I am launching a new product at work, and we have decided to change up our sales approach and go with a direct sales approach via a website.  The concept of direct sales and ecommerce is alien to us.  So I would love some input.

We already have all of our accounting software, but we have decided that integration with it doesn't need to be automatic (at this point in time at least).  This leaves me very open to what I can choose for my solution.

I have looked at amazon and paypal, and I don't really like either.  Amazon, to me, doesn't add anything extra over a dedicated site, and just adds fees to everything.  Paypal doesn't seem right either.

I have been looking at volusion, and $15/mo is very attractive, but the CRM and phone orders option don't kick in till $65/mo, which adds a bunch of features I don't see us needing.  On the other side of the coin, it seems they market more to the online retailer with tons of products and aren't really servicing the market we are in.

I have also started looking at X-Cart, which also seems like a good choice, and I like the options it has, and it seems straight forward.

Anyone use either or something comparable?  Which do you prefer?

Volusion is a pretty solid product, but it can be difficult if you have no experience with website development (or so I'm told). You're right about the $65 plan, but keep in mind Volusion doesn't charge its own transaction fee.

X-Cart, I believe, is a self-hosted solution. In other words you have to download, install, and maintain it yourself. Other Products like Volusion or Shopify are hosted, so they handle all the backend stuff and support.

Speaking of Shopify, that might be worth looking into. I've heard it's easier to use for non-dev people, but they also charge a transaction fee of their own, ON TOP of the standard payment gateway fees (authorize.net, paypal, etc).

You can try most of these services for free, though, so I would do that before making a decision.

In late, but I hope this helps...

I use Volusion and can confirm that.  If you aren't handy with website development, you'll want to hire an outside consultant to help you get up and running.  Once running, it's pretty easy to manage though in terms of processing sales, adding new products, ect.

Do you have it linked to something like quickbooks?  Trying to get opinions on how people like that, but I don't know many that use something like that.

I think I am going to recommend volusion, but also get someone to consult to help get it set up.