Pros & Cons of bringing web development in-house? [more inside]
posted by MeatLightning on Oct 9, 2009 - 9 answers

How could a wiki be used by a small retail business selling tangible products? [more inside]
posted by webhund on Sep 28, 2009 - 9 answers

If money was no obstacle, what complete eCommerce solution would you deploy for a medium to large online company? [more inside]
posted by simplesharps on Jul 29, 2009 - 3 answers

Looking for a very simple cart solution for a very simple business. [more inside]
posted by bink on Sep 4, 2008 - 2 answers

What are the best books/sites for learning the necessary web design and dev tools for an e-commerce site? [more inside]
posted by JJ Jenkins on Jul 15, 2008 - 6 answers

I've been tasked with finding an e-commerce consulting company to help guide us (we are a wing of a fortune 500 company) through the entire e-commerce process. Not so much creating it necessarily, but more guidance/consulting. My google-fu is yielding all fluff. Ideally, looking for "Company X helped Barnes & Noble switch to an online storefront" type of info, so I can back up any suggestions I might be able to make.
posted by cha4 on May 13, 2008 - 9 answers

I am having trouble finding a e-commerce software that releases products at specific times of day (I am looking to get as granular as down to the minute). Anyone know of an ecommerce system that has such a queuing/scheduling system? We'd prefer to buy than build it ourselves! [more inside]
posted by imbecile000 on Apr 10, 2008 - 2 answers

Simple e-commerce solutions. I have a fully built site, with individual webpages pointing to specific product items. I simply want to add a backend shopping cart functionality that resides on the server, without relying on PayPal. Whats the best opensource solution that allows me to pass a variable (ie, add a "Buy This" button to already-designed pages) to a shopping cart php function (inventory isn't necessary at this point) and allowing checkout/payment? [more inside]
posted by pinto on Apr 8, 2008 - 7 answers

Best starting point for e-commerce / shopping cart software? I'm a competent Perl programmer with background in several other languages, who wants to create a decidedly minimalist-looking web site shopping cart for a client. I expect to hack Perl or PHP code, but would like to hack things that are designed to be hacked. Anyone tried CRE Loaded? Other recommendations? Other places to ask? [more inside]
posted by amtho on Mar 30, 2008 - 11 answers

Is VAT calculated based on the billing or shipping address of an EU customer? [more inside]
posted by subpixel on Mar 12, 2008 - 5 answers

I built a website for my business. I want to sell things from my website! My hosting has a CGI-BIN directory and will run scripts etc. What do I need to know to add a shopping cart function and sell goods? What e-commerce software would be easy to use and integrate into my site? Payment doesn't need to be automated, but I would like to be able to securely take credit card numbers for processing later, if possible. [more inside]
posted by tomble on Mar 8, 2008 - 9 answers

I'm developing an e-commerce project with business processes that are truly unique and might be patentable. I understand there is serious debate about the benefit and/or validity of many patents in this field, but I think my idea stands up to the bullshit test, and I don't think protecting it would be anti-competitive.

So, should I launch and go about protecting the invention later, or should I hire a patent attorney right away? I've searched the patent databases myself and found nothing remotely similar. But I'm not an expert.
posted by subpixel on Dec 28, 2007 - 7 answers

I've built plenty of websites. I've never built an e-commerce website. I generally use Dreamhost as a host and Expression Engine as a CMS. What's my next step for building an e-commerce site for a new client? Resources? Recommendations? etc. I'm in Canada if that makes a diff; products will ship world-wide.
posted by dobbs on Nov 7, 2007 - 4 answers

I'm thinking of putting my once-great anti-Microsoft advocacy website up for sale. But should I even bother? [more inside]
posted by CommonSense on Sep 13, 2007 - 21 answers

Are there any good online auction solutions out there or should we hire a programmer? [more inside]
posted by bristolcat on Jul 9, 2007 - 3 answers

ZenCart Basics: The AskMe archives provide great information about e-commerce solutions. Based on previous suggestions, I've decided to go with ZenCart for my first project. But I need some help with the basics. [more inside]
posted by aladfar on Oct 16, 2006 - 4 answers

I had a friend once who became a member of some sort of organization not unlike Avon, but with housewares/knick knacks? [more inside]
posted by heavenstobetsy on Oct 15, 2006 - 21 answers

Please list your favorite online shopping sites, from a design, user experience, and functionality perspective. [more inside]
posted by bradn on Sep 11, 2006 - 11 answers

I'm looking for good online CD shops. [more inside]
posted by davebush on May 8, 2006 - 9 answers

Flash Template & Info for creating 360 rotating products? [more inside]
posted by Fishing Nut on Apr 12, 2006 - 3 answers

Any recommendations for a quality e-commerce merchant account services provider? [more inside]
posted by spilon on Mar 27, 2006 - 5 answers

ShadyDealingsFilter: Since I've read some how-to's on cyberstalking and murder and such here lately, I have a hypothetical question about criminal fund-raising... [more inside]
posted by chudmonkey on Mar 26, 2006 - 19 answers

Has anybody had any success making good business out of an online business such as CafePress? [more inside]
posted by arrowhead on Dec 16, 2005 - 14 answers

Is Comp-U-plus.com legit? If so, why do other companies still exist? [more inside]
posted by reformedjerk on Oct 27, 2005 - 12 answers

Does a company like 37Signals / Basecamp have to charge its users for sales tax? Looking at Basecamp, they charge different monthly rates for associated tiers of service. I would imagine they have customers from all over the States, as well as different countries. Are they required to apply sales tax to these monthly rates based on the customers geographic location. Or, because they are an e-commerce entity, and aren't really selling anything tangible, do they simply charge the flat rate and ignore sales tax?

More pointedly, I am wondering how complex tax collection / reporting is for a U.S. based e-commerce business of this sort.
posted by jasondigitized on Oct 21, 2005 - 6 answers

Looking for a super-simple, minimalist shopping cart that can handle electronic delivery and integrate with PayPal for payments. [more inside]
posted by spilon on Aug 29, 2005 - 7 answers

Tips on building an e-commerce site? [more inside]
posted by Ostara on Jul 11, 2005 - 5 answers

Increasingly many e-commerce sites and ebay vendors seem to be using paypal as the outfit that also handles their ordinary credit-card (i.e. non-paypal-account) purchases. This doesn't work, and blows the transaction. How can I evade this yet-another-paypal-gotcha? [more inside]
posted by jfuller on Jun 6, 2005 - 25 answers

Micro payments online - can they be profitable? [more inside]
posted by mirileh on Apr 24, 2005 - 9 answers

Can anyone recommend a good online retailer for adult DVDs? [more inside]
posted by Faint of Butt on Apr 6, 2005 - 17 answers

I need to explain how e-commerce is different from plain old commerce to business people with no e-background. What are your favorite resources (online or offline) for e-commerce information? I'm thinking of things like business basics, basic e-commerce concepts, shipping, digital photography -- essentially anything related to e-commerce from the business user level point of view. The hidden gems or the quality perspectives. Tutorials, books, online demos, graphics, statistics, whitepapers, or any other information suitable for an introductory-level audience.
posted by gleuschk on Mar 1, 2005 - 5 answers

Can someone explain to me all of the steps involved in e-commerce? [more inside] [more inside]
posted by hijinx on Dec 11, 2003 - 12 answers