Full shopping cart is coming

[ibaker]

Just to let other XF owners know, I have commissioned a 3rd party developer to create an addon that integrates user registration and login between XF and the CS-Cart shopping cart software.

CS-Cart is a very powerful and comprehensive shopping cart application that is full of features for you to sell physical and downloaded products. It is many payment gateways, shipping calculators, full inventory control and much more. I have been running CS-Cart from when it was first released some 10 years ago and can be seen at www.clearprop.com.au plus you can find out more at https://www.cs-cart.com

The addon will sync XF users with CS-Cart so when a user registers in either XF or CS-Cart they are registered in both and the same goes for when a user logs in on either they are logged in in both.

The addon is costing a lot of money so I will offer it for purchase by other XF owners.

I am looking for an XF developer who would like to take ownership of it and maintain it for all. They would keep all income from sales of it after my initial investment is recouped. Please let me know if you are interested.

XF does not have a full shopping cart addon and CS-Cart is more powerful than what a developer would create as an addon for XF so this is an opportunity to bring such a powerful solution to al XF owners which I believe is in high demand

 

[Joeychgo]

I'm interested but the CS software is quite expensive. If im reading this right, its $385 per license and another $160 a year for upgrades. Then your addon cost would be on top of that.

 

[ibaker]

It is expensive compared to a very basic shopping cart software but when you compare what it has it is the cheapest. For exmple I looked at Open Cart which is free however like all others the basic software is free but by the time you buy the payment gateway, the shipping module, an addon or 2 you have passed the cost of CS-Cart which has it all already built in making it cheaper overall. There are some 50 addons already included like Google components, wish lists, product compare, etc etc etc

 

[Digital Doctor]

its $385 per license and another $160 a year for upgrades.

So $160 a year for a great full-featured Shopping Cart can be either expensive or crazy cheap. Depends how serious you are .



Now that is what you call eCommerce !

 

[Joeychgo]

So $160 a year for a great full-featured Shopping Cart can be either expensive or crazy cheap. Depends how serious you are

$385 up front + $160 a year for upgrades/support after that. + addons + the cost of the XF bridge + the cost of having a custom them designed to match your XF site.

It is expensive compared to a very basic shopping cart software but when you compare what it has it is the cheapest.

Im sure its very good software -- I just wonder how many forums could really afford it based on how much they sell..

 

[Alpha1]

I'm interested but the CS software is quite expensive. If im reading this right, its $385 per license and another $160 a year for upgrades. Then your addon cost would be on top of that.

Thats really quite cheap for a good shopping cart. I see the license includes several front ends. So you can run multiple sites with it.
X-Cart $495
BigCommerce $29-$199 per month.
Magento Enterprise $50,000 - $90,000
Shopify $29 - $299 per month

@ibaker will we be able to see shopping cart orders on xf profile?
I'm sure that forum members would start posting about what they bought. Staff would need to be able to see what order it is about.

 

[ibaker]

@ibaker will we be able to see shopping cart orders on xf profile?
I'm sure that forum members would start posting about what they bought. Staff would need to be able to see what order it is about.

That's not in the initial bridge however this is why I am offering it to an XF developer to maintain and enhance it so XF owners can have an input to its further development

$385 up front + $160 a year for upgrades/support after that. + addons + the cost of the XF bridge + the cost of having a custom them designed to match your XF site.

There really isn't any further addons the average person would need as CS-cart has all the addons one would need already included. So the yearly cost would be $160 plus the bridge.

Now if you are like me and run a subject matter forum site you can set up a shop with products on that subject matter as you already have a captive customer base. My forum site is about aviation so my shop sells aviation products, with the proceeds paying for both my forums site, all my hosting on a dedicated server, the shop software and a contribution to my time running the site. I see it as an investment which for me completely and utterly covers the cost of the shop plus more. If you are scared to spend $160 a year then you will never make $161

 

[Snog]

I'm really curious how many XenForo forums also have a full blown e-commerce site?

When I say that, I don't mean selling add-ons or one or two items.

There is a cost recovery concern at the $385 price point for the cart. And if the number of forums running e-commerce software is very low, the cost recovery time will be quite long and profit margin quite low.

 

[Joeychgo]

X-Cart $495

Actually, the small version of xcart is free.

When I say that, I don't mean selling add-ons or one or two items.

dont forget the cost of having the inventory to sell also.

 

[ibaker]

Yes, it is not for everyone however it is an opportunity for XF owners to consider a way to make their site income producing that they don't already have...like everything there is a cost/benefit and in my case the benefit has shown to thoroughly exceed the cost.

Don't forget the opportunity of drop-shipping which in some cases means you don't need to carry stock

 

[ibaker]

By the way, I am also linking all this together into one huge Classifieds site, using the multple domain addon, which will also drive classifieds users and shop customers to my general forums on another domain and they will be registered across it all...opening up the top of the bucket with the best forums and shopping. Income from Classifieds and Shopping

It should also drive CS-Cart owners to implement XF forums on their sites and vice-a-versa...everyone wins.

The addon development is costing $1,000 but my cost/benefit analysis based on user input shows it is beneficial and even better if I can offset the cost by supplying the addon to other XF and CS-Cart owners. The CS-Cart forums is a big opportunity for sales of the addon as well.

 

[Snog]

I'm really curious how many XenForo forums also have a full blown e-commerce site?

When I say that, I don't mean selling add-ons or one or two items.

There is a cost recovery concern at the $385 price point for the cart. And if the number of forums running e-commerce software is very low, the cost recovery time will be quite long and profit margin quite low.

When I said this, I was speaking as a developer analyzing cost of production/maintenance. And not including when XF goes to 2.0 and the possibility of a total rewrite for that version.

Yes, it is not for everyone however it is an opportunity for XF owners to consider a way to make their site income producing that they don't already have...like everything there is a cost/benefit and in my case the benefit has shown to thoroughly exceed the cost.

Don't forget the opportunity of drop-shipping which in some cases means you don't need to carry stock

Speaking as an actual retail store owner that has tried drop shipping, that doesn't work in most cases. The drop ship world is such a cut throat, low profit market that it takes forever to recoup initial costs.

The addon development is costing $1,000 but my cost/benefit analysis based on user input shows it is beneficial and even better if I can offset the cost by supplying the addon to other XF and CS-Cart owners. The CS-Cart forums is a big opportunity for sales of the addon as well.

As a one time add-on, you're getting a pretty good deal for the development cost. But to step in an take over the add-on as a long term developer investment, I'm not seeing it.

Even at $100 a copy for the add-on I would have to sell 4 copies to even hit the break even point for the actual software investment (cs-cart itself) the first year. And 2 copies a year after that to account for the yearly update cost. That does not include my time supporting and coding changes/fixes.

Sorry, I don't think the market is there for something like this. I could be wrong, and it wouldn't be the first time. But, it's not for me.

 

[HWS]

I also cannot see a business model for a developer. Given the fact that even more useful (= greater audience) add-ons do not reach their break even points.

 

[Mr Lucky]

Thats really quite cheap for a good shopping cart. I see the license includes several front ends. So you can run multiple sites with it.
X-Cart $495
BigCommerce $29-$199 per month.
Magento Enterprise $50,000 - $90,000
Shopify $29 - $299 per month

+ Woocommerce :- free

I like the idea of something that is not expensive, but you can pay for various extensions as needed.

Or maybe (to be simpler) just a lite version and heavy version.

 

[Joeychgo]

Sorry, I don't think the market is there for something like this.

That was my point. Not being critical at of the OP, just trying to be realistic.

 

[ibaker]

The initial development has been done:

1. Users register in XF and they are registered in the Shopping Cart
2. Users register in the Shopping Cart and they are registered in XF
3. Users log in or log out of one and they are logged in or logged out of both

Just one thing to go now is the development of the registration of existing users in the Shopping Cart. When an existing user logs in to the forums, it will check that they are registered in the Shopping cart and if not, it will then register them...this will get to a point in the future that all existing forum users will be registered in the Shopping Cart.

A temporary test setup has been created where I have been testing it and everything works really smooth. If you like you can have a look at (it is all on the same domain with links to each other in each menu bar):
The XF location is at http://www.recflying.com.au/
The Shopping Cart is at http://www.recflying.com.au/shop/

Note, the shop is just a demo copy if you buy something from the shop don't expect it to be delivered (I have disabled the credit card payment). The whole XF and shop install will be removed in due course so it you are reading this post down the track a bit the links above may not work

I don't care what anyone says, CS-Cart is one incredibly fully featured powerful shopping cart system and not really for those that want to play around with a product or 2. I have been using it since it was first released many years ago and it just keeps on paying for itself and the food on my table.

 

[optrex]

Progress?

 

[ibaker]

I have been using it for some time now on my site www.recreationalflying.com and have a link in the menu bar to my CS-Cart shop. If you register on either the xf site or the shop site you are registered/logged in on both. I am not having any issues with it and have not previously updated this thread as I didn't think there was any interest due to the negative nay sayers out there on XF that seem to be hell bent on trying to destroy anything. I make money from my XF/shop combo which well and truly pays for everything...there are none so blind as those that do not want to see...and why I don't post much here on XF any more

 

[ibaker]

My initial thoughts were to release it as an addon for say as an example $100 and then once 15 sales were made hand it over to a developer to maintain it and derive all further income from it...it was just a thought

 

[Ozzy47]

My initial thoughts were to release it as an addon for say as an example $100 and then once 15 sales were made hand it over to a developer to maintain it and derive all further income from it...it was just a thought

Only problem I could see with doing that is the support factor that would be involved till the 15 sales were met, and then till a developer took it over. Customers would kinda be in limbo for a bit on support.