Our Shopping Cart Options

FREE Shopping Carts - FREE Cart Installation

Affordable Hoster is proud to not only offer you a choice of 4 different Shopping Carts, but to also Install one for you at No Charge when you open a hosting account with us!

Here are the offerings:
(some may show prices on their sites, do not be alarmed, they are free from us!)

There are difference in them. OS Commerce and ZenCart are similar, but there are some variations. CubeCart is pretty much on it's own, and AgoraCart is entirely different than the others. When deciding on which cart to use, pay particular attention to how (or even if) your way of doing business is handled in each different cart. Consider shipping methods and how you bill shipping, sales/VAT taxes, payment types, countries sold to and more. It may be that only one of the four will meet your specific needs.

The 4 Shopping Carts

CubeCart, (Our Favorite.) that is becoming very popular. The easiest of the free carts to setup and use. Good for US, UK/European and Australian sales, as well as elsewhere around the world. The cart we most often recommend, it has a good variety of easy to configure payment provider integrations. Here is a link to their website - CubeCart website

AgoraCart, is an entirely different tpye of cart. Unlike the OSC types, it includes it's own database, rather than using MySQL as the database. There are also more "built-in" options than most of the other carts. Here is a link to their website - AgoraCart website

As an example of the differrent setups that can be done with AgoraCart, we have a page showing the 17 different colored templates they offer, as well as a variety of ways the cart can display your products to your prospects. AgoraCart Examples

OC Commerce, (OSC), the "grandaddy" of open source carts that is probably the most well known and the most popular. There are hundreds of custom modifications and design templates available for OSC. Here is a link to their website - OS Commerce website

ZenCart, another derivative of OS Commerce. This one has a "nicer" admin interface and some addtions to the original OSC. Here is a link to their website - ZenCart website

Payment Processors for the Above Carts

All of the above will take PayPal Payments "out ot the box." Basically all that needs to be done is enter your PayPal payment email address and you are in business. The carts all accept a number of other payment processors, but they all offer some differences, so it is best to check their individual sites to make sure the payment methods you wish to use are compatible with each particular cart.

Free Installation

We will use the Fantastico script feature to install your choice of the carts above or any other Fantastico script at no charge on any hosting plan valued at $ 25.00 or more.

Notice we say "Install", which is just put an "empty store" on your server. This includes no setup of the cart, or insertion of any images or inventory items. It is limited to the basic installation only. We will also install for a small fee with hosting packages valued below $ 25.00.

We do offer several levels of setup and on-going upkeep of the shopping carts. See the panel on the right for more information and pricing.

Understanding Hosting, Carts and Free Installation

For just a moment, think about your online business instead being a new business opening in a strip shopping center.

As your hosting provider our responsibility is similar to that of the Landlord or Management Company running the center. We are responsible for the roof and walls of your shop. To the degree stated in the lease we may also be fully or partialy responsible for the plumbing and heating and air conditioning and to provide a secure place for your customers to shop. But that's about it.

Translating this to the online world, as your hosting provider it is our responsibility to provide you with space on our server, the tools to manage that space (your control panel) and security for your shop. It is up to us to have the server operating and maintaining a hacker proof space for your shop. That is basically our responsibility. This is what you pay the monthly / quarterly / annual hosting fee to cover - the rent on the empty building.

As the landlord, it is not our responsibility to put up your shelves, stock them with goods, provide a checkout counter with a cash register, do your advertising, sweep your floor, erc. These are your responsibilities as the shop keeper. Of course, you have the option to contact for some of these services to be done for you. You can hire a janitorial service to come in and clean, you can hire an ad agency to do your advertising, etc.

The same online. All we are required to do is give you the space to operate your store. We will install the basic framework for you at no charge, as an incentive to rent from us. But that is the limit of our obligation. Deciding policy, arranging for payments, stocking the shelves and such is totally your responsibility.

We can do some of this for you. Actually, we can do it all. But that is not included in our hosting agreement, it is something entirely different. We do offer various levels of support, as shown to the right. Further, specific agreements are possible, depending on what you wish for us to do. The main point here is that these are all over and above the basic "rent".

The same is true of signage and advertising. In the strip center, we would provide a standard sized sign space and framework. But is your responsibility to have the sign designed, painted and installed. And advertising is entirely your responsibility.

Online, the same is true. The shopping carts all have places for a logo, and the headers across the top are usually easily changed. This is your responsibility. You can change the entire look of the shop. There are a number of designers who will do this for you. There are also a number of free and low cost "skins" or "templates" available to change the looks of your shop.

We do not do design work. We can make small modifications to your site, we can change logos and headers with most carts. But, again, this is not part of the basic hosting agreement. Our minimum charge for this is $ 15 USD and it may be higher depending on the amount of changes requested and the time involved.

Advertising your cart can be a challange. There are a number of ways to drive prospects to your site. Some are free, but require an investment of time. Others are quicker, but require actual payments. And some traffic can be obtained the same way you would from a shop in that center, by advertsing locally.

For several reasons, one being that we often have competing clients hosting with us, we do not do any "advertising" for any clients. Search Engine Optimization seems to be the ideal first step, but it is time-consuming and the standards are constanly changing, so it is far from being "set it and forget it." Paying to have this done for you is very expensive. We suggest getting a good understanding of what is required and doing it yourself.

We do have a number of free and paid for resources, including ebooks, training videos and audio programs designed to help you promote your online shop. Where possible, we offer these free to our clients. Where we must charge for them, we do so at discounted rates, within the guidelines of the copyright holders.

Please understand these varying roles in the operation of your online business. In particular, be aware that we can do more than provide the basic hosting services for the basic hosting fees. With prices in the $ 5.00 per month range, there is no way we can justify the time required for us to provide additional services free of charge.

We are as anxious as you for your business to succeed. We treasure happy, profitable clients and will do what we can to help them on their way to financial independence. And our advice and suggestions are always free.

Other Shopping Carts

There are a number of "for fee" shopping carts available. There are also some other free carts that can be found by searching for them on the Internet.

You have the option of obtaining any of these on your own. We have no problems with you installing, or having installed, any of the carts (or other programs, as well). You are basically "renting space and utilities" from us and what you fill your space with is up to you. (Within our Accepted Use Policy, of course.)

We offer no installation or support for these other packages your obtain elsewhere. In some cases we have made arrangements on a case by case basis to work on these "outside" carts, but we have no formal plan to do so. Many of the developers will install their package for you, some do it for free, others charge a fixed rate for initial installation. Again in this respect, you are free to make any arrangements that suit you. (They may require access to your control panel or ftp address to do this.)

Some "outside" programs require basic changes to our default server settings. As long as we do not put our servers at risk, we will change specific settings to accomodate your needs. These server setting changes are provided at no charge, but may require several hours to a day to be taken care of, depending on the support requests in the queue before your request. Do not expect instant action.

It is also possible that we can help you with a particular cart or problem with a cart for a fee. We would charge our standard $ 15.00 per quarter hour (15 minutes). As above, it is very possible we cannot work on your schedule, but rather that you will have to adapt to ours.

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