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This is the catch-all discussion for Which Ecommerce Script Should I Use?

Question:

*This is a general, community wiki [catch-all][2] question to address non-specific "I need a eCommerce script that does x, y, and z..." questions.*

I have a list of features that I want for my website's eCommerce script - where can I find a (free) script that includes all of them?

  [1]: http://meta.webmasters.stackexchange.com/questions/761/should-we-provide-a-version-of-the-how-to-choose-hosting-question-for-ecommerce

Answer

The [Webmasters FAQ][3] outlines the nature of acceptable questions for this site: researching available solutions and providing anecdotal advice falls outside the purpose of this StackExchange site, so this type of question would be better-suited to [chat][3] or another discussion forum.

That being said, there are a variety of free and open source ecommerce systems, as well as licensed software and paid services, which may meet your requirements.

Some of the most popular ecommerce scripts include:

* [Magento][2] 
  * Pros: --
  * Cons: --
* [osCommerce][4] (php, free and open source)
  * Pros: --
  * Cons: --

All of the ecommerce scripts listed above are built around the concept of mods (plugins) which extend the application's functionality - there are many mods, with new mods authored every day.

If you have researched different ecommerce scripts and available mods but cannot find anything that will meet your needs, you should consult a developer (or do it yourself) who can build something to your specifications either as a mod for an existing ecommerce script or as a stand-alone application.

  [1]: http://chat.stackexchange.com/
  [2]: http://www.magentocommerce.com/
  [3]: https://webmasters.stackexchange.com/faq
  [4]: http://www.oscommerce.com/

can this go live as a community wiki, or is there something that I missed (I want to check with everybody before I create a catch-all, just because it means that a lot of questions will be closed)? Keep in mind that you can edit it once it's live.

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  • I believe the reason the original answer stalled was that there were not enough options presented (see list of e-commerce apps for more options) and, even amongst available apps, a well-reasoned list of pro's/con's was lacking. (I'd offer more on that, but the last publicly-available cart app I worked with was osC)
    – danlefree Mod
    Commented May 11, 2012 at 20:03
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    @danlefree if this question goes live, though, people can add to it later. I think that having an actual question and answer would help generate interest twords improving this answer. That said, I'll add some more options.
    – user6901
    Commented May 11, 2012 at 20:06
  • Sorry, did not seem as though you needed a response - community wiki'ed your question as requested.
    – danlefree Mod
    Commented May 26, 2012 at 1:40
  • @danlefree I should be the one apologizing: I wanted to check in with you/another mod before I published it, but since you were all busy, I decided to go ahead. Anyway, thanks a lot for making it community wiki.
    – user6901
    Commented May 26, 2012 at 1:48

1 Answer 1

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It is important to note that not all users have the same starting issues. So there is never a generic answer that is appropriate unless it is very general and very vague. For instance, take the "answer" posted above.

It assumes the user is not already on a CMS, like WordPress. WordPress actually has several e-commerce scripts, and some of them are more popular than the ones suggested, such as:
Jigoshop
WooCommerce
WP-Ecommerce
ect ect

The problem is that users are going to ask questions like this, and these types of questions are popular on StackOverflow. More and more, I predict we will see these questions migrated from SO to here, so we do need to come up with a plan for dealing with them.

That being said we need to come up with a way that will be free from bias. As you mentioned the popular e-commerce oslutions above, let me point out a problem with it. The most popular solutions may not be the best solution for every case. But inevitably they will have more +'s and -'s then others because hte number of people exposed to them. I therefore would like to suggest a community maintained list of the names of plugins and their links. Let the user do the hard work of researching them and come up with their own conclusions (because the person who knows their situation the best it themself).

We should break it up into a format like this (from least complex to most complex)*

Official list- Last updated XX/XX/XXXX

Javascript solutions
Name of Solution- link
Name of Solution- link

PHP solutions
Name of Solution- link Name of Solution- link

WordPress Solutions
Name of Solution- link
Name of Solution- link

Magento
Magento- link

osCommerce
osCommerce- link

  • The order should be something based on complexity as a computation of lines per code needed or something.
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  • Good points. If you go here, you can view the source of my current question. If you could take that, add it to your answer, and improve it, that would be awesome.
    – user6901
    Commented May 16, 2012 at 21:14
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    Yeah, I can do it later today :)
    – Chris
    Commented May 18, 2012 at 13:14

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