Afrihost e-commerce hosting - R346.00 incl VAT

[Dolby]

Anyone use this?

I see it includes quite a few things http://support.afrihost.com/index.php?_m=knowledgebase&_a=viewarticle&kbarticleid=119

As a new guy with no knowledge, what I should look at?

These things grabbed my attention :

Package Features:
* BOOSTED WEB SPACE
* 750 MB Web Space
* UNLIMITED Traffic Transfer *
* FTP Account
* 24 hours x 7 days FTP access
* 10 Part Internet Business Course
* 10 MySQL databases
* PHP Support

And

Online Product Catalogue
Email Invoice System
Shopping Basket which allows buyer to choose two methods of payment:
Bank Deposit or Electronic Transfer
Credit Card acceptance through your own ABSA Merchant Account
Please note: You have to have your own ABSA Merchant Account
Wish List: Online Contact system
Full Administrator rights to create / edit / delete:
Categories and Sub-categories
Online Products - prices, specs, photos etc
Delivery Options
Structure of Email Invoices sent out
Configuration of look and feel of Online Store
Currency Charged

 

[IridiuM]

I would go with a Lusion Shift Package, but then again I am not quite impartial.

 

[Dolby]

That's not tailered towards e-commerce, though?

Also - I see in your signature you do payment gateway?

 

[IridiuM]

That's not tailered towards e-commerce, though?

Also - I see in your signature you do payment gateway?

Hi Dolby, we provide a professional hosting service. It would apply to any form of hosted site. We just don't offer a bunch of gimmicks to add value to our hosting. Any e-commerce platform can be hosted on our servers, both local and international. We do also allow scripts to be installed via Fantastico or Softaculous. Both of these contain various e-commerce solutions.

SnapBill is our online billing and service provisioning system. It facilitates payment for recurring or subscription based services. We do have clients using SnapBill as a payment platform for client orders even though it was never created for this .

 

[davemc]

Afrihost's offering does not seem to include any encryption certificates, it looks like a plain old attempt to re-sell ABSA merchant accounts under a different guise.
I would like to add though, I have been waiting for an answer on an AfriHost-Gold hosting configuration issue for 9 hours now, if I was running a web-shop with them I would be dead in the water.

 

[IridiuM]

Afrihost's offering does not seem to include any encryption certificates, it looks like a plain old attempt to re-sell ABSA merchant accounts under a different guise.
I would like to add though, I have been waiting for an answer on an AfriHost-Gold hosting configuration issue for 9 hours now, if I was running a web-shop with them I would be dead in the water.

True davemc.

9 Hours is insane, but then again they don't just specialise in hosting anymore. We almost always respond in less than 5 minutes. Then again we much smaller.

 

[AntiThesis]

Beware the * with Afrihost. Note that Unlimited doesn't mean Unlimited - it means 2gb of hosting on an SA server and then you're either forced to pay for more or move to an internationally hosted server.
They used to be pretty cool actually - I hosted with them for ages. Now it's all Texo, all the time. Haven't found anyone even approaching them yet.

 

[ld13]

Never used those, got a few sites hosted with them though - I never go for the "ecommerce" packages... any hosting account can handle ecommerce sites.

Just have to add ... 24 hours x 7 days FTP access - seriously guys? Roflol. That is like selling you white print paper, and using the fact that you can write/print on it as a selling point.

 

[Dolby]

Ah - that's why I love MyADSL ... see through the BS and help me along

Thanks!

 

[SilverNodashi]

Just have to add ... 24 hours x 7 days FTP access - seriously guys? Roflol. That is like selling you white print paper, and using the fact that you can write/print on it as a selling point.

It might be funny to you but many non-technical clients do infact ask if they get 247 FTP access, since FTP was limited a few years ago with many hosting companies.

 

[An Infernal Spawn of Evil]

That package is a joke!

Go to hostgator.com, bluehost.com or anybody else who provides cpanel with fantastico. Install Zen Cart or Os Commerce with 2 or 3 mouse clicks. Badabing... you've got everything Afrihost offers in their so called "extended package" and a thousand times more with none of the restrictions at a fraction of the cost.

Dolby, drop me a PM with your phone number and I'll give you a call - You've stated in a few threads that you're trying to earn some passive, residual income. There is too much to answer in a forum thread but in about 10 minutes on the phone I'll tell you how to get set up for the minimum cost (even free if you want, but it's not totally recomended) and avoind all the usual sharks and pitfalls. I have about 60 sites, so I've been through all of this many times!

 

[meanster]

hetzner.co.za and use any hosting package that has php and download oscommerce from oscommerce.com its open source and probly same as afrihost use in their package. then you can check templatemonster.com for better looking shop. use paypal for payment gate way

 

[jonno_081]

Here are my thoughts... As mentioned, any hosting account with php / mysql etc can handle ecommerce... Why not rather pay < R50 per month for hosting (cough cough see signature link)... and hire a developer to do a custom cart / or modify an open source one? Will have a higher initial cost, but over the long term you wouldn't be forking out R350 every month!