Need help doing Ecommerce

I am a student that does web design for extra cash. I want to add ecommerce to what I do. How do u go about this? I need full advice. Are there things online to make my job easier, ssl, database, no database...Just help. I need a full walkthrough from client discussion to launch

Saying "I want ecommerce" is pretty much like saying "I want a website". There is never one single be-all-and-end-all solution. Ever.

As some very basic steps, you will need to:

1. Find out what the client wants
2. Find some software that has those features
3. Install that software
4. Do whatever modifications are required

That's really all there is to it. I'm sure it could be a lot more involved, but there's no way to give a lot more information without knowing what you actually need.

Well, I have found free solutions to almost all my more advanced areas of web design. I am just wondering where to even begin looking for this particular one. I have a meeting with a potential in a few days. They want to sell products online that they make. At first, I think paypal and using the make-a-button that gives you html code, but then as I move deeper...I get overloaded with SO MANY solutions. Any ones in particular? and how does the cc payment actually work??? sending info from my db to them? Their servers pick up and take control? Sorry to be vague, but I have never actually tackled a LIVE ecommerce site. As far as programming goes, I have exp. It is just...I truly am ignorant about how to do this.

The solutions that you use will be what relates to your client and what they can use. I'm sure that they will want to use a particular payment gateway and delivery methods, so those are the ones to research.

If you want something that is pre-built, I would suggest Magento as it's about the most highly-regarded e-commerce system around at the moment. Be warned that it is a resource hog and can take a lot of configuration to get it to look and act like you want it to.

All e-commerce systems work in pretty much the same way though. They offer products, have a cart, take payments. Like I said in my first reply, there's no way to tell you anything more then that. In particular reference to your question about how credit card payments are made, that to can be done several different ways depending on the gateway that's used. Some gateways have you redirect to their systems to complete payment, others do the processing in the background, and others let you deal with it yourself. Like I said, you need to figure out what you actually need to use because that is where you will find your answers.

Once again, I am sorry that I am being so vague. Let's just say, for lack of an actual situation, I give you this hypothetical: This client wants to have some items that they will sell...maybe 25-50. They are plain, but the buyer will type their initials and also select a color. My client will then customize this item they have advertised and ship. My client will need to be able to add/remove items, and edit pricing. They will also need to be able (obviously) to view all purchases and addresses so they can do business accordingly. This client already has a merchant account. So...do it through the merchant (how will i communicate my cart items to get the right amount of $ from buyer's cc...or will merchant pick up on their end?). or...do it through third-party LIKE paypal? Also security and ssl? Will these merchants provide forms, take-over, etc? How secure will my end need to be? .....am I making it harder than it has to be? Also...full description of this scenario playing out, if you can.

Okay...I have opencart setup on my local computer. Any thoughts on this particular one? It looks insanely easy

OpenCart is the same as most of the older e-commerce scripts. They are all not to bad to use, and the UI isn't to bad. However they can be a nightmare to skin properly. Some are better then others, and I have to say that I still haven't found anything that's as easy to skin as a Wordpress or Drupal site. I haven't tried OpenCart myself so I can't comment on that one.

I have used Open Cart and it gets the job done.
Only thing, I haven't tried the other CMS such as Magneto, Prestashop, Digistore, etc.
Maybe there is something better.

One thing about Open Cart, is that most of the free themes all look alike. So many times I have to go into the backend and play with the css, php, tpl coding.

Owning several e-commerce websites myself, I can say that what I look for the most, and I know others who are the same, are people that can make modifications in the e-commerce CMS I use. That's the main thing.

And modifications don't mean just visual changes, though usually initially there is a lot of that. The more you customize, the more errors you can run into.

Thanks for your info guys!!!

Ecommerce Web Development | Ecommerce Development

There are open source ecommerce platform. Opencart, oscommerce and Magento. Try these

Well, we need to find where are our customer and what they want first. That make us think more clear to do the next step.