hi guys,
i work for an institution that offers training materials and courses. we'd like to have a shopping cart feature so people can purchase items right away. the dilemma is:

• do we have it made from scratch by hiring a programmer or do we just go with one of the established services.
• what do you guys recommend?
• what have been your experiences with any shopping cart service?

it seems to be that going with a shopping cart service would be cheaper. especially if there is one out there that allows for customization. do you know of any such services? I would appreciate some names of companies you have used or know are good.

Thanks

I'm going to give an answer I just gave earlier today: "It depends." How much customization are we talking about, and what specifically? Most "off-the-server" solutions tend to be rather rigid, inflexible, and subject to potential abuse.

I'm a big believer in DIY custom carts from scratch simply because they can be customized however the site owner wants with relative ease by a half-decent programmer, whereas the carts that exist tend to be a lot harder to work with in that regard.

The other advantage I find to DIY carts is payment processor integration. A scratch cart tends to be easier in that regard because you can build a few pages out to work with Authorize.Net or LinkPoint or BeanStream or Internet Secure or even (BLECH!!!!!!) Moneris and PrayPal.

Awesome! Thanks for your response.

it all boils down to our needs but flexibility is also a very important issue. We'll keep your feedback in mind.