Passing the savings on to the peoples ...

June 18, 2012 5:50 AM

Is there such a thing as a free, no-frills online store?

I'm looking to sell a small number of items -- a couple of CDs, a poster, and a t-shirt in the appropriate number of sizes -- on my Web site. I've been unable to find a simple, free way to do that. Am I high for even thinking one exists?

posted by troywestfield to computers & internet (9 answers total)

List them with a Paypal button: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_singleitem-intro-outside

You would only have to pay Paypal's fees.
posted by michaelh at 5:56 AM on June 18, 2012

Processing credit cards, and the security requirements involved with doing so properly, cost money. So it's hard to offer this truly for free.
posted by primethyme at 6:17 AM on June 18, 2012 [1 favorite]

I'd be OK with Paypal. The store aspect that appeals to me is the cart -- that people could pick two shirts and a disc and not have to click back and forth between the site and Paypal repeatedly.
posted by troywestfield at 6:24 AM on June 18, 2012

Definitely explore the PayPal option. They allow you to create an inventory for what you have to sell and have a cart for the buyers' items.

I used PayPal to create a honeymooon registry on my personal website, where people bought us "experiences" by adding them to the cart, and PayPal tallied them up and charged them at the end. It worked out perfectly for us.
posted by bwilms at 6:32 AM on June 18, 2012

The add to cart page.
posted by jsturgill at 7:01 AM on June 18, 2012

I think ShopLocket fits most of your needs. Not free but not expensive either.
posted by samhyland at 7:06 AM on June 18, 2012 [1 favorite]

I much prefer Google Checkout (now part of Wallet, I think?) to PayPal. There is also Amazon Payments.
posted by Medieval Maven at 7:15 AM on June 18, 2012

For free you can use Google checkout in combination with Google shopping cart. If you're less technically inclined, you can use those via their checkout store gadget . However, even the gadget isn't as straightforward to use as Shopify.
posted by RichardP at 7:18 AM on June 18, 2012 [1 favorite]

ZenCart is pretty bare bones and free. You'll need to watch a few YouTube vids to get up to speed but it works.
posted by bkeene12 at 9:13 PM on June 18, 2012