We are interested in becoming less Ebay dependent and start are own e-commerce website.Because we only have basic computer skills the options are:
1.Pay someone to setup the site for us.
2.Use one of the online programs to launch our site.

We are leaning towards doing our own with one of the online programs but are not 100% locked into this plan.One concern is payind a designer to setup the site will lead to ongoing costs.(expanding product lines,changing prices, etc)

Can someone who has been down the path we are headed make some suggestions?
1.Which route would you go?
2. Do you have a suggestion on a program you like?
3. Pros and cons?

Many Thanks!

Hello i would be happy to share any knowledge i can with you but you are unable to pm i assume if you can pm me im in the UK and im also on msn let me know if i can help Thanks Bren.

I would personally go the route of doing it all yourself. It's not really that hard as long as your willing to dedicate your time into it, especially if your planning to profit off the website, dedication/patience are the primary keys to a successful business. I find it to be a lot harder to pay someone else for work your unsure your going to need to have done...Do your home work, take your time in the thought process department, which leads to a great idea. I would run it as a paypal business to start, then if you do well financially, then apply for your own merchant account.

Good luck!

If you sell the same products day after day it can be as simple as an HTML based site.

There is also a ton of free (GPL licensed) scripts out there that you can use. Those may not have the flexibility you desire, but they are a great way to test the water.

The biggest problem either way is where do you get your traffic? Ebay may very well be cheaper than Adwords since you only pay for results on Ebay.

The last thing I would do is pay a designer to set up the site. You need to know how it works or you will pay for life.

Think it through before you jump.

Originally Posted by Fragrances

1.Pay someone to setup the site for us.
2.Use one of the online programs to launch our site.

1. You'll have a personal and custom solution
2. You'll have a secure and constantly tested (for bugs) solution.

We are leaning towards doing our own with one of the online programs but are not 100% locked into this plan.One concern is payind a designer to setup the site will lead to ongoing costs.(expanding product lines,changing prices, etc)

This is why you should think about what features you want before giving the go-ahead to the web developer. You already have e-commerce experience with ebay so write down why you want to depart from ebay and what features you would want to enhance the user experience. From the list you will be able to get quotes and not worry about extensions for basic stuff although with that being said; It's 2010 and basics are usually covered by now (shipping options, user accounts, guest purchasing, newsletters, multiple images per product etc).

I disagree with Brian to some extent when he says 'do it yourself' - A DIY website should really only apply to brochure websites such as a personal trainer or an event but something like an e-commerce website should be done with expertise at hand otherwise you'll be the virtual equivalent of a shop opening in the middle of some countryside.

Brian is right in saying you'd need time and dedication but that is a serious amount of time and dedication. If you're a store owner and you handle suppliers, price watching, stock, customer service etc - then a DIY e-commerce experience will dilute your services in other areas and you may not see results for a while. I guess it all depends on your business and approach.

Set aside a budget, write down what features you want, put some money aside for SMM/SEO and get some quotes from web developers and also speak with those e-commerce subscription packages - There's no harm in asking about. You'll know when you find the right solution!

I suggest you to hire a web developer if it is really about business.
Or if you think you can do it I suggest to use wordpress and some web cart software.

I would just pay a designer and have him teach you to maintain the website.

as usual it depends

I would suggest a combination of approaches

pick an inhouse web guru - charged with selection of outside consultants and implementation maintiance of new site.

60% time committment until implemented then 20-50%

inhouse - set expectations - what do want - then narrow to need for first stage.
this is based on
Basics
less than 1000 products -
gross sales less than $10K per month
can deticate one 1/2 time person to web work

In-house decisions -
blog / website frontpage or cart front page
wants - dropship, e-mail campagin, affiliates, integrated shipping, owned / leased system -

Select 3 or 4 websites that you would want to imitate for the look and user experience.

RECOMMENDED FOR MOST - skip the wants if they are included in best system great if not fine. Get own hosting on shared host and own the software with full sourcecode.

Rating systems - Front-end - modern design, good menu system, with easy to follow css styling; add to cart and mini cart display on each page, good menu system.
back-end - basic cms ability - good seo design, codefree create informational pages, good and easy to use product entry and editing, image management, product import and export, editable customer notification, sitemap and product feed creation (google base,shopping comparision sites). SSL support

Usual job spec.
recommend 1 to 3 systems that meet basic requirements
provide access to back-end demo of recommended systems
after system selection - assist in selection of hosting / domain selection and registration,
Install system with standard frontend. add 10 products and 2 info pages.
work with inhouse staff traning to edit and add products and info pages.
Finalize - system selection
Propose template design,
modify, approve and implement.

Setup paypal, google checkout and credit card gateways

Project done

Typical system - php and mysql based = wordpress frontend - zen cart backend
easy to setup and use, lots of support and freelancers. covers basics well, good starter kit.
( blog/website customer landing page over cart is my personal preference )

Driving adequate traffic to the site is another issue. Don't plan on quitting your day job (ebay) soon.