How does Shopify work?

[Zeke]

I can't seem to find a page where I can search to buy. For instance, "welding supplies."
Is it just a site builder? What do they have to offer someone who wants to set up e-commerce like the recent threads asked?

[Bob Kontak]

Looks like a site builder and administrator - vs just a builder. They charge a per sale transaction fee to their clients (vendors to us) for what it is they do.

[Zeke]

That is what I'm seeing but I wonder since they have a hand in your pocket if they do the shopping cart and the transaction itself. If they did all that instead of a small seller having to set up accounts with MC, Visa, et al, it might be a good thing for a seller just getting started.

I think eBay might be good for general used items you might have on hand. But to get into business with them anymore as a power seller, or just a casual seller of new merchandise in a specific category, seems to be nothing but a nightmare.

I see Pelican Parts stopped selling on eBay in '06.

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by Zeke

That is what I'm seeing but I wonder since they have a hand in your pocket if they do the shopping cart and the transaction itself.

They talk of providing payment gateways in conjunction with the provided shopping carts. They have 4 tiers of client status (base on fee client pays) and the most they charge is 2% of each transaction amount. That percentage seems too small for them to sweep CC payments into their own mega shopify account(s) then remit balance to the internet store customers.

[Soterik]

The % they charge is on top of any credit card percentage. They say the 2% is how they stay ahead of the curve with site development.

I've got a site with Weebly right now, no commerce as they just weren't set up to do what I wanted to do with ecommerce. But I have a link on my site that takes you right to my ebay store where I have all of my proprietary products. So that's kind of twice the work, but I get different exposures, and the Ebay ends up being like advertising.

I have a site in development with "core commerce", and I like where it's going to, but I'm not ready to go live with it yet. They have a pretty good proprietary shopping cart setup as well.

Of course I've got all my products with out host right now, and that's working out REALLY well...!!

cheers,
E

[Zeke]

So, going with one of these site builders/ administrators, do they have the SEO thing working for the individual sites? Seems like a bit of an advantage over going live behind 4 billion sites already up.