Cheap web design?

[Auryg]

I'm trying to start a business locally, but I want a webpage to help me out, and maybe get a few customers from far away. The webpage would be for people to browse what I sell, and so I can accept credit cards and the such.

Anyways, the site under construction right now is www.aury.org/business .

Yes, it was build in Frontpage (oh boohoo, I was just trying to make a layout ). Yes, it sucks horribly. So then I thought about professional designers. Did a search on here, asked for some quotes. Turns out it's in the thousands, which I definately can not afford.

Is there a way to get this done...cheaply? I'd need actual webpage design done and the shopping cart system put in. A logo wouldn't hurt either.

Thanks

 

[EKKC]

there was a site where you can hire freelancers, and freelancers can bid on your job by giving you offers

forgot the URL, others should be able to help

 

[Auryg]

That'd be nice..I'm so stuck right now

 

[Hossenfeffer]

What -is- your budget?

 

[Auryg]

Well, it might be a bit..well..insanely.. unrealistic, but I was hoping for less that 100 for the web design and like 50 for the shopping cart.

I can do a good portion myself, i'd just need one general design, and from there I could just fill it in as the main page and the FAQ page and so on.

 

[DeviousTrap]

Originally posted by: Auryg
Well, it might be a bit..well..insanely.. unrealistic, but I was hoping for less that 100 for the web design and like 50 for the shopping cart.

I can do a good portion myself, i'd just need one general design, and from there I could just fill it in as the main page and the FAQ page and so on.

TemplateMonster.com for the design - ~$50

OsCommerce or ZenCart for the shopping cart - $0

You're time setting it up - Priceless

 

[Auryg]

Originally posted by: DeviousTrap

Originally posted by: Auryg
Well, it might be a bit..well..insanely.. unrealistic, but I was hoping for less that 100 for the web design and like 50 for the shopping cart.

I can do a good portion myself, i'd just need one general design, and from there I could just fill it in as the main page and the FAQ page and so on.

TemplateMonster.com for the design - ~$50

OsCommerce or ZenCart for the shopping cart - $0

You're time setting it up - Priceless

You have me interested. What's the deal with those OsCommerce templates at TemplateMonster? Is that just for lazies?

 

[DeviousTrap]

Originally posted by: Auryg

Originally posted by: DeviousTrap

Originally posted by: Auryg
Well, it might be a bit..well..insanely.. unrealistic, but I was hoping for less that 100 for the web design and like 50 for the shopping cart.

I can do a good portion myself, i'd just need one general design, and from there I could just fill it in as the main page and the FAQ page and so on.

TemplateMonster.com for the design - ~$50

OsCommerce or ZenCart for the shopping cart - $0

You're time setting it up - Priceless

You have me interested. What's the deal with those OsCommerce templates at TemplateMonster? Is that just for lazies?

Everything at TM is for people that can't or are too lazy to create their own designers. The reason why those templates are more expensive than the templates for website designs is because OsCommerce is extremely difficult to skin.

 

[Auryg]

Originally posted by: DeviousTrap

Originally posted by: Auryg

Originally posted by: DeviousTrap

Originally posted by: Auryg
Well, it might be a bit..well..insanely.. unrealistic, but I was hoping for less that 100 for the web design and like 50 for the shopping cart.

I can do a good portion myself, i'd just need one general design, and from there I could just fill it in as the main page and the FAQ page and so on.

TemplateMonster.com for the design - ~$50

OsCommerce or ZenCart for the shopping cart - $0

You're time setting it up - Priceless

You have me interested. What's the deal with those OsCommerce templates at TemplateMonster? Is that just for lazies?

Everything at TM is for people that can't or are too lazy to create their own designers. The reason why those templates are more expensive than the templates for website designs is because OsCommerce is extremely difficult to skin.

Ok, so..lets say I bought one of these templates. The generic ones. How hard would it be to integrate OsCommerce or ZenCart into it and for people to be able to customize their computers ala Dell?

Thanks for all the help

 

[thespeakerbox]

If your website is going to be the main source of revenue, id pay the extra price to have it set up professionally. Trying to cut costs works to an extent, but saving money vs saving headaches should always be examined. I've seen so many people try to save money on computer networking , websites and any other DIY small business project. IMO , make an intial investment based on the risk involved and FOCUS on the actual business, selling custom computers. It's all about humble beginnings. Iif you dont have enough money ~450 for a simple professional site, my suggestion is to do custom computers locally , working hard to raise funds, and if your net is large, this can be done quickly. Save up, then pay someone to make your life easier. Get some jobs, then get the website.

 

[Auryg]

The thing is speaker, right now I'm a student, and I'm just trying to set this up to get some funds flowing right now. If later on it starts making some decent money, then I'd definately look at professional design, but right now I really don't have the money.

 

[thespeakerbox]

If money is that tight, dont even waste your time on a site. People like Dell will murder you esp on office and workstations. The only thing left is gaming, but people with the money buy an XPS, while people with no money DIY with newegg or ebay. Youll have much better luck locally with friends and family . Develope some kind of customer base in your area and get that money.

 

[Auryg]

Heh, I'm not appealing to the anandtech member

I'm going to start it locally (as a matter of fact I've sold a few computers already locally), but i'd like the option of expanding and letting people from out of state that are referred to me buy from me.

A web site will greatly help with that.

 

[Auryg]

I'd also still like to know how (of it it's possible) to implement a shopping cart like I want into one of those templates.

 

[umbrella39]

Originally posted by: Auryg
Well, it might be a bit..well..insanely.. unrealistic, but I was hoping for less that 100 for the web design and like 50 for the shopping cart.

/thread

 

[FrustratedUser]

RossMAN recommended a site with unlimited use of templates for $5. Forgot the site.

 

[Auryg]

Originally posted by: umbrella39

Originally posted by: Auryg
Well, it might be a bit..well..insanely.. unrealistic, but I was hoping for less that 100 for the web design and like 50 for the shopping cart.

/thread

Oh don't do that. I've already been shown it's possible.

 

[umbrella39]

Originally posted by: Auryg

Originally posted by: umbrella39

Originally posted by: Auryg
Well, it might be a bit..well..insanely.. unrealistic, but I was hoping for less that 100 for the web design and like 50 for the shopping cart.

/thread

Oh don't do that. I've already been shown it's possible.

Good luck then. I have been doing this since 1997 and it isn't going to happen for what you are willing or able to spend. I am not knocking your budget, you only have what you have to spend, times are tough. The site yes, the shopping cart, won't happen with out some intervention. Template monster is great for really nice looking templates, you are covered there. But if you want a decent, professional appearing and functioning cart that is secure, $50 won't cut it. Now if you don't want to appear professional, then you can just put PayPal buttons on your site, but those simply don't give the impression of professionalism.

Edit: As DeviousTrap mentioned, you could use Zen but you really will need to know some PHP and if you already know PHP, you wouldn't need Zen Cart. Not to mention you will have to have it hosted. You are going to need a database whether it be Access, SQL Server, MySQL, not sure if you will need purchase an SSL certificate with that plan, etc. All cost money and/or someones time to set up. The cheapest way would be to set up a PayPal account and use the code and buttons they provide when setting up products. But IMO, it is very unprofessional to have to leave your site and go to a 3rd party site for the transaction to occur. Not to mention PayPal wants some of each transaction. Not even sure how much that is any more. Someone has to handle the credit card processing for you unless you are purchasing your own SSL cert. Then there is the cost of getting an online merchant account to even be able to accept credit card orders. Then a gateway in some cases. Really, it's a big pain in the ass.

 

[Auryg]

Originally posted by: umbrella39

Originally posted by: Auryg

Originally posted by: umbrella39

Originally posted by: Auryg
Well, it might be a bit..well..insanely.. unrealistic, but I was hoping for less that 100 for the web design and like 50 for the shopping cart.

/thread

Oh don't do that. I've already been shown it's possible.

Good luck then. I have been doing this since 1997 and it isn't going to happen for what you are willing or able to spend. I am not knocking your budget, you only have what you have to spend, times are tough. The site yes, the shopping cart, won't happen with out some intervention. Template monster is great for really nice looking templates, you are covered there. But if you want a decent, professional appearing and functioning cart that is secure, $50 won't cut it. Now if you don't want to appear professional, then you can just put PayPal buttons on your site, but those simply don't give the impression of professionalism.

Edit: As DeviousTrap mentioned, you could use Zen but you really will need to know some PHP and if you already know PHP, you wouldn't need Zen Cart. Not to mention you will have to have it hosted. You are going to need a database whether it be Access, SQL Server, MySQL, not sure if you will need purchase an SSL certificate with that plan, etc. All cost money and/or someones time to set up. The cheapest way would be to set up a PayPal account and use the code and buttons they provide when setting up products. But IMO, it is very unprofessional to have to leave your site and go to a 3rd party site for the transaction to occur. Not to mention PayPal wants some of each transaction. Not even sure how much that is any more. Someone has to handle the credit card processing for you unless you are purchasing your own SSL cert. Then there is the cost of getting an online merchant account to even be able to accept credit card orders. Then a gateway in some cases. Really, it's a big pain in the ass.

How much would it cost for someone to set up a cart the way I want into a template?

 

[umbrella39]

You aren't selling preset, prepriced PCs so it won't be cheap. Someone is going to have to do some pretty serious coding to accomplish that for you. If you were just selling PC package A which cost $XXX and PC package B that costs $XXX, it would be cheaper. But I understand that you want to allow them to customize their PC, who wouldn't? That is where you are going to run into $$$$. If you are looking for something like what Gateway or Dell does where you have drop down choices for Processor, Memory, Hard Drive, Monitor, Video Card, Sound Card, Network Card, Monitors, etc you are seriously looking at thousands of dollars for a customized solution. Then, all those prices and part descriptions need to be stored in a database and pulled onto the page to display. I can't even phatom a cheap solution to your needs due to the fact that there is no set price. The price will always be different depending on their needs. I hope that makes sense. Peronally, I hate building those kinds of sites and that is why I am going to back to school to be a Respiratory Therapist. Once people find out how much it is going to cost, the sticker shock kills them and the deal usually. HTH

Technologies that I would employ would be of course, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, some VBScript for the forms, ASP, and run it off an Access Database. Or even do it all in asp.Net?

Hopefully someone will read this and say, screw that, I can do it for cheap. Keep bumping it, there are a lot of smart people who do this for a living on here. Your best bet is to find someone young, green, but very eager to get their name out there who will do it for a song. Good Luck. There are site like eLance and Guru.com where you can find desingers and coders cheap. But more often than not, you get what you pay for. You could always outsource it to Indian developers for maybe $500? I did that once for an online eHarmony type dating site that we had bid for $20.000 US to a UK Dating company. In the end, we ended up just giving it to the Indian Developers to do in PHP for $1000 and kept $19,000. So don't give up hope. Where there is a will there is a way.

 

[Ne0]

You could post here: http://www.getafreelancer.com/ I go there to get some extra work sometimes.

 

[EmperorIQ]

i'll build a webpage for ya, but you have to offer me a 15% cut on everything you make.

 

[Auryg]

Heh, no thanks emporer.

I wouldn't even mind sending customers to paypal or whatever once the system was configured. I'm going to mostly be selling to people I atleast somewhat know.

It's just hard to believe that there's no software out there I can buy can do what I want. Surely these types of shopping carts must be fairly common. Heck, there's an idea for some of you..get building something like this and make it customizable, and sell it.

Anyways..yeah..if anyone here can do what I need or has a different idea on how I could go about setting it up, either PM me or post.

 

[umbrella39]

They do have out of the box solutions but they are not the easiest thing to work with. Most of us find it easier to just regurgitate old code we have done and used before. Yours is a little trickier due to the customization of the PC which affects price and total. If you were set pricing your PC's, I am sure people woule be jumping all over themselves to try and get your business. Hey, if I know my custmer only sells 10 things and those 10 things always cost the same, every time, my job is a slam dunk. The add-ons are what receeds the hairline.

Best of luck, I am sure you will do fine!

 

[Auryg]

Heh..thanks. Any names of those out of the box solutions to atleast get me googling on them?

And I'd I realise the whole customization thing is throwing a kink in the process, but it's pretty necessary