Types of Platforms in This Guide
- Copy-and-Pastable Buttons – Buttons to add ecommerce functionality to any pre-existing website
- Embedded Shopping Carts – A shopping cart for any pre-existing website which gives the illusion of being on your website when it’s actually hosted by someone else
- Hosted Shopping Carts – A standalone ecommerce website
- WordPress Plugins – Shopping cart plugins to add ecommerce functionality to pre-existing WordPress blogs
Copy-and-Pastable Buttons
Do you have a pre-existing website you would like to start selling from?
If you only have a few products to sell or your stock does not change often, “Buy” or “Add to Cart” buttons might be the quickest and easiest solution for you. Using them is about as simple as copy-and-pasting some code wherever you would like a button displayed.
All the technical aspects– creating the payment form, and ensuring that it is secure– are handled for you, as your customer is taken to the button provider’s site for checkout (this is called “hosted checkout”).
Just keep in mind that product pages are not automatically created for you through this method. You are required to set up the page that sells your product, that you’ll then copy-and-paste the button into.
The table below compares popular services of this kind but does not account for the costs or requirements of your pre-existing domain name, web hosting, and/or website software– just those of the e-commerce functionality you’d be adding.
 Live Example Sites: Nice Ops: Freshly Implemented, Aspire & Grow, Laura C George |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Cost | Also Requires | Brandability / Professionalism | Main Pros | Main Cons | Automated Digital Product Delivery | Extra Features |
|
2.9% + 30¢ per credit card transaction
(Though I always end up paying a few cents more in fees to PayPal than I do with other services claiming the same numbers. Haven’t found anything concrete on this) |
Nothing |
PayPal’s default button graphic can be replaced with your own custom images
However, customers are transferred to the PayPal website for checkout |
PayPal is a widely recognized company
A lot of people prefer to pay with PayPal (/perceive it as more trust-worthy than other forms of payment) |
Again: takes your customer away from your site to checkout
Though most businesses have no trouble with PayPal there are a good many horror stories online— mostly in regards to having funds frozen unexpectedly |
No |
Invoicing
Credit card swiping device for in-person sales Subscription functionality (recurring payments) Donation functionality for verified non-profits |
 Live Example Sites: WePay’s own demo (Best I could find. If you know of one, please let me know so I can feature it.) |
| Total Cost | Also Requires | Brandability / Professionalism | Main Pros | Main Cons | Automated Digital Product Delivery | Extra Features |
|
2.9% + 30¢ per credit card transaction
1% + 30¢ per bank account transaction |
(US residence) | Because checkout takes place in a lightbox overlay on your website (like a popup but not its own window), it doesn’t give your customer the impression that they’ve left your site at all |
Checkout is slick and modern
Does everything PayPal does, thus making it a viable replacement (for the many people who dislike working with PayPal) |
Not all that popular yet, which I suppose is why I couldn’t find any live examples showing the buttons! | No |
Invoicing
Can take credit card numbers over the phone or in person Subscription functionality (recurring payments) Donation functionality – With a widget to publicly display progress towards a goal Event registration |
 Live Example Sites: Abby Kerr & The Voice Bureau, Hamptons Honey, Virtual Staff Finder |
| Total Cost | Also Requires | Brandability / Professionalism | Main Pros | Main Cons | Automated Digital Product Delivery | Extra Features |
|
$5/month and up
(This price is for 10 products and 50MB storage space) PayPal fees: 2.9% + 30¢ per credit card transaction |
PayPal account |
Typically pops up as a lightbox overlay on top of your site when an item is added to cart
Using the standard settings, however, it will take your customer to PayPal.com to go through the actual checkout process |
Is known for its automated digital goods delivery, though it will work for a mix of digital and physical products |
The seller’s admin space is dated-looking
Does not connect to many payment gateways other than PayPal |
Yes | Built-in affiliate tracking program so that others can promote your products and earn a commission on sales they send your way |
 Live Example Sites: ThinkTraffic (example button in post), Brandiing, CameraSim |
| Total Cost | Also Requires | Brandability / Professionalism | Main Pros | Main Cons | Automated Digital Product Delivery | Extra Features |
| 5% + 25¢ per credit card transaction | Nothing | The whole checkout process takes place in a lightbox overlay on your site, so your customer never has to leave | Delivers digital products expertly
Really smooth, professional checkout experience that looks great even without customization |
Not for physical products
The percentage cut may seem steep depending on how many sales you typically make |
Yes |
“Pay what you want” functionality
Choice between having your link open as an overlay over your site or a separate product page hosted by Gumroad Sales analytics |
 Live Example Sites: Etsy Pro, DEG Consulting, Sidestone Press |
| Total Cost | Also Requires | Brandability / Professionalism | Main Pros | Main Cons | Automated Digital Product Delivery | Extra Features |
|
$9/month and up (This price is for 10 products and 1GB storage space) PayPal or Stripe fees: typically 2.9% + 30¢ per credit card transaction |
A PayPal and/or Stripe account |
You can enable more than one payment gateway at a time. If you enable checkout with PayPal, your customer may leave to check out at PayPal.com
If you enable checkout with Stripe, your customer is taken to a SendOwl page for checkout that you can customize with CSS to match your own site |
Advanced features for digital product delivery
No added transaction fees on top of PayPal and Stripe’s cut |
Not ideal for physical products. Because SendOwl was built for digital delivery, they never worked out some of the kinks with shipping options | Yes |
Automatic license key generator for software sellers
Product bundles/packages Add email addresses to MailChimp or aWeber lists Subscriptions, PDF protection, and affiliate program included with $15/month accounts and up |
 Live Example Sites: Learn to Code Day, Nomiku, Dash Wallets |
| Total Cost | Also Requires | Brandability / Professionalism | Main Pros | Main Cons | Automated Digital Product Delivery | Extra Features |
|
2.5% per credit card transaction
PayPal or Stripe fees: 2.9% + 30¢ per credit card transaction OR $99/month PayPal or Stripe fees: 2.9% + 30¢ per credit card transaction |
PayPal or Stripe account | The entire checkout process takes place in a lightbox overlay on your site, so your customer never leaves your site |
Really slick, modern checkout
Good for someone selling a mix of physical and digital products |
On the expensive side, though if you regularly sell more than $1800/month, you’ll save by switching to the monthly option | Yes |
Pre-order functionality
Product variants (like sizes and colors) Choice between selling from an overlay on top of your site or a separate page hosted by ShopLocket |
 Live Example Sites: I couldn’t find any! If you know of one, please let me know so I can feature it here. |
| Total Cost | Also Requires | Brandability / Professionalism | Main Pros | Main Cons | Automated Digital Product Delivery | Extra Features |
|
2.9% + 30¢ per transaction over $10
5.0% + 5¢ per transaction under $10 |
US residence
Legal business name |
I believe it is a lightbox overlay but am not sure since there is no demo on their website or anywhere I have looked (can someone confirm?) |
Fee structure is designed to save you money on small payments (under $10)
Customers can choose to check out with their Amazon.com billing and shipping info |
Buttons can be used for purchasing one item at a time– no “add to cart” functionality
Requires a registered business name Also they hold a small reserve in case of chargebacks |
No | Customers can checkout using existing Amazon.com shipping and billing information |
 Live Example Sites: A screenshot on 2Checkout (Best I could find. If you know of one, please let me know so I can feature it.) |
| Total Cost | Also Requires | Brandability / Professionalism | Main Pros | Main Cons | Automated Digital Product Delivery | Extra Features |
|
2.9% + 30¢ per credit card transaction in the US
5.5% + 45¢ per transaction for sellers in other countries |
Nothing | You can choose between checkout that pops up as an overlay on your own site or a separate checkout page with colors of your choosing | There are a lot of features especially for international sellers, such as a wide variety of language and currency options |
Unfortunately,as much as 2Checkout likes to say they have no hidden fees, I don’t find them particular trustworthy
International sources online have said it can cost up to 8.5% in fees, and that sometimes another 5% goes into a special reserve that 2Checkout holds onto for a while |
No |
Invoicing
Subscription functionality (recurring payments) |
Embedded Shopping Carts (Currently Just One)
Do you have a pre-existing website you would like to start selling from?
If you have a a variety of products to sell (or a stock that changes frequently), an embedded shopping cart might be the quickest and easiest solution for you.
You simply copy-and-paste some code wherever you would like your store displayed on your pre-existing website. Once this code is on your site, an iframe (you may think of it like a window) appears, with your store inside.
This makes it look as though the store is on your website, though technically speaking, the store you see is hosted on someone else’s website. The illusion makes for a completely cohesive design, whereas the hosted checkout means you don’t have to deal with creating a payment form or securing it yourself.
The table below does not account for the costs or requirements of your pre-existing domain name, web hosting, and/or website software– just those of the e-commerce functionality you’d be adding.
 Live Example Sites: Hello Magpie, Embe Shop, K&K Broadway |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Cost | Also Requires | Brandability / Professionalism | Main Pros | Main Cons | Automated Digital Product Delivery | Extra Features |
|
FREE for under 10 products or $12.50/month for 100 products, unlimited storage, unlimited bandwidth
payment gateway fees: typically 2.9% + 30¢ per credit card transaction |
Payment gateway account, such as PayPal | Because the whole shopping experience is embedded right into your own site, your customer never leaves your website |
Can simultaneously display store on multiple websites
Inexpensive Very fast page load time |
Because the store is generated by AJAX code, it is hard to get products indexed in search engines (Instructions here)
Also I’m not a huge fan of the way categories are displayed before products– see examples |
No |
Product variations
Stock control Realtime shipping quotes Tracking code on “Thank you for your order” page (Full list here) |
Hosted Shopping Carts
A hosted shopping cart is its own standalone website, therefore you’re not required to have a pre-existing one already online.
(However, if you do have a pre-existing site, you can easily make your shop and blog design look reasonably similar and just link them to each other in your navigation bar, so it seems like one cohesive site. For example: Megan Auman – using WordPress and Big Cartel)
How you use your hosted shopping cart account will be similar to how you use your Facebook account– when you sign up, you’ll get a login username and password, and a default website will be there for you to fill in and customize. You never have to see web code if you don’t want to.
With hosted shopping carts, a recurring monthly hosting fee is to be expected.
 Live Example Sites: Magical Game Time, So Worth Loving, CXXVI, Hard Graft, Tattly |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Cost | Also Requires | Brandability / Professionalism | Main Pros | Main Cons | Automated Digital Product Delivery | Extra Features |
|
Domain name
$29/month and up (This price is for 100 products, 1GB storage, unlimited bandwidth) 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction |
Nothing if you use Shopify’s own payment gateway | Your design is 100% brandable |
A reputation for having the most gorgeous e-commerce themes anywhere
Slick, modern admin area I see a lot of sellers switch to Shopify after trying other platforms |
Doesn’t come with some of the advanced features built-in that others have
Add-on apps can become pricey |
Yes, with a paid app |
Built-in blog functionality
Credit card swiping device for in-person sales Analytics (Full list here) |
 Live Example Sites: Megan Auman Studios, Bandito Design Co, Jessica Hische, Creepy Cute |
| Total Cost | Also Requires | Brandability / Professionalism | Main Pros | Main Cons | Automated Digital Product Delivery | Extra Features |
|
Domain name
FREE for under 5 products, with 1 image each, and bigcartel.com URL or $9.99/month and up (This price is for 25 products, 3 images each, your own URL) PayPal fees: 2.9% + 30¢ per credit card transaction |
A PayPal account | Your design is 100% brandable |
Very simple and straight-forward
Good-looking minimalist free themes that can be customized with HTML/CSS if you like |
Limits on number of product images
Bare bones store functionality |
Yes, beginning at an extra $6/month | Inventory tracking |
 Live Example Sites: Thirty Seven West, Torie & Howard, Revolution |
| Total Cost | Also Requires | Brandability / Professionalism | Main Pros | Main Cons | Automated Digital Product Delivery | Extra Features |
|
Domain name
$24.95/month and up (This price is for 100 products, 1GB storage) Payment gateway fees: 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction |
Nothing if you use Bigcommerce’s own payment gateway and shared SSL certificate | Your design is 100% brandable |
Most advanced store functionality built-in
Beautiful store designs that rival Shopify’s and can be customized with HTML/CSS |
Your own SSL certificate costs extra
The admin space can be a bit overwhelming I have heard that Bigcommerce was caught employing false advertising / endorsement, which has tainted my opinion of them since :/ |
Yes |
Product image zoom
Product reviews Advanced product options Advanced rules to control pricing, weight and availability of products (Full list here) |
 Live Example Sites: Jesika Jack, Ear Jeans, Vintage Renewal |
| Total Cost | Also Requires | Brandability / Professionalism | Main Pros | Main Cons | Automated Digital Product Delivery | Extra Features |
|
Domain name
$4.95/month for 10 products, 2 images each, indiemade.com URL or $12.95/month for 100 products, 4 images each, your own URL PayPal fees: 2.9% + 30¢ per credit card transaction |
A PayPal account | Your design is 100% brandable |
Simple and straightforward
Features meant especially for crafters |
Template designs are one of the least polished out of the platforms I’ve profiled
Limits on number of product images Bare bones store functionality |
Yes |
Simple blog
Image galleries Event calendar |
 Live Example Sites: Noirlu, Dolly Dynamite, Mucho |
| Total Cost | Also Requires | Brandability / Professionalism | Main Pros | Main Cons | Automated Digital Product Delivery | Extra Features |
|
Domain name
FREE if you use a storenvy.com URL or $5/month to use your own URL, unlimited products with 5 images each either way PayPal fees: 2.9% + 30¢ per credit card transaction |
A PayPal account | Your customer is taken to a Storenvy page for checkout— modern and neat, but nonetheless Storenvy-branded |
Very inexpensive
Free default theme looks great since the last update, plus it can be customized with HTML/CSS Can have your products seen through the attached Storenvy marketplace in addition to having your own branded store website |
Not everyone wants their products to show up in a marketplace like Storenvy’s
Storenvy-branded checkout Discount codes are an extra $5/month |
Yes, with a paid app |
“Envy” and “Watch Store” buttons for marketplace shoppers
Inventory tracking Facebook store |
 Live Example Sites: Luke’s Lobster |
| Total Cost | Also Requires | Brandability / Professionalism | Main Pros | Main Cons | Automated Digital Product Delivery | Extra Features |
|
$24/month when purchased for the year, $30/month month-to-month (This price is for unlimited products, unlimited storage, unlimited bandwidth) Stripe fees: 2.9% + 30¢ per credit card transaction |
US or Canada residence, Stripe account | Your design is 100% brandable | Built for the design-minded with beautiful themes, store templates, free Typekit fonts, in-browser image editor, etc. |
Squarespace Commerce is bare bones when it comes to actual store functionality
In my research I came across several Squarespace sites linking up a Shopify store instead of using Squarespace Commerce to get more shipping options, etc. |
Yes |
Full-featured blog
Slick gallery displays Portfolio functionality Calendars Free Typekit fonts (Full list here) |
 Live Example Sites: Swoon Jewelry Studios, Nalgene, Walls 360, Rosenthal |
| Total Cost | Also Requires | Brandability / Professionalism | Main Pros | Main Cons | Automated Digital Product Delivery | Extra Features |
|
Domain name
$15/month and up Payment gateway fee: 2.17% per credit card transaction SSL certificate: $79/year |
A payment gateway like PayPal unless your application allows you to use Volusion’s
An SSL certificate if you don’t want to use Volusion’s shared one |
Your design is 100% brandable |
Most advanced store functionality built-in
The company was one of the original hosted shopping carts |
Free templates are not as polished as some other platforms’
The overuse of tables in their web code is out of date and can potentially slow your site down Your own SSL certificate costs extra and it’s a pricey one, there’s a large $99 one-time fee for applying an SSL you bought somewhere else You could potentially rack up extra bandwidth fees if you got a huge surge of traffic, though they are secretive regarding the details of these fees on their public-facing website |
No |
Product image zoom
Advanced product options Daily deals Customer wish lists (Full list here) |
 Live Example Sites: Oth, The Grain Mill, Vizi Di Gola |
| Total Cost | Also Requires | Brandability / Professionalism | Main Pros | Main Cons | Automated Digital Product Delivery | Extra Features |
|
Domain name
$15/month and up Payment gateway fee: 2.9% + 30¢ per credit card transaction |
A payment gateway account like PayPal
An SSL certificate if you don’t want to use Magento Go’s shared one |
Your design is 100% brandable |
Magento is a respected name in e-commerce
Lots of advanced features |
You’re own SSL certificate costs extra– and the ones they offer are very pricey, $99 fee for buying it somewhere else
Magento Go appears at times to possibly be resting on its laurels, because its name comes from one of the world’s most popular enterprise-level shopping carts One of the six real-life example sites on the front page has now switched over to Shopify |
No |
Product image zoom
Advanced discount rules Recently viewed Gift cards (Full list here) |
WordPress Plugins
Do you have a pre-existing WordPress website you would like to start selling from?
While copy-and-pastable buttons or an embedded shopping cart might work for you, another option is a shopping cart plugin made specifically for WordPress.
This route works best for those who have a variety of items to sell or a stock that changes frequently, and who don’t mind their ecommerce operation using the same internal WordPress notification and login systems as their blog.
The table below compares popular services of this kind but does not account for the costs or requirements of your pre-existing domain name and web hosting– just those of the e-commerce functionality you’d be adding.
 Live Example Sites: Pincurl Girls, Betty Octopus, Bundle & Stow |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Cost | Also Requires | Brandability / Professionalism | Main Pros | Main Cons | Automated Digital Product Delivery | Extra Features |
| $39 one-time flat fee | A live Etsy shop |
Streams your Etsy shop items onto your WordPress site, giving them the appearance of being for sale through your own website
When a product thumbnail is clicked, a single product page is auto-generated, complete with description text, shipping table, and “Add to Cart” button When the “Add to Cart” button is clicked, the customer is directed to Etsy.com to pay |
Copy-and-paste, ready-in-seconds easy
A helpful jumpstart for your WordPress site content-wise, so you direct people there instead of to your Etsy.com URL Bridges the gap between needing your own site but not being ready for your own shopping cart yet Updates as your Etsy shop updates Customizable with CSS |
Dependent on your Etsy shop to display products | No |
 Live Example Sites: Cozilee, Wise Blue Lotus, Laura C George |
| Total Cost | Also Requires | Brandability / Professionalism | Main Pros | Main Cons | Automated Digital Product Delivery | Extra Features |
|
FREE
Payment gateway fees: typically 2.9% + 30¢ per credit card transaction |
A PayPal account | Your design is 100% brandable |
Free!?
Actively updated by the WooThemes team Gorgeous compatible WordPress themes are available (free and paid) Comes with some pretty thoughtful, detailed features |
Getting it to look good can be very easy or very difficult depending on the theme you’re using– must give it a whirl to find out
Might be more complex than a lot of sellers need Requires a paid extension and SSL certificate to use a payment gateway other than PayPal A lot of advanced functionality requires paid extensions $50+ |
Yes |
Customer can sort by price, rating, recency, or popularity
Stock management Automated thumbnail size options Product ratings Site-wide store notice text Can ensure there’s no way around the secure “https” checkout |
 Live Example Sites: Loot + Law, Mimal’s, Slavna |
| Total Cost | Also Requires | Brandability / Professionalism | Main Pros | Main Cons | Automated Digital Product Delivery | Extra Features |
|
FREE
Payment gateway fees: typically 2.9% + 30¢ per credit card transaction |
A payment gateway account like PayPal | Your design is 100% brandable |
Can purchase priority support at $39.99/month if you need it
They provide a live demo on their site, complete with admin login, so you can kick the tires before you commit |
Not compatible with the Disqus comment system or the NIVO slider
A lot of advanced functionality requires paid extensions $50+ Isn’t known to well with every WordPress theme out-of-the-box |
Yes |
Sale scheduling
Related products Reviews |
 Live Example Sites: Artios, Pure Nintendo, Identity Web Host |
| Total Cost | Also Requires | Brandability / Professionalism | Main Pros | Main Cons | Automated Digital Product Delivery | Extra Features |
|
$25/month or $199/year
Payment gateway fees: typically 2.9% + 30¢ per credit card transaction |
A payment gateway account like PayPal | Your design is 100% brandable | Cart66 embeds the checkout pages into your site (so they look like part of your site, even though they are hosted by Cart66)– so you don’t need to worry about an SSL certificate or security of any kind | Not very much information on Cart66’s website about how to customize the cart’s buttons and design elements with HTML/CSS, though it appears possible | Yes |
Invoicing
Customer follow-up messages Membership Recurring billing |
 Live Example Sites: I couldn’t find any! If you know of one, please let me know so I can feature it here. |
| Total Cost | Also Requires | Brandability / Professionalism | Main Pros | Main Cons | Automated Digital Product Delivery | Extra Features |
|
$19 one-time flat fee
Payment gateway fees: Typically 2.9% + 30¢ per credit card transaction |
Payment gateway account like PayPal | I believe that checkout is a popup overlay over your site |
Has a dedicated team of WordPress experts working on the plugin
Integrates with the BuddyPress and Multisite plugins– which means you could theoretically build your own marketplace à la Etsy or Ebay if you put all of this software together and had the help of a web developer |
I had this plugin a while ago, and it would NOT stop flashing a big red notification in my WordPress admin area telling me to upgrade to an ongoing membership with WPMU Dev. I don’t know if it’s a good service or not, but I found this very misleading since buying the single plugin for a flat fee was the option presented
You only get upgrades of the plugin (including bug fixes) for a short period of time when you’re not an ongoing member |
Yes |
Stock management
Customizable URLS Lots of shortcodes, widgets, and customization options that require no coding |
 Live Example Sites: Dawn Jackson Blatner, Journeys of the Spirit, lightspeed |
| Total Cost | Also Requires | Brandability / Professionalism | Main Pros | Main Cons | Automated Digital Product Delivery | Extra Features |
|
FREE to display 1 image per product, $47 for Gold Cart upgrade that allows multiple product images
Payment gateway fees: typically 2.9% + 30¢ per credit card transaction |
A payment gateway account like PayPal | Your design is 100% brandable |
One of the oldest and most well-known e-commerce plugins for WordPress
Has a large library of documentation and tutorials |
Has a reputation for being a little clunky and a huge hassle to customize, as just HTML/CSS won’t do it– you’ll need some PHP knowledge as well
You’ll need an SSL certificate to secure the payment form as it will be on your own site, not theirs |
No |
Flexible coupon/discount pricing rules
Multi-tier pricing for quantity discounts Search Engine Friendly URLs Cross-sells on product pages (Full list here) |
Disclaimer
Unfortunately, I can’t guarantee that all of my information is accurate or complete. The last update was made on 9/5/13, though services like these will always be evolving.
I have used affiliate links in this post, so if you sign up for any of these services I will get a commission. Nonetheless, my reviews are always my 100% honest feelings.