Website setup help, please?

Question

I would love to set up a website to sell my art online. The problem is I have no idea how to do it. (Yeah, I know, I'm a fool, idiot, moron, etc. Okay?) I know very little HTML. Does anyone know of a site or program or whatever where a dummy like me can do this? I've emailed people who will design a site for me, but they all said I'd still have to learn HTML to get it up and running and then upload my inventory. This is all very confusing. I don't suppose there's any way to set up the site or have it set up and then just enter the items the way you do it on eBay? I'm clearly out of my league here. Please be gentle...

Answer 1

Hi, Alice -
Hey, first of all, you are not a fool, idiot, or moron. You're asking the question, right? A f, i, or m would be too dumb to ask.
There are lots of web hosting providers that include what are called "e-commerce" do-it-yourself setups. They do not require any knowledge of HTML at all. However, if you have no web design experience you may find that when you do it yourself it looks like you did it yourself. You said you've corresponded with people who were willing to design a site for you, so I'm guessing that means you're willing to pay something for the design. In that case, if you find a friendly designer who doesn't know you don't need HTML to upload your inventory and maintain a shopping cart, point them to this site: www.findmyhosting.com. You can search for hosting providers with all kinds of capabilities. My favorite one, where I host several sites, is www.qualityhostonline.com. It's very inexpensive (a few bucks a month).
All of the good providers have what's called a "control panel", and inside that you'll find a thing called "fantastico", which helps you install pre-configured scripts. There you will find a variety of shopping cart and storefront packages, all free!

Good luck!

Aloha,

David

Answer 2

There are several packages that would allow you to sell without knowing HTML. Many of them use an administrative interface that you as the store owner would log into, submit the images, and type a description, price etc, and then just hit "submit" much like you do here!

Get one of these packages and go for it.. many come with hosted sites. Our system allows setting up "oscommece"
http://oscommerce.com and several other online selling packages just for this purpose. Check with some hosting companies and see what they have for selling products.

You may still want to learn a little HTML (it isn't that difficult once you know a few basics) it will allow some flexibility that you may want. But certainly don't feel like you have to know that to sell items!

Good luck and good selling.

Answer 3

I have no practice on selling goods online, but still, I'm a webmaster too! I found these websites from where you can do a bit of research and create your dream site ;)

http://www.reason8.com/

http://www.mardiros.net/design-guidelines.html

http://www.buildwebsite4u.com/income/selling-on-internet.shtml

http://www.surfpack.com/downloads/14857/paypalstore.html

But remember, when you are registering some place, be careful to give your personal information. See if the page is secured(either an "https://" instead of "http://" in the link or see for a "lock" symbol in the status bar)

All the best!

PS: After reading the above reply, I came to my senses. There are paid hosts which allow '1 click installs' of e-commerce scripts/websites. For that, you need a host which has php and mySQL database support and a popular control panel called cPanel. Almost all the time, cPanel includes a one click installer called fantastico. This particular tool, fantastico, can install the following e-commerce scripts: CubeCart, OS Commerce and Zen Cart.

Here are 2 paid hosts which support whatever is required for this and the fantastico 'one click install' tool:

http://www2.web4host.net/
They charge you 14$/yr or ~1.16$ per month! The cheapest I have ever come across!

http://www.1to5.us/
They charge you 15$ per year at present (inclusive discount) and I've got some 3 sites out there!

Answer 4

I have used Zencart and OSCommerce, but they would be difficult for a beginner.

I would try http://www.vstore.ca

"100% Free, fully customizable, professional online storefront where you sell your own products and keep 100% of the profits. Unlike many other web store creation, management and ecommerce web hosting services this is not a trial or limited time offer. You can have your own free ecommerce solution, including a free sub-domain, free shopping cart, free ecommerce web hosting and free advanced ecommerce website design and creation tools. By using our simple yet powerful web-based online store customization, administration, and management tools you can be running your own professional ecommerce website and accepting orders in under one hour."

Answer 5

Do you currently use comcast? If so they have a sitemaker free for subscribers...

Answer 6

Let me know if you find out.