I’m updating a Rapidweaver 5 site that originally used Payloom for a small online store to Rapidweaver 8. Payloom doesn’t exist anymore. I’d love to use Cartloom, but this site sells a few hundred dollars of goods at the most, and there would be no way to justify a $19.95 monthly expenditure. From what I can deduce, Cartloom no longer offers a free version for low-volume stores. What would be a good alternative for this site? Thanks!
ecwid
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Thanks. Ecwid seems to limit you to 10 products on its free plan. After that you pay $15 a month for up to 100 products. This site sells more than 10 products, so it would be at the same price point as Cartloom. I’d really like to find something that you just buy and not have to pay monthly subscription prices.
There’s a reason that eCommerce sites like Cartloom charge a recurring fee. It helps pay for bandwidth usage, integrations with services like PayPal, Stripe, etc (and keeping up with those when PayPal or Stripe change their API and such), services like their in-built ability to email customers updates, and sooooooo much more. Not to mention it helps to make sure that they can further develop and maintain the service making it better over time. It is honestly a steal at that cost, IMHO.
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I have no quarrel with the recurring fee as a concept, but it doesn’t make sense to pay more annually than the profits generated by the sales. I think Cartloom used to have a low-volume model wherein they charged 2 % for each sale generated, and that would be perfect for my needs. That would also fund their infrastructure and future development, but I assume there was a business reason why it was discontinued. In any case, thanks for your thoughts.
You could have a look at RapidCart Pro. The learning curve is quite a bit, and the support has been spotty in the past.
The ECWID is $12.50 a month for 100 products(if paid annually).
If you can’t make $12.50 a month why are you even bothering?
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Although I would still recommend Ecwid, especially if you are developing a site for a client, where they can upload their products etc, and with use of the Axyn Ecwid Stacks, you have a total control of the look and layout of the site, even if the client does something strange on the Ecwid panel, check my website for more information, and some promotional offers:
https://axyn.com/site/products/ecwid
But, if you must choose something without a recurring fee, then I would suggest Rapidcart Pro from 4gnd.com
I hope this helps,
Ricardo
If they charge you just 2% of your sales then they wouldn’t be making enough to support their infrastructure, as you’re saying their current rate is more than you’re bringing in.
So for comparison, lets say the monthly rate is $20… Over 12 months that’s $240.
If your sales are say, $500 for the year, and they take just 2%, that is just $10. I don’t know how they’d ever be expected to pay for bandwidth, improve the service, keep up with the latest APIs from payment providers, etc, etc on $10 per account vs the $240 they’ve obviously decided they need in order to run their business and feed themselves.
As I said before, there’s a reason companies charge for products and services. It isn’t that they’re being greedy, but that they need to operate and maintain these services. I think the cost is well worth it. I don’t have to deal with any of the backend payment processor stuff, I get really prompt and helpful service and much more. Just my 2 cents.
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Well, thanks for the business model input! I’m “bothering” because this particular site isn’t intended to make money–it’s intended to provide the chance to buy niche products for a very small community about which I care personally. Not everything comes down to dollars and cents, you know.
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PaySnap looks like exactly what I need. Is it new? Why has nobody mentioned it? Thanks!
Going to check it out 
PaySnap works with “only” a PayPal business account, it is PayPal that offers a per transaction fee instead of monthly fee. Ecwid seems to be a good solution for sites offering only up to 10 products with a free offer (and no support then), whereas PayPal apparently has a working business model on a per transaction basis (like CC companies) - that seems to fit your requirements much better.
Would be interesting to hear later, how it has worked out.
Thanks. All we use is PayPal, so PaySnap should work fine. I appreciate everyone’s input here!
Never say never, PaySnap with Stripe support 🤯 coming next week!
— Yabdab Inc. (@yabdab) February 25, 2020
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Try PaySnap…I love it
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Ecwid can be more flexible than just the ten item limit. They offer variations of products so, if you’re creative in what your 10 items are, you can stretch that free account a little further.
It sounds like paysnap will suit the bill but just an FYI.
Thanks! This site is selling books–it’s a small, independent publisher–so it would probably be hard to think of creative variations to cut down on the official number of products. But in any case, I appreciate the tip!
If you are only using PayPal, at a a low number of sales, why then not using PayPal buttons?
Or paddle if it’s digital?