially going to have to start from scratch again.

I would look into an open source ecommerce application, we like zencart and Magento, even if you only manage to get a basic look to it (which is about where the templated systems get you, you can always hire a design company at a later date to spruce it up.

As for Paypal I've got no particular beef with them, we've used them for 6 years and have had no problems, I'll admit we only have a couple of hundred in our Paypal accounts at any one time. I also find people like to buy with Paypal, particulaly if your product is a "want" item rather than a "need" as they don't see money in their Paypal account as money that should be spent on bills etc. Even when given the option of secure card processor and Paypal one of our sites saw 99 times out of 100 the customer choosing Paypal.

 

[shopintegrator]

1) WordPress - It is a cms and not an ecommerce system, which needs custom code to make WordPress run as an ecommerce site.

I disagree on both points.


Tell me what a Content Management System (CMS) can do that WordPress can not?
If you've used any of the latest versions of WordPress you will see it is no longer just the domain of blogging, but is a full blown CMS, page management, menu management, page history and page versioning, multiple user roles, thousands of theme template designs, plugins that can do anything you need to exapand your site's capabilities.

I also think that WordPress websites make fine online shops with a variety of WordPress e-commerce plugins to choose from. Not all e-commerce plugins tie you in to the WordPress platform either. Take our WordPress ecommerce plugin, it allows you to easily turn a WordPress website into a shop using the WordPress dashboard page and posts editors and sidebars. As our e-commerce service is a hosted shopping basket add-in for WordPress, you can change your underlying website host or CMS and move your online shop e-commerce buttons and checkout in to your new site, keeping all your products, order and customer data with you.

 

[Websitehandyman]

Well first before you rule out Wordpress you need to know if it's suits your needs and I would suggest if you have less then 100 product pages then the is no reason to rule it out. The are a number of plugins but you can also just use the paypal code generated by paypal.

One thing for sure it won't cost you anything to find out.

As for paypal, it's not ideal but it also cuts costs to a minimum and in 12 years I've never had my account blocked but heard it happens.

 

[j600com]

I also think that WordPress websites make fine online shops with a variety of WordPress e-commerce plugins to choose from. Not all e-commerce plugins tie you in to the WordPress platform either. Take our WordPress ecommerce plugin, it allows you to easily turn a WordPress website into a shop using the WordPress dashboard page and posts editors and sidebars. As our e-commerce service is a hosted shopping basket add-in for WordPress, you can change your underlying website host or CMS and move your online shop e-commerce buttons and checkout in to your new site, keeping all your products, order and customer data with you.

If you still looking at WordPress for e-commerce please consider the ShopIntegrator WordPress e-commerce plugin in your search: http://www.shopintegrator.com/cms/wordpress-ecommerce-store-plugin.html

Can you provide some examples of 'FINE' wordpress ecommerce sites because all of the ones I have seen have been terrible (both in terms of front-end and back-end functionality in comparison to platforms built specifically for eCommerce).

I've seen CMS sites with a bolted-on store, but the implementation and end product is just that - a CMS site with a bolted-on store. And I'm yet to see one that could stack up to something built on the likes of Magento, Prestashop and so forth.

ps. I find (in life) you can bolt many things on to something to make it do something else, but when something is designed/built from the outset for a specific purpose it is usually far better suited than something which was originally built to do something else and then retrospectively had something bolted-on as an after thought. So if you want an ecommerce solution, get a platform built specifically for that purpose - not one built for blogging which can have an ecommerce module added to it.

 

[shopintegrator]

Can you provide some examples of 'FINE' wordpress ecommerce sites

I like these WordPress websites being used for e-commerce:

http://bykatherine.co.uk/
http://www.edenaromata.com/

 

[Faevilangel]

Can you provide some examples of 'FINE' wordpress ecommerce sites because all of the ones I have seen have been terrible (both in terms of front-end and back-end functionality in comparison to platforms built specifically for eCommerce).

I've seen CMS sites with a bolted-on store, but the implementation and end product is just that - a CMS site with a bolted-on store. And I'm yet to see one that could stack up to something built on the likes of Magento, Prestashop and so forth.

Totally agree, put this on another thread last night, but bolting a plugin into WP and then calling it an ecommerce site, is wrong.

You're relying on a developers code to be secure, and to be kept updated for a plugin which is free.

Use a dedicated ecommerce platform as it's built for the solution, while WP isn't.

I could make a killing buy making WP ecommerce sites, I get a lot of requests but I flatly refuse as I don't believe it's the best option and always recommend using a proper solution.

 

[shopintegrator]

You're relying on a developers code to be secure, and to be kept updated for a plugin which is free.

You get what you pay for. Use a paid for e-commerce plugin instead, this will give you support and maintained code. Our e-commerce plugin gives you a PCI Compliant and McAfee Secure (daily security scans) online shop as part of your WordPress website

 

[j600com]

Totally agree, put this on another thread last night, but bolting a plugin into WP and then calling it an ecommerce site, is wrong.

You're relying on a developers code to be secure, and to be kept updated for a plugin which is free.

Use a dedicated ecommerce platform as it's built for the solution, while WP isn't.

I could make a killing buy making WP ecommerce sites, I get a lot of requests but I flatly refuse as I don't believe it's the best option and always recommend using a proper solution.

I've seen people come here saying wordpress is good for ecommerce (those who sell wordpress ecommerce usually) then when asked for GOOD examples they go quiet. I've been waiting over 6 months for good examples on another thread on UKBF about it (and still waiting) Read the thread HERE and please feel free to update it with any GOOD (and I stress the word GOOD) examples of wordpress as an ecommerce solution.

 

[Faevilangel]

You get what you pay for. Use a paid for e-commerce plugin instead, this will give you support and maintained code. Our e-commerce plugin gives you a PCI Compliant and McAfee Secure (daily security scans) online shop as part of your WordPress website

Or just use a proper ecommerce platform that does 10x what any plugin will do and will be 10x better at it.

It's horses for courses but WP is a CMS, it's not an ecommerce platform.

 

[j600com]

Can you provide some examples of 'FINE' wordpress ecommerce sites because all of the ones I have seen have been terrible (both in terms of front-end and back-end functionality in comparison to platforms built specifically for eCommerce).

I like these WordPress websites being used for e-commerce:

http://bykatherine.co.uk/

http://bykatherine.co.uk

I rest my case.

 

[Websitehandyman]

Here's what you can do with one plugin, WP has moved on a lot recently but I agree for a full blown shopping site with say over 1000 products I would prefer cs-cart or the like.

https://shopplugin.net/blog/category/showcase/

 

[shopintegrator]

I rest my case.

Your statement as-is is pure opinion, as you provide no backing to your statement.

Or just use a proper ecommerce platform that does 10x what any plugin will do and will be 10x better at it.

Your statement as-is is pure opinion, as you provide no backing to your statement.

 

[Faevilangel]

Your statement as-is is pure opinion, as you provide no backing to your statement.

Experience my dear fellow, I have developed hundreds of sites with WP and a couple with your system, and it's always been crap, as you're making WP do something it wasn't built to do.

WP is a brilliant cms and I recommend it to all my clients BUT it's not an ecommerce software, never will be. Using a proper ecom system will pay dividends 10 times over.

 

[fisicx]

@j600com

Wordpress might not be the best ecommerce platform but many ecommerce packages are pants as well. I've yet to see one that has decent code. Most have appalling bloat driven by the needs to create a one size fits all package.

One example I've just seen had a 1Mb product page, structural tables, 110 images and 120 server calls. It also had very poor usability, failed HTML/CSS/Accessibility tests and almost non existant SEO.

Not what I'd call a good solution.

 

[shopintegrator]

Experience my dear fellow, I have developed hundreds of sites with WP and a couple with your system, and it's always been crap, as you're making WP do something it wasn't built to do.

Still opinion with no foundation to your statements. It is easy to say "I'm really experienced so trust everything I say", actually I want real is real reasons of what things you couldn't do that you needed to do, what was your budget to do the things you needed to do but couldn't.

As for you having used ShopIntegrator for a couple of your sites, I'd be interested for you to PM me your account logons as I suspect I will never get that PM from me and you won't be able to give me any valid logons.

 

[Faevilangel]

Still opinion with no foundation to your statements. It is easy to say "I'm really experienced so trust everything I say", actually I want real is real reasons of what things you couldn't do that you needed to do, what was your budget to do the things you needed to do but couldn't.

As for you having used ShopIntegrator for a couple of your sites, I'd be interested for you to PM me your account logons as I suspect I will never get that PM from me and you won't be able to give me any valid logons.

1) They are for clients who don't use the system any more
2) I delete the access info once I am done so no chance of me remembering or finding it.
3) 2 of the sites owners left as soon as the trial was up, and one continued to use it until they moved to a credit card platform.

Happy?

 

[shopintegrator]

1) They are for clients who don't use the system any more
2) I delete the access info once I am done so no chance of me remembering or finding it.
3) 2 of the sites owners left as soon as the trial was up, and one continued to use it until they moved to a credit card platform.

Happy? _________

No, it sounds rather made up to me. You are saying you have no records at all, such as the websites of clients you are talking about which you would have invoiced for the work you did for them, even if you don't have the ShopIntegrator account specific access details. PM me the websites, or have these strangely disappeared as well. If you're making it up, I suggest you stop now.

 

[Faevilangel]

No, it sounds rather made up to me. You are saying you have no records at all, such as the websites of clients you are talking about which you would have invoiced for the work you did for them, even if you don't have the ShopIntegrator account specific access details. PM me the websites, or have these strangely disappeared as well. If you're making it up, I suggest you stop now.

Why would I lie? I said your system was good, but you're on a mission to prove me wrong for some reason.

I don't see how I have to prove I have used your system as it's none your business and makes no difference.

 

[j600com]

Your statement as-is is pure opinion, as you provide no backing to your statement.

If you want me to publicly rip that site apart I am more than happy to but don't feel it would be fair to yourself or the site owner.

I based my opinion on high quality design, usability/easy to navigate, seo friendly, features/functionality and so forth) but it doesn't take an expert to review that site and come to your own conclusions on whether or not that is a fine example of an ecommerce site. We obviously have different standards and opinions on what is the basis of a good ecommerce site.

If I was a retailer and serious about ecommerce I'd not be happy with that site.

 

[fisicx]

I based my opinion on high quality design, usability/easy to navigate, seo friendly, features/functionality and so forth) .... We obviously have different standards and opinions on what is the basis of a good ecommerce site.

See my last post. What you think is a good ecommerce site is not what I think is a good ecommerce site. (Not endorsing WP for ecommerce BTW)

 

[CheekyChappie]

Thanks for all the replies so far.

I've seen plenty of Wordpress sites which look great and apparently it's great for SEO.

My initial plan was (and still is) to sell the branded items on Amazon, but have a 'proper' website to back it up with.

It makes sense to me if this website is transactional also, but I don't want the hassle and expense of setting up a merchant account and gateway to start with. Hence the addition of Paypal. Also have a link to product page for that item on Amazon for those who don't like using Paypal.

Once I get more funds I will be able to have the website I want with a merchant account but until then I will have to settle for the low-budget solution.

 

[Cyborg Industries]

if you're linking back to Amazon, don't forget to get an affiliate account, that way you can earn a few extra pennies, it's not much but every penny helps.

 

[fisicx]

My initial plan was (and still is) to sell the branded items on Amazon, but have a 'proper' website to back it up with. .

As I said in my last post, if they are buying through amazon then the won't be visiting your website.

If you want to attract non-amazon customers then you will be competing with yourself as the amazon product will already be ranking in the SERPs.

Unless of course you want to use Adwords. In which case you could end up paying more in charges than you were with Amazon.

However,

If you are determined to go down the wordpress route instead of an ecommerce application then get a theme with the payment portal already built in. You can pick these up for well under $100.

 

[CheekyChappie]

The products are giftware, and will have the website URL printed on them.

Therefore if someone receives the item as a gift then goes to the URL to see what else is offered, they have the option of purchasing the item from the website (and paying by paypal), or clicking the link through to purchase the item on Amazon.

I have toyed with the idea of a Facebook shop but I remain unconvinced by them for now.