My dad and I are thinking of starting a business online. It's an idea thats not been done before that we can see so should hopefully catch on! What we need to know are the costs in setting up a website to sell the items. Obviously not expecting mass volumes just yet so that would reduce costs? Please help!
Costs of registering a website?
- Thread starter beckster
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Check out www.ochostreview.co.uk for a list of great and not-so-great hosts. Every single one of the decent ones will support everything you need to run an online shop - which is pretty basic in terms of technology.
In terms of the online shop software...you can either get a custom site developed at a cost of £2k+ or look into ecommerce software such as zencart, cubecart, X-Cart, OScommerce and Actinic to name but a few (Google them) and see how far you can get fiddling on your own.
A domain name should cost under a tenner; quite a few hosts will throw in one free with the hosting package these days, and reliable hosting can be had for less than £50/year but I wouldn't go with anything super-budget or "unlimited" or with no contact details or phone number. Because you'll lose a lot more than the difference in cost if you have problems and the support is in Aljebazistan and available only whenever the 12 year old doesn't have homework to do
In terms of the online shop software...you can either get a custom site developed at a cost of £2k+ or look into ecommerce software such as zencart, cubecart, X-Cart, OScommerce and Actinic to name but a few (Google them) and see how far you can get fiddling on your own.
A domain name should cost under a tenner; quite a few hosts will throw in one free with the hosting package these days, and reliable hosting can be had for less than £50/year but I wouldn't go with anything super-budget or "unlimited" or with no contact details or phone number. Because you'll lose a lot more than the difference in cost if you have problems and the support is in Aljebazistan and available only whenever the 12 year old doesn't have homework to do
Soldato
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I dont know if this is the best or cheapest but im with www.web-mania.com at the moment.
EDIT: just checked some reviews and people dont seem happy with this one so I will change when renewal time comes
EDIT: just checked some reviews and people dont seem happy with this one so I will change when renewal time comes
Cheapest £15 for a domain name? Seems a little steep to me.
Most places i use are around £3.00per year for .co.uk/org.uk and £8 per year for TLDs such as .com/.net/.org.
Depending on your knowledge there can be lots of other costs. Registering a domain name and getting sufficient hosting are the basics if you know what you are doing for the actual site. If not im assuming you'll have to start shelling out for an ecommerce package and installation, then someone to customise the design for you a bit, etc, etc. I know there are also costs involved to gain a certificate for SSL encryption for secure transactions etc but there are different ways to do things like using another providor to take transactions etc but they obviously take a cut of your profits...
Someone smart will come along and be able to give you more help, but if you are completely new to website design/hosting/etc it might get quite expensive...
Most places i use are around £3.00per year for .co.uk/org.uk and £8 per year for TLDs such as .com/.net/.org.
Depending on your knowledge there can be lots of other costs. Registering a domain name and getting sufficient hosting are the basics if you know what you are doing for the actual site. If not im assuming you'll have to start shelling out for an ecommerce package and installation, then someone to customise the design for you a bit, etc, etc. I know there are also costs involved to gain a certificate for SSL encryption for secure transactions etc but there are different ways to do things like using another providor to take transactions etc but they obviously take a cut of your profits...
Someone smart will come along and be able to give you more help, but if you are completely new to website design/hosting/etc it might get quite expensive...
beckster said:I have the whole summer to learn. I have checked the domain name and its taken as a .co.uk but not .com. Looks like I should go with register1
another vote for register1
been using them for a few years now and the service is spot on. got about 20 domains with them now
www.1and1.co.uk have been perfect for me. Cost me £1.99 for my domains for two years (.co.uk) and renews without me having to do anything.
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Nope...there's ~7 people working for the company which runs Register1, iirc.richieboy said:Ugh, 1and1 disgusted me for every second i was hosted with them. Now with Register1 and ill never look back...they make 1and1 look like a bunch of morons, and im fairly sure there's only one guy working there
richieboy said:Ugh, 1and1 disgusted me for every second i was hosted with them. Now with Register1 and ill never look back...they make 1and1 look like a bunch of morons, and im fairly sure there's only one guy working there
How odd. I've been with a few companies and never had a problem with 1and1. Then again, I've only ever required their support service once and that was to cancel one of my domains. That was a simple task in itself though.
Unless you're talking about their hosting, in which case, I cannot comment and merely only commenting on their domain provisions.
LeoWyatt said:Hopefully you've checked the hostreview site but I'm with register1 and they are awesome
When you say "hopefully you've checked the hostreview site" you don't actually mean the paid for by adverts site www.hostreview.com do you?
I appreciate most sites are paid for by adverts but the above site where you click on the link to see the "best hosting in the industry" and it only contains companies who have paid for advertising - something wrong there.
http://www.webhostingjury.com is a much better site.
It's also worth reading the forums at www.webhostingtalk.com
Soldato
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i think mine is £8 per year for a .org (registron) and £3 per month for the hosting (tsohost).
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richieboy said:Ugh, 1and1 disgusted me for every second i was hosted with them. Now with Register1 and ill never look back...they make 1and1 look like a bunch of morons, and im fairly sure there's only one guy working there
what annoyed you about 1and1? been with them 2 years and not had any problems to be honest
Oh, on a hosting note - forgot to add to my post - I use tsohost.co.uk ... cracking service. Not sure on the price, but they have been fantastic. I'm on their bronze service and have gone over my bandwidth allocation the odd time. Cue me emailing them to ask about it, to be told no worries.