website designing

[pinky]

How much does it cost to set up a website for online sales?

Are the fees base on number of pages?
On average, how long does it takes?
Thank you.

[sashimi]

I can advise you a bit on setting up a "website" but not so much on the ecommerce and technical bits.


A couple of important questions first - how far do you intend to go? As in, eg. how do you expect to handle payment? Also, what kind of business?

You can do quite a lot if you are willing to learn and tackle it by yourself. Whereas in the past people think setting up a website involves engaging a 3rd party to "design" a website for you; today, with blogs, paypal, ebay, even Facebook, you can set up everything yourself, maintain complete control and not pay anyone else a cent - to keep your costs down.

[pinky]

sashimi:

I can advise you a bit on setting up a \"website\" but not so much on the ecommerce and technical bits.


A couple of important questions first - how far do you intend to go? As in, eg. how do you expect to handle payment? Also, what kind of business?

You can do quite a lot if you are willing to learn and tackle it by yourself. Whereas in the past people think setting up a website involves engaging a 3rd party to \"design\" a website for you; today, with blogs, paypal, ebay, even Facebook, you can set up everything yourself, maintain complete control and not pay anyone else a cent - to keep your costs down.

thanks, will consider your proposals

[BigDevil]

pinky:

How much does it cost to set up a website for online sales?

Are the fees base on number of pages?
On average, how long does it takes?
Thank you.

If you want your customers to make payment online, then you might want to engage paypal (http://www.paypal.com) or eNets (http://www.enets.com).

If I were your customer, I don't think I would want to release my credit card info to you if payment were not made through these trusted third parties.

[mrswongtuition]

There are many free e-commerce templates with basic functions. Just try them out then pay for the better functions when you start to profit


Used to run an online store but have no time for it now. Was selling homemade blankets and products for couples who were trying to conceive.

Another note about payment:
- Paypal & eNets usually will require a cut from your sales. Remember to factor it into your selling price.
- You can also accept bank transfers (but the order process may get abit messy as it's harder to keep track of who has paid). I gave discounts for bank transfers as I did not have to pay admin charges for accepting CC payments. Most customers prefer this too.
- If you use Paypal to obtain your products (means your supplier accepts Paypal payments), then using Paypal can save trouble & money. But when customers pay you using their CC & not their PP acct, then there's also admin charges.


Website design:
There are many companies & freelancers offering packages. I recall I paid for a very basic package using free e-commerce templates (includes website name, hosting, etc) for $299. Can put up to 50 products, more products, pricier).

Go to a trusted company. For freelancers, use at your own risk (unless you know them well or at least know their home address, current workplace, etc). I've heard of freelancers who did not finish the job & run off with payment. I've also hear of freelancers who do not give over the ownership or admin rights of the website.

Best is to register the website name on your own, then get the company to do designing & hosting for you. You can easily purchase website name online. If you intend to get a '.com.sg', you need to have a Singapore registered company first. Quite easy to register a business, can also be done online

[pinky]

Thank you bigDevil and mrswongtuition for your advice and suggestions.

[BigDevil]

You can check out Cybersite at http://www.cybersite.com.sg/webhosting.shtm.


If you sign up for their SME plan or above, they will help you design and create a 5-page website, complete with e-commerce.