Invented new device. About to start selling. Several questions please:

[Jorjious]

Made a new invention. After a year, about ready to start selling it. It’s a device worn on the body. It weighs just over 6lbs. This is the only thing I’m selling. For now, it’s “1 size fits all,” though the next manufacturing run, I plan to have different sizes. This will not effect it’s weight. I also plan to eventually have different colors. But for now, just 1 color, 1 size. So only 1 item.

Now then… I’ve been doing research during this last year getting it ready… yet still feel no closer to a solution than I did at the beginning.

The first manufacturing run is nearly complete, the rough-cut website (I’ve made with FrontPage) is 90% done, everything is almost ready to go.


Thoughts/observations:

Looks like old HTML editors are out-dated. wordpress looks too complicated to learn in the short time I have. So I’m leaning towards just using an online store service provider. Simple templates I can alter, adapt to the site I’ve already more-or-less got built. Leaning towards Core Commerce. ($20/month, cheapest option)

Shopping Cart/Payments.
Want customers to stay onsite during checkout, want to be able to post security certificates, images, etc. on the site. Want to give option for Paypal, Credit Card, or mail Check or Money order…
So leaning towards the Paypal Advanced option. ($5/month)

Shipping. What a friggen nightmare.
Since I can find little info on UPS or FedEx, I’m probably going with USPS/Stamps.com. ($15/month)

Total $40/month.



QUESTIONS:

Sites like CoreCommerce, Volusion, etc., have their own shopping cart pages that come with the site you’re given, right? That will maintain the ‘look’ of the template I choose and edit?

PayPal offers some sort of “free” shipping? What about postage paid? What about packaging? (what’s the point, if it doesn’t have any of that?) Will PayPal shipping conflict if I also have Stamps.com/UPS/FedEx?

Does anyone happen to know, for my single, ~ 6lb item, which would be the cheapest between Stamps.com, FedEx, or UPS? (research implies FedEx might be, though Stamps.com USPS priority is close)

I have only 1 product. That weighs 6lbs. If I go Stamps.com/USPS (who sends me a scale) do I have to weigh each item to calculate the shipping and get each label printed off, each and every time? Even though they all weight the same? How does UPS/FedEx handle this? (if I have to weigh each item, that’s a MAJOR waste of time)

Check or money order: how do customers calculate their shipping to add to the check/money order, if each unit has to be weighed by me? (lots of these questions revolve around this weighing issue)

Stamps.com offers numerous thermal printers, explicitly for printing labels. Is there any reason not to just get the cheaper ones? (new poster, can't link URL)




Thanks for any help you can give.

[SteveGerencser]

QUESTIONS:

Sites like CoreCommerce, Volusion, etc., have their own shopping cart pages that come with the site you’re given, right? That will maintain the ‘look’ of the template I choose and edit?

PayPal offers some sort of “free” shipping? What about postage paid? What about packaging? (what’s the point, if it doesn’t have any of that?) Will PayPal shipping conflict if I also have Stamps.com/UPS/FedEx?

Does anyone happen to know, for my single, ~ 6lb item, which would be the cheapest between Stamps.com, FedEx, or UPS? (research implies FedEx might be, though Stamps.com USPS priority is close)

I have only 1 product. That weighs 6lbs. If I go Stamps.com/USPS (who sends me a scale) do I have to weigh each item to calculate the shipping and get each label printed off, each and every time? Even though they all weight the same? How does UPS/FedEx handle this? (if I have to weigh each item, that’s a MAJOR waste of time)

Check or money order: how do customers calculate their shipping to add to the check/money order, if each unit has to be weighed by me? (lots of these questions revolve around this weighing issue)

Stamps.com offers numerous thermal printers, explicitly for printing labels. Is there any reason not to just get the cheaper ones? (new poster, can't link URL)

Thanks for any help you can give.

1. Yes. But then any hosting company can use nearly any modern cart with templates. With Volusion etc. you get a more managed cart solution.

2. Depends on the size and if you need over night shipping. We only use flat rate shipping from USPS. Every shipment costs $5.15 and they give us the boxes for free. We print out the shipping labels here on the laser printer.

3. See #2. No need to weigh it if you use flat rate priority mail. And if it's only one product over and over then you already know the weight, no scale needed.

4. We don't allow checks or money orders. Way too much of a PITA to handle hard currency with an online store.

5. Nope, use it till it burns out, replace it.

[Jorjious]

1. Yes. But then any hosting company can use nearly any modern cart with templates. With Volusion etc. you get a more managed cart solution.

2. Depends on the size and if you need over night shipping. We only use flat rate shipping from USPS. Every shipment costs $5.15 and they give us the boxes for free. We print out the shipping labels here on the laser printer.

3. See #2. No need to weigh it if you use flat rate priority mail. And if it's only one product over and over then you already know the weight, no scale needed.

4. We don't allow checks or money orders. Way too much of a PITA to handle hard currency with an online store.

5. Nope, use it till it burns out, replace it.

Thanks for that info!

It looks like, by the time you pay for a host, and if you use something like WordPress, you're already gonna have probably at least $10/month anyhow... Volusion, Corecommerce, etc, only charge $20/month as of now... So for now, I'm just gonna go that route.

Will probably start w/ Stamps.com and PayPal Advanced also. Will get the cheap thermal printer, I guess.

Thanks again.