need a website

[graciesmumis41]

I am looking for a good place to start my on website to sell the crafts that I make, does anyone know of free or cheap places that I could get started?

Becky

[Audrey]

Becky,

May I offer a customers perspective? If you wanted to buy a quilt (I don't know what you sell), and you had to search blindly for someone who sells quilts, who would you buy from? The person with a freebie handmade website, or the personal domain, professionally done website?

My site is hosted by godaddy.com They are great. They are only $3.99 per month if you pay month to month, $3.19 if you pay for a year up front.

With the free websites, you have zero control over what type of ads will pop up on your site.

My two cents,

Audrey :)
http://www.scrapping-made-simple.com

[Mommyland]

I completly agree. I personally wont give more then a second on any of the 'free' pages especially if its to buy something or if Im looking for how to make money at home. you need to spend a little money to make any.


If you selling things Most (if not all) Hosts have shopping carts you can upload the pic the discription and the price and its there.

I personally host my own sites but I dont have a site builder or anything like that.

Good Luck sweetie.

[deelynna]

You could try ioffer. http://www.ioffer.com. It is a site similar to how Ebay isrun except you set one price and there is no bidding. Howeverr buyers can make an offer if they wish. You can post pictures, start message boards, design your storefront, etc. I think it is much easier than trying to start a website completely from scratch. I used to sell paperbacks there and I did really well. If you accept payment through paypal only then you can print a shipping label from paypal. I think it is very convenient.

[Heike]

Hi Becky,

there are some great sites out there that are free, but they post ads. I used www.freewebs.com for one of my sites, then eventually paid for hosting $45 a year to get rid of the ads. But it works well if you are just looking for a place to show your wares. Plus, they have great, easy templates.

I am not hosting my site with www.thewritershost.com. Her small packages are very affordable, and the tech support is EXCELLENT!! I will be hosting my daughter's site there also, the small packages are perfect for that.

I register all my domains at www.registerfly.com, but there are zillion places to do this. This is just where I have all my domains, I tend to stay with what I know ;).

Good luck!
Heike

[Heike]

BTW, I agree that "ad" pages are not the greatest when you are selling stuff, but when money is tight, or there is no money, I think getting the wares out there for people to see is priority. I traded my very first website design for products I was selling because someone really liked them.

Good luck!
Heike

[AngelaS]

Hi Becky,

For starters, your best bet is going to be with www.1and1.com. They offer not only affordable web hosting (most are as little as 3.99/month) but they also throw in your domain name as well with 6-months pre-paid hosting. They also have a very user-friendly (especially for first-timers) interface for setting up the site, shopping cart, displaying your products, etc. Check it out and let me know what you think!

Sincerely,
Angela Strosnider
VP Moms Network

[momsnet]

MomZone.com (part of MomsNetwork) offers both domain registration and website hosting. With the hosting you get a ton of freebies that you can install with just a click (message boards, shopping cart, chat rooms, counters, guestbooks, content management systems, unlimited email accounts and more)
you can see all this at http://www.momzone.com/domains.html for domain registration and http://www.momzone.com/hosting.html for hosting.

Whooever you go with - do make sure that you get your own domain - it gives you more of a sense of professionalism and something that you will always own. Easier for biz cards, promo items etc.