[cstreit]

Completely managed services (like 3DCart) are not a bad way to go if you are testing the waters. You lose a lot of flexibility but for a first-timer it's good to test the waters first.

DIY can be a sharp and time consuming learning curve.

If yo udecide to start your own, go with one of the basic ones like Virtuemart, oscommerce, or zen-cart. Magento looks great but we only recommend it to our Tier 1 customers as setup is very involved and time consuming.