PDA

View Full Version : I'm on the hunt for a Specific eCommerce Solution. Need help.



Harold Mansfield
10-01-2012, 03:02 PM
I know this has to be out there somewhere....

I'm looking for an eCommerce platform to sell digital products, that allows for multiple vendors.

Functionally, it's pretty simple in nature:

The administrator should be able to set up a commission ( percentage of each sale, with a minimum amount).
Vendors will be able to create an account, add their Pay Pal info and Vendor profile to sell digital downloads


[*=1]Product image[*=1]Description and author/vendor[*=1]Upload or link to download[*=1]That's it

3. The software should pay out each automatically on the sale.
4. Additional features would be nice like email alerts on each sale, and vendors should be able to see their own stats and manage their products.

It would be nice to find this for WordPress, but at this point if I can find it at all I'll learn whatever platform it's on.

Anyone know of anything like this?

billbenson
10-01-2012, 04:18 PM
It sounds like an affiliate site. You might hunt around affiliate sites to see who they use or post on an affiliate forum?

Harold Mansfield
10-01-2012, 04:38 PM
It sounds like an affiliate site. You might hunt around affiliate sites to see who they use or post on an affiliate forum?
Is it really an affiliate site? The vendors would be selling their own products. The admin is just running and hosting the store. The vendors have control over their products.

MyITGuy
10-01-2012, 05:09 PM
A quick search turns up Multi-Vendor Shopping Cart Edition of CS-Cart Ecommerce Software Solution (http://www.cs-cart.com/multivendor.html)

However I highly doubt that you will find a suite that allows each vendor to specify their own PayPal account for payment processing for two reasons:
1st - How would the site get its commission if its not processing the payment? Most third party sites withhold this from the funds that are distributed to the seller.
2nd - Without maintaining control of the payment gateway, you wouldn't be able to specify the callback URL that the application would need to state the payment was completed (This may not be the case with PayPal IIRC, but may be with other gateways).

I may stand corrected: Automated vendor payouts add-on for CS-Cart Multi-Vendor - CS-Cart Community Forums (http://forum.cs-cart.com/topic/25670-automated-vendor-payouts-add-on-for-cs-cart-multi-vendor/)

Harold Mansfield
10-01-2012, 08:07 PM
A quick search turns up Multi-Vendor Shopping Cart Edition of CS-Cart Ecommerce Software Solution (http://www.cs-cart.com/multivendor.html)

However I highly doubt that you will find a suite that allows each vendor to specify their own PayPal account for payment processing for two reasons:
1st - How would the site get its commission if its not processing the payment? Most third party sites withhold this from the funds that are distributed to the seller.
2nd - Without maintaining control of the payment gateway, you wouldn't be able to specify the callback URL that the application would need to state the payment was completed (This may not be the case with PayPal IIRC, but may be with other gateways)
WPMUDEV has an eCommerce plug in called Marketplace that does this for hosting several stores..as in an MU set up. I want the same functionality, just on the same store.


I may stand corrected: Automated vendor payouts add-on for CS-Cart Multi-Vendor - CS-Cart Community Forums (http://forum.cs-cart.com/topic/25670-automated-vendor-payouts-add-on-for-cs-cart-multi-vendor/)[/edit]
I saw that. It's the manual payout part that kind of sucks. What if there are hundreds of vendors? If I could get the automatic payout of Marketplace...combined with the multi vendor functionality of this, that would be pretty close to it.

But I'll take a close look at it. Thanks.

MyITGuy
10-01-2012, 09:05 PM
I saw that. It's the manual payout part that kind of sucks. What if there are hundreds of vendors? If I could get the automatic payout of Marketplace...combined with the multi vendor functionality of this, that would be pretty close to it.


Then the CS-Cart Add-on may do the trick...looks like they developed it with PayPal Pro and eWay in mind though, so multiple transactions can be performed behind the scenes without having to have the buyer submit the information again and again for several vendors.

Brian Altenhofel
10-01-2012, 09:19 PM
However I highly doubt that you will find a suite that allows each vendor to specify their own PayPal account for payment processing for two reasons:
1st - How would the site get its commission if its not processing the payment? Most third party sites withhold this from the funds that are distributed to the seller.
2nd - Without maintaining control of the payment gateway, you wouldn't be able to specify the callback URL that the application would need to state the payment was completed (This may not be the case with PayPal IIRC, but may be with other gateways).

That's actually not that difficult to do in Drupal.

It depends on if you want to split the commission out at the time of the transaction (payment is processed through two payment rules triggered together), want to bill vendors for the commission (payment fires another rule that saves the commission for that transaction, and at the end of the week, month, whatever, another rule calculates the total commission and invoices the vendors), want to pay the vendors in lump sums (same as previous, except it calculates how much is owed to each vendor), etc.

MyITGuy
10-01-2012, 10:31 PM
That's actually not that difficult to do in Drupal.

It depends on if you want to split the commission out at the time of the transaction (payment is processed through two payment rules triggered together), want to bill vendors for the commission (payment fires another rule that saves the commission for that transaction, and at the end of the week, month, whatever, another rule calculates the total commission and invoices the vendors), want to pay the vendors in lump sums (same as previous, except it calculates how much is owed to each vendor), etc.

I don't recall Drupal supporting this by default, which module are you using?

Additionally just out of curiosity, does it support multiple vendors? (I.E. Lets say a customer orders 3 different products, all from different vendors)

Brian Altenhofel
10-01-2012, 10:43 PM
I don't recall Drupal supporting this by default, which module are you using?

Additionally just out of curiosity, does it support multiple vendors? (I.E. Lets say a customer orders 3 different products, all from different vendors)

Commerce. It's built on the Entity API and Rules modules. Really, between the Entity API, Rules, and Tokens, you implement nearly any business process in Drupal.

And yes, it does. You would just need some kind of relationship between the product and the owning vendor. If you use the Relation module, the "relationship" becomes an entity itself and is therefore fieldable and can also have relationships of its own. Really, between those four modules (and their dependencies), you can take just about any process chart and make it happen. I say "just about" because I haven't run into anything that couldn't be done that way, but there's always a first time.

If you use Entity Construction Kit to build your entities, you probably won't have to touch code.

Drupal doesn't support anything by default. ;)

Harold Mansfield
10-17-2012, 10:55 AM
Looks as if CS-Cart is the only available solution that I can apply out of the box to do what I need. I've been looking and looking and it's pretty much clear that this is something that I need to have deisgned and programmed to get exactly what I want.

So with that in mind, the $1k for the CS-Cart is cheaper than a programmer, but that's a big price point to take a risk on and have it now work properly.
Has anyone here ever used any CS-Cart products?

Harold Mansfield
11-04-2012, 10:30 AM
Upon further review, I don't think what I want exists in the way that I want it. There are a few solutions, but each has it's own shortcomings. It's looking more and more like this is a custom build.

billbenson
11-04-2012, 12:59 PM
Harold, post your specs again. I'd get as close as you can get to what you need in open source and hire a programmer for the rest.

Harold Mansfield
11-04-2012, 03:16 PM
Harold, post your specs again. I'd get as close as you can get to what you need in open source and hire a programmer for the rest.

I basically want a marketplace/ecommerce site that allows for multiple vendors to create a profile and sell their own digital items. But not as a bunch of sub stores on subdomains. Just one site, multiple vendors. Kind of like a blog with multiple authors.

On the back end the site admin sets the fees. It would be nice if there were multiple options to choose from, percentage of each sale, flat rate, or a monthly listing fee that sellers could choose from.

When a product is purchased the money is split on purchase and goes to the appropriate Pay Pal accounts immediately.
Sellers should only have access to their profile, stats and group of items.

On the front end it's just a regular marketplace. People buy just like any other eCommerce store.
This is for digital products only.

It should be able to handle an unlimited number of categories, products, and vendors. And do customer product reviews.

I figure I can have any Facebook, Linked In, and other apps built as I go.

Most ecommerce software has all of the basic functions that I need, it's the being able to allow multiple vendors to sign up and sell on the store that is the issue. Most of what I've seen looks like it hasn't been touched in months or years, or you have to manually distribute the payments.

Here's what I've found so far:
Multi-Vendor Shopping Cart Edition of CS-Cart Ecommerce Software Solution (http://www.cs-cart.com/multivendor.html) . It's $1000 and payment distribution is manual

IXXO Cart ecommerce for joomla and WordPress | Multi Vendor Shopping Cart for Joomla and Wordpress - ixxocart.com (http://www.ixxocart.com/ixxo-multi-vendor) This one is $1500 and has a WordPress version, but it seems to do what I want. But for that price you only get support and updates for a year, and it costs extra to have their back link and branding removed from it? That just pisses me off to even think about. Besides, reviews aren't good. Plenty of complaints.

billbenson
11-04-2012, 05:52 PM
What you are talking about is easy on the the vendor having his own products site.

The hard part is if you want the vendors to be able to use their own payment processing system. If you can use your payment processors(s) ie paypal, some real processor etc and forward the funds that's pretty easy. If you want the individual vendors to be able to use their own processors, that's more difficult (more custom programming). The problem is you could have one vendor who gets a lot of chargebackes, say someone sneaks in with adult material or whatever, you have a problem.

I'm sure you have contacts for a php programmer. Find one who really knows carts or make your recommendation of a cart and see what he comes back with. It's not a big deal on the customization end of a ecommerce package, Some php and a couple of new tables. I'd be worried about the chargeback issue or vendors you don't want.

Harold Mansfield
11-04-2012, 06:01 PM
What you are talking about is easy on the the vendor having his own products site.

The hard part is if you want the vendors to be able to use their own payment processing system. If you can use your payment processors(s) ie paypal, some real processor etc and forward the funds that's pretty easy. If you want the individual vendors to be able to use their own processors, that's more difficult (more custom programming). The problem is you could have one vendor who gets a lot of chargebackes, say someone sneaks in with adult material or whatever, you have a problem.
No, I must have stated that incorrectly. I don't what that at all. Pay Pal, Amazon..whatever is fine. Everyone uses the same processor.


I'm sure you have contacts for a php programmer. Find one who really knows carts or make your recommendation of a cart and see what he comes back with. It's not a big deal on the customization end of a ecommerce package, Some php and a couple of new tables. I'd be worried about the chargeback issue or vendors you don't want.

I do have a couple of people that I can call. I want to insure that I know what I'm talking about first before I approach anyone. Not sure if the entire site needs to be built from the ground up, or if I can do it with a CMS like WordPress.

Thanks for the feedback thought. You confirmed what I keep saying to myself that this should be easy to set up.

billbenson
11-04-2012, 06:24 PM
If everyone is using the same processor that's easy.

You are really just talking about a couple of tables in the database. An easy solution is replicating the admin panel for each vendor. Not a very elegant solution.

A decent php programmer should be able to do this for $1k or less. I'd just look for a forward looking (meaning it's going to be around for a while) cart. Also, modified carts may not be able to handle updates. Maybe your programmer can change it just enough that hacking isn't an issue.

Harold Mansfield
01-31-2013, 12:36 PM
Just an update. I found a decent Digital Downloads script called Easy Digital Downloads. I'm working on building a smaller version of the original idea for a new Ebook, and it does have an add on that I can use if I have a few different authors to split percentages with. It's not the big solution that I needed, but it will be just right to test out the concept on a smaller scale.

mightymouse
02-10-2013, 02:09 AM
Hey Harold,

I wouldn't put the site on Wordpress, because WP is not designed to function like that. There's too much modifications to get it to work the way you want it too. Secondly, it's prone to being attacked by hackers.

Do you have a link of such a site that already exists?

Harold Mansfield
02-10-2013, 09:57 AM
Hey Harold,

I wouldn't put the site on WordPress, because WP is not designed to function like that. There's too much modifications to get it to work the way you want it too. Secondly, it's prone to being attacked by hackers.

Do you have a link of such a site that already exists?

I appreciate your concerns, but I got this and it's going to work just fine. WordPress is plenty flexible enough to do this. I've actually already got it working, I'm just working on content, design and some video.
I'll post a link once it's ready for reviews.

Secondly. EVERY site is prone to hackers. If someone with the skills wants to hack you, you're getting hacked. As long as you follow common sense safety tips you can ward off the amateurs.

While it's true that some people target WordPress specifically because so many people use it, they have been great at security updates and it's not that hard to secure your site to stop amateurs. It's not like it's 2005 anymore and we're all still using WordPress 1.5.1

People also target Windows computers, Internet Explorer, Yahoo email users and so on. That's the web.


I agree that for the full incarnation of the original idea, I may need to have it built from the ground up. Let's see what comes out between now and then.

Harold Mansfield
02-12-2013, 10:47 AM
Got a better beat on the big project now. Turns out what I need is called adaptive payments and Pay Pal is already set up to perform it, you just need to build the script. Now someone has finally made the script for sale.

Glad I waited. Not that I had it, but lack of patience just a few weeks ago could have cost me a few grand for something I can now get for a couple hundred dollars and do the rest of the work myself.