Hi all,

 

Next week I will be having a meeting with a good friend of mine who runs a trading company in olive oils and now needs a web shop to also sell his products to consumers (he used to sell B2B only via traditional offline channels).

 

Since I'm starting out in web design (see my previous posts here) I thought this would be a great opportunity to have a first project and learn along the way. Especially since the deadline will basically be "finish it before christmas 2011", I'll have lots of time to experiment and learn.

 

I have some questions regarding this project and hope you guys and girls could give me some advice:

 

- Since I have zero experience with shopping carts I would like a system that is relatively easy to set up and where my friend will be able to add/ edit products and descriptions. I think systems like Magento would not be needed since this shop will be relatively small (about 10 different products). Also, he is not the type of person who is interested in learning how to use complicated backend systems. The shop should be simple and do its work full stop.

- Payments preferably through paypal

- Also important; what should I charge him for this first project? The work includes custom design of about max. 10 pages, front end coding, integration of a shopping cart (or cms??) system, integration of PayPal, advising on hosting company and possibly doing some SEO work.

 

I would be glad to hear your advice!

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Cheers,

 

Leon

You can try tomatocart or opencart or u can simply add paypal buy now button below each product

Hiya,

 

its a common client misconception that not using a decent cart system will make an easier site... thats crap, if your friend is interested in actually making money online with growth he will be intrested in using a simple web system to manage it.... even magneto is not rocket science... if they can use facebook theres no reason they cant use a cart system.

 

since you have a long ETA for the project completion i would suggest following @owltd on twitter as we have a service in private beta right now that would be perfect...

 

as for price it really depends on the design, if you make a highly converting design the benefits will pay off sooner... maybe a small monthly to cover on going costs with a sales commission.

 

if you get stuck along the way feel free to PM me, i get a email instantly letting me know ive got one. for your info i run the technical & marketing aspect of around 20 shops running my custom made e-commerce software package, and quite often work as a consultant for other developers breaking into e-commerce for the first time... sometimes out of the kindness of my heart because i enjoy watching people grow

 

hope i don't sound pompous just trying to help

its a common client misconception that not using a decent cart system will make an easier site... thats crap, if your friend is interested in actually making money online with growth he will be intrested in using a simple web system to manage it.... even magneto is not rocket science... if they can use facebook theres no reason they cant use a cart system.

 

Hi Leon,

 

I would much agree with SniderDK, something need not be considered too difficult simply because it prepares a user for the future, such that functions and options are there when ever needed in the future.

 

I'm forever recommending Magento, so I'd be reluctant to change now, the reason simply is that it is the Wordpress of shopping carts, simple, clean but functional and easy to expand on. Templates on the other hand aren't as strait forward however with a year and a realistic budget even purchasing something off the shelf to tinker, modify or learn from wouldn't hurt.

 

As for teaching the client to using the cart or perhaps understanding it, we have helped computer illiterate builders and carpenters to run successful magneto shores with little hassle and there is plenty of help and documentation available.

 

Price being your last issue, personally I would ether use an hourly rate or fixed price, due to the nature of the client (friend) the latter would be the cost effective approach (for the client) however does not cover your time required to learn the respective material.

 

Thus my advice would simply fall on research, create a magento store and delve deeper into the code and setup, make a mock up or simply modify the theme and identify the layouts.. then estimate the time required to create a full design. Based on this make the judgement whether you are confident to meet the time requirements of a fixed price or if not is the client comfortable to pay you for your time (hourly rate).

 

As for the amount, browse off the shelve unique prices prehaps?

Edited January 16, 201115 yr by CSN-UK

Thanks all so far. Talking about Magento, I have heard some good stories about it. It all depends on what my friend wants/ needs (I'll hear that next week). I will definitely include Magento as an option, however cost of hosting may be an issue..... I learned you need dedicated servers for that.

 

Prestashop also seems to be a very stable platform so will consider that too. If all else fails, it would also be possible to simply create product pages with a product description and then add PayPal checkout buttons on the page to have PayPal do the checkout.

 

So I'm looking into all options.....

 

As far as pricing goes, now that you know more or less what the project will be all about, how much would you charge for that if I go for the fixed price option??

 

Thanks again!

 

Cheers

I will definitely include Magento as an option, however cost of hosting may be an issue..... I learned you need dedicated servers for that.

 

Magento doesn't necessarily need a dedicated or vps hosting plan, as this is dependant on the usage and the hosting provider you choose. For the most part a shared/ecommerce package often will be suitable (also consider SSL, thus dedicated IP's). (limited shared demo link)

 

 

As far as pricing goes, now that you know more or less what the project will be all about, how much would you charge for that if I go for the fixed price option??

 

As for fixed pricing anywhere in the £1000 to £2500 mark wouldn't be an abnormal price for a reasonable turn around for a professional and compliant theme. As for additonal services (training etc) £15/hour.

Edited January 16, 201115 yr by CSN-UK

+ 1 for magento

 

it is really easy to get started and adding products is a breeze.

 

Hosting for a sub-half-second load time should be in the region of £15 / month.

 

check out our demo store for an idea on response times

Thanks guys.....really helpful

 

now waiting to meet the client next week.

 

Cheers