# ? ? ? I want a web page/hosting ? ? ?



## aunt fannie (Mar 7, 2009)

Hi all,

I would like my own website that I can sell items from. (TRYING desperately to leave EBAY)

I would like to know your opinion on web hosting sites. I, like everyone, want it all...... shopping cart, ease of use & great search engine results. I also want it CHEAP.... I wouldn't be listing more than 100-200 items per month.... I already have PAYPAL account.

Any advice on this or other ways to 'get out there' would be appreciated!

Aunt Fannie


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

Most any host will do for what you want. Search at Google for a free web template, then customize it for your needs. I suggest that you go with PayPal buttons instead of a merchant account, since merchant accounts have hefty monthly maintenance fees.

I offer high availability hosting with free phone support to HT members for $1/month. PM if interested.


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## L.A. (Nov 15, 2007)

I highly recommend Nevada! 

I don't think you can find a better deal or better service.
I posted a similar question a while back and gave him a try.
He phoned within minutes and talked me through everything.(Now that takes some doing with me!)

:thumb::thumb::thumb: Nevada

L.A.


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## Pearl B (Sep 27, 2008)

I got a domain name from go-daddy for I think $3.00/a year. They have a hosting service, its $10 a month. It has the SSL certificate & Im sure you can add the shopping cart. I sure hope so, thats why I got one. I havent got that far in building my site yet.

Its called website tonight. It allows you to build your site, has the templetes & stuff. Its basically a html editer. I think its sucks. I find it hard to use & navigate. Im not an expert either though. I got it for the hosting, the other is just what I consider a freebie.

Ive been building my sight with weebly.com. Its free, & pay. You can go either way. Its super easy to navigate & use. When I get it right there, I transfer it over to godaddy. If I would have know about it 1st, I might have gone with it. I dont know if they have the SSL certificate though. Ive got that already so I dont concentrate on that aspect of it.

Go-daddy does have excellent customer help/support though. I can call them 24/7 & get help.

You have to get a merchant account with someone- to do online business. I dont know about that, havent got there yet, so cant tell you much about that. I imagine it would be like e-bay in that you have to have the money to cover any purchase made from you, in case it winds up as a dispute & whoever covers the merchant account has to give the purchase money back to the customer.

I found it difficult to order from go-daddy in that they offer a bunch of stuff when you 1st purchase a sight. You have to be real clear about what you want. I over ordered a few things. They refunded the money quick when I called and talked to customer service about what I wanted. Plus when you buy your domain name, they offer you a bunch of different endings. .com,.net,.org,.tv, etc. I got the .com, 

Bottom line I got what I needed for $15 to start, & it will be $10 a month to keep the hosting.

The Website tonight comes with an instant page, but if you use that, it cancels out the build your own site. Its weird, its stuff like that, to me , that makes go-daddy hard to use.

I hope that helps.


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## Pearl B (Sep 27, 2008)

Nevada said:


> Most any host will do for what you want. Search at Google for a free web template, then customize it for your needs. I suggest that you go with PayPal buttons instead of a merchant account, since merchant accounts have hefty monthly maintenance fees.
> 
> I offer high availability hosting with free phone support to HT members for $1/month. PM if interested.


I will likely take you up on that offer next month.I have a few versions of my sight in mind, & that is an incredible deal :grin:


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

Pearl B. said:


> You have to get a merchant account with someone- to do online business. I dont know about that, havent got there yet, so cant tell you much about that. I imagine it would be like e-bay in that you have to have the money to cover any purchase made from you, in case it winds up as a dispute & whoever covers the merchant account has to give the purchase money back to the customer.


A merchant account is basically a bank account. Merchant accounts vary in features, but for a website you will need a payment gateway. The gateway is a web interface service (authorize.net being the most popular) where your shopping cart page directs transactions. You normally need to have reasonably good credit to qualify for a merchant account, and you can expect the monthly minimum fees for the merchant account plus payment gateway to be around $40/month.

If you use PayPal as a traditional payment gateway, the fee to use the PayPal API is around $20/month. However, you can use standard PayPal buttons with no monthly fees at all (only ordinary transaction fees). I always recommend that new web merchants start by using PayPal buttons to avoid monthly fees. If your online business ignites then you might consider a merchant account then.


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## Pearl B (Sep 27, 2008)

Nevada said:


> A merchant account is basically a bank account. Merchant accounts vary in features, but for a website you will need a payment gateway. The gateway is a web interface service (authorize.net being the most popular) where your shopping cart page directs transactions. You normally need to have reasonably good credit to qualify for a merchant account, and you can expect the monthly minimum fees for the merchant account plus payment gateway to be around $40/month.
> 
> If you use PayPal as a traditional payment gateway, the fee to use the PayPal API is around $20/month. However, you can use standard PayPal buttons with no monthly fees at all (only ordinary transaction fees). I always recommend that new web merchants start by using PayPal buttons to avoid monthly fees. If your online business ignites then you might consider a merchant account then.


Thank you!! I was wondering what the fees were. I want part of my sight to do an online local swap meet. We dont have a local craigslist per see. The one we have covers the whole county, & its a pretty big county.
Im thinking of offering a online consignment thing. I will definitely be getting in touch with you next month. I might just drop go-daddy.
Thanks Nevada, Im thinking through ideas & trying to define exactly what I want to do.

ETA: How hard is it to set up an online chat function. A small one, I dont think I would like something as involved as HT for example, just something for a small group of locals, basically.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

Pearl B. said:


> ETA: How hard is it to set up an online chat function. A small one, I dont think I would like something as involved as HT for example, just something for a small group of locals, basically.


Chat and forum applications are pretty easy to setup now. It used to be a lot more difficult when most of those applications were written in perl, but the more modern php applications are very simple to install & configure. There are lots of free chat and forum applications available in php.


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## Pearl B (Sep 27, 2008)

Nevada said:


> Chat and forum applications are pretty easy to setup now. It used to be a lot more difficult when most of those applications were written in perl, but the more modern php applications are very simple to install & configure. There are lots of free chat and forum applications available in php.


 Thank you, Im sending you a pm


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## aunt fannie (Mar 7, 2009)

Thanks.... Nevada, I will contact you after the Holidays!

I have got to get away from EBAY.....


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## ||Downhome|| (Jan 12, 2009)

Ive got a basic paypal business account and as far as I know no charge for the API. Just have to go into the profile and selling tools and select API access.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

||Downhome|| said:


> Ive got a basic paypal business account and as far as I know no charge for the API. Just have to go into the profile and selling tools and select API access.


I don't have a business account, only a personal premier account, so I don't know for sure. But that's what I've read. Check this out.

https://cms.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/marketingweb?cmd=_render-content&content_ID=merchant/merchant_fees


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## ||Downhome|| (Jan 12, 2009)

You can upgrade to a pay account but I have not. They do push the API feature on it too.
if you cant use the API I don't know why they would let you set one up unless its not full featured and only allows basic services.

I set up the Business account cause of the debit card feature. But playing around with presta shop I saw the API thing and thus found out I could set up pay pal with the cart.

haven't actually tested it. but do have the certificate and credentials.

when you set it up no mention of fees though?


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

||Downhome|| said:


> I set up the Business account cause of the debit card feature.


The premier account has a debit card. Are you sure that isn't what you have?


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## ||Downhome|| (Jan 12, 2009)

Business, they may of changed it since I signed up but I've had it a long long time


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## ||Downhome|| (Jan 12, 2009)

http://jaypeeonline.net/paypal/paypal-debit-card/

"Application Requirements:

PayPal user for at least 60 days
Should have Premier or Business account
Should register credit card with PayPal account
Account must be linked to bank account in order to be verified



Benefits:

Earn 1% cash back everytime you make a purchase (you have to be enrolled in the PayPal Preferred Rewards Program).
100% protection against unauthorized charges (fraud and theft)
No annual fees"

Its a handy thing, I haven't tried depositing with it but I think you can. have to check that out next time I'm at a ATM.


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## New Mexican (Jul 12, 2004)

Why r u getting away from Ebay? Curious!


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## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

Nevada, would you please post a couple of links to sites that you host? I'd like to see them.


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## nadja (May 22, 2011)

Nevada, I have to existing web sites already with yahoo. How hard would it be to transfer them over to your hosting ? Also, is your server large enough to handle a lot of web sites ? Mine are both quite large. Would also like to see a link to a few of your sites. 

Aunt Fannie. I have been using paypal on both of my sites for years. On one of my sites, I use the paypal "shopping cart" button, and on the other I use the reg paypal button. The reason is that I offer free shipping on my jewelry site so it makes it easy for my cart , while my other site , I need to charge shipping due to the weight of the petrified wood, and the variables. Since a cart combine price's and shipping, I would overcharge my customers many times over on multiple sales of the rocks. Some are small and some are large and can be combined


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## aunt fannie (Mar 7, 2009)

I have had a Paypal account for YEARS... I also have the card that you use just like a debit card.... I just need a website of my own so I can sell all my goodies. I am trying to get away from EBAY.... their fees are eating me alive. I put up with it UNTIL they started charging the sellers a % of the shipping we charge the customer....

I have some sterling flatware on there now, but until DEC 25, they are offering a 20% discount on Final Value fees.

I would also like to know of other venues you guys use to sell your items. Most of mine are yard sale/estate sale items.

Many thanks...........


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## nadja (May 22, 2011)

Aunt Fannie. I too sell on ebay or at least try to. When you open a web site, it may be a long time to get a following and also just to get high enough on the search listings to even be found. When I make a sale on ebay, I enclose a card with my web sites url's on them and explain how they will even get a better deal . But it works. Also the cart system on paypal is free, all you have to do is sign into your account on paypal, and click merchant and there it is. It can be complicated at first , but after doing it a couple of times, is easy. The hard part can be figuring out how to insert the button's on your web site. It is listed as a code on your web hosting / site builder generally. But not all web builders are created equal.


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