Just to go back on topic and not he ethics of the ordering system. Zen Cart have an option where people “can pick up instore”.

Replace the words in the English file from

“Buy Now” to “Order now”

Change to a couple images giving the impression or ordering not buying.

And option to pay instore.

Can’t see any great difficulty in customising it to the way you want it. I would’ent look for id cards just the order confirmation would do

I am a small bit annoyed now. I had a beautifully crafted reply written at work and then the Windows Updates started, so i um lost it.

Yah, completely agree. The operation will still be running small though. My biggest concern at the moment is that "da boss" has requested that we provide as good a support as possible. So our prices won't be as competitive as play.com or similar, but then again, even if we had brutal support, we still couldn't compete with them.

Also, we can't provide support to someone is Wexford, Waterford, Cork, or Dublin, if the mothership is in West Mayo.
Good example, and i completely agree. But do you think that the process there that you have described wouldn't be at all intimidating for someone less tech savvy? (Just wondering )

Good to hear positive stuff!

To be more than honest, dont really like oscommerce. It's good, it's got great functions and everything, but I just dont think it's the baby for me.

Thank you lottoplus for that. Even though I must admit, the advice I have been given is helpful to say the least. And even when people described the way that i was doing it as jumping through hoops, it suddenly made me think, maybe the process I am making is silly. The way, i am considering now, is a comprimise as to what my original plans were, but I really like them.

Regarding your recommendation for Zen cart, I actually do like Zen Cart, very much so. However, been fussy, would I be able to do similar on Magento, because I really like that, and the code seems very novice friendly.

If I was just providing a basic system where people would order/reserve and collect their products, I would have had to rip out the shopping cart(credit card payment terminal), and the self-registration system out of the equation, and I know people will say that that is like removing the scaffolding poles from the bottom, making the actually face of the software vulnerable to security threats, etc. but now, I think I'm just going to leave everything there, and merely set up an online system, with the *option* for collection.

The ecommerce store we will be creating will only be promoted around west mayo anyway - people within driving distance. BUT we will provide the option to ship to people further away. Currently the best we have down in the west at the moment are the massive supermarket computer giants like Curry's who are often criticised for their lack of after sales support, Maplins (who are a good company, but their are based only in Galway city) and a few dribs and drabs of other places around the place - like us.

@ Lottoplus - I am looking at three ecommerce options; Magento, Zen Cart, and oscommerce (..... listed in order of how much I like them).

Magento looks nice but ... from wikipedia on it

I'm actually doing a zen cart install for one client at the moment and I'm kinda loving it.

What I like about it I have to admit is that everything seems to be in there. I don't have to go hacking too much stuff or so it would seem.

osCommerce became a complete nightmare before I was looking at CRELoaded ... but didn't feel like something that would contain adverts? (free version)

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Please correct me if i am wrong but is zen cart not an offspin of oscommerce.

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Yep it is ... but its a version that contains a LOT of the features you want straight out of the box. OSCommerce requires a HELL of a lot of hacking.

ZenCart .. seems to be semi stable as well OSCommerce seems to be in a constant alpha stage of development.

I've used both now ... and ZenCart is a dream in comparison. (I'd used Zen Cart in the past and have to admit I wasn't that impressed ... I installed it yesterday and was semi blown away ... by what its offering)

Thanks Forb, saved me actually doing some research.
Thats Magento off the cards now.

Yep, noticed that when i was looking at the code believe it or not. One is based on the other, however the interface and features arealmost completely different.

Yah. Zen Cart is nifty enough.... well i'm going with that then well so...

thanks for the replies!
nev.

I'd say if you've got the time verify that for yourself ... don't blame me at a future date

Think I've come across around 10 flavours of OSCommerce ... some commercial ... some hacks with modules and so on... and thats without really looking for them in the past ... just looked at the source ... and went ... this looks familar

Don't worry. I'll just blame you anyway.

Happens all the time with other software and I'm not surprised it's the same with the ecommerce apps...

Hey,

Another quick question:

To create the "Terms and Conditions", "Privacy Policy", etc. : Is it a solicitor job only or would I be able to get a modifiable template online?

In the past for various sites I've used modified T&C and privacy policys I've found. From a legal point of view though I'm not sure how good they'd be. If in doubt get a solicator to do one up. Though that'll end up setting you back a few hundred more than likely.