Creating your own website vs 3rd party to sell stuff

[InternetSwag]

Hi guys, I have a small business idea that I'd like to see if I can up and running.

Is it better to use a website like shopify or wix or to make your own and have it hosted by a company?

I'm not some genius web developer but I at least know html5 and css.

 

[WAslayer]

Hi guys, I have a small business idea that I'd like to see if I can up and running.

Is it better to use a website like shopify or wix or to make your own and have it hosted by a company?

I'm not some genius web developer but I at least know html5 and css.

If you know html5 and CSS, do it yourself.. You would probably find yourself very quickly limited to specific options and features using services like Wix or Shopify..

 

[Bryn]

Hi guys, I have a small business idea that I'd like to see if I can up and running.

Is it better to use a website like shopify or wix or to make your own and have it hosted by a company?

I'm not some genius web developer but I at least know html5 and css.

I'm not generally a fan of such services, but Shopify is really good and has excellent integrations for South Africans. uAfrica and PayFast support it enthusiastically (and have several meetups and conferences every year relating to the ecosystem of them and Shopify), so you're covered for the most important stuff like couriers and payments. Had you created your account a few months ago using the uAfrica referral link you'd have received 0% transaction fees from Shopify, grandfathered for life, but that's gone now. Even so, fees are 2%, 1% or 0.5% depending on your account and it's still worth it imo. The hosting is indestructible and very fast with unlimited storage.

Premium themes cost $180 but are seriously comprehensive. Editing with HTML and CSS is straightforward. What it really comes down to is whether you have an eye for good design. If you don't then no solution on Earth will produce a good result by your own hand and you should involve at least one other person who you can work with closely.

 

[RedViking]

My opinion: Do yourself a favour and start with Shopify or something similar. Keep it simple. Get it going.

You won't have time to worry about making stuff work, getting good designs, all the technical stuff. Rather focus on your business, have the products organised, finances sorted and orders fulfilled in a timely manner.

Once everything is running well you can worry about the fancy stuff.

This is just what I noticed with my sister who started an online shop.

 

[patrick123]

My opinion: Do yourself a favour and start with Shopify or something similar. Keep it simple. Get it going.

You won't have time to worry about making stuff work, getting good designs, all the technical stuff. Rather focus on your business, have the products organised, finances sorted and orders fulfilled in a timely manner.

Once everything is running well you can worry about the fancy stuff.

This is just what I noticed with my sister who started an online shop.

+1

 

[animal531]

My opinion: Do yourself a favour and start with Shopify or something similar. Keep it simple. Get it going.

You won't have time to worry about making stuff work, getting good designs, all the technical stuff. Rather focus on your business, have the products organised, finances sorted and orders fulfilled in a timely manner.

Once everything is running well you can worry about the fancy stuff.

This is just what I noticed with my sister who started an online shop.

Exactly. You're trying to create something to sell, not to create a platform to sell things on.
Use existing tools until they no longer fit you (and you've grown 100x) before thinking about doing it yourself.

 

[Thor]

Wordpress + WooCommerce should be enough -- a metric ton of tutorials available.

 

[Batista]

Pm me your idea..I'l give you an estimate based on what its supposed to do.

 

[RedViking]

Wordpress + WooCommerce should be enough -- a metric ton of tutorials available.

Even this can take some effort. Going through tutorials etc. Getting woocommerce to work, getting payments to work.. I won't suggest it to start with. Rather get a simple, online store package, all payment portals are set up etc.

Also remember if you get someone to do your website for you, you always gonna have to rely on them and phone them when you need something to be done. In the beginning that will cost you extra money you can rather use to invest in your products. And if that person suddenly starts charging more or mess up, you will have too start again looking for a solution.....

 

[Bryn]

Wordpress + WooCommerce should be enough -- a metric ton of tutorials available.

The amount of time that would take vs. a Shopify solution is vastly more though. And you can be sure it won't look as professional coming from someone mostly just comfortable with HTML and CSS and not looking to invest their life in the development of a website. Not to mention how easy Shopify makes adding advanced features through apps. With Shopify there are a lof of concerns regarding an online business that simply stop being concerns thanks to how robust it is.

 

[namzsteve]

DIY is the way these days.

Anyways, this

My opinion: Do yourself a favour and start with Shopify or something similar. Keep it simple. Get it going.

You won't have time to worry about making stuff work, getting good designs, all the technical stuff. Rather focus on your business, have the products organised, finances sorted and orders fulfilled in a timely manner.

Once everything is running well you can worry about the fancy stuff.

This is just what I noticed with my sister who started an online shop.