What's a fast way to add a shopping cart to my site?

Dave, I have a few different books and audio CDs I'd like to sell and am wondering if you can recommend a quick and fast way for me to add some sort of an online store on my Web site so it's "commerce enabled", even a rudimentary one?

Dave's Answer:

I've been exploring different online options since my friend James Armstrong and I created our own hosted ecommerce system almost a decade ago while running The Internet Mall. At this point, my recommendation would be for you to sign up for Paypal and use their shopping cart tool.

Paypal isn't ideal because of both the transaction fee percentage, which is higher than what you might get from your local business bank and because if your customers have a Paypal account but want to pay for your particular items with a credit card, they can't do so.

Nonetheless, using their tools, you could have your store online within an hour or two at most, and there'd be no monthly minimum, no maintenance fees, nothing. Just a slice of the transaction pie.

The very first step to get started is to Sign Up for a Paypal Merchant Account. (disclosure: I make a tiny commission if you click on that link and sign up rather than just going to the site directly. Thanks!)

Once you're signed up, go to the Merchant area, then click on Shopping Cart. It's a bit confusing, but you can specify state sales tax, different methods of calculating shipping (and remember that you should take into account postage, packaging costs, and your time), and various other bits and pieces.

When you're done, you end up with 'add to cart' code that looks like this:

<form target="paypal"  method="post" 

  action="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr">

<input type="image" 

   src="https://www.paypal.com/en_US/i/btn/x-click-but22.gif"

   border="0" name="submit" 

   alt="Make payments with PayPal - it's fast, free and secure!">

<input type="hidden" name="add" value="1">

<input type="hidden" name="cmd" value="_cart">

<input type="hidden" name="business" value="bizname">

<input type="hidden" name="item_name" value="sample item">

<input type="hidden" name="item_number" value="I123">

<input type="hidden" name="amount" value="24.99">

<input type="hidden" name="no_shipping" value="2">

<input type="hidden" name="no_note" value="1">

<input type="hidden" name="currency_code" value="USD">

</form>

Not too bad if you're already at least moderately familiar with HTML. Once you have the first button working the way you want, then you only need to tweak the three items show in bold above to create a new button for a new item, which means you should be able to whip out dozens of 'add to cart' buttons in no time (or even automate the entire process)

The only other button needed is a 'view cart' button, and that's always the exact same code whereever it appears on your site:

<form target="paypal" method="post"

   action="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr">

<input type="hidden" name="cmd" value="_cart">

<input type="hidden" name="business" value="bizname">

<input type="image"

 src="https://www.paypal.com/en_US/i/btn/view_cart_02.gif" border="0" 

 name="submit" alt="Make payments with PayPal - it's fast, free and secure!">

<input type="hidden" name="display" value="1">

</form>

I think that'll get you going in no time. When you do get your store online, why not come back here and give us a link so we can check it out?

Categorized: CGI Scripts and Web Site Programming (Article 3969, Written by Dave Taylor)
Tagged:
Previous: Can I get Microsoft Office XP Updates Offline?
Next: What's a Character Blog?

Subscribe!

Never miss another Q&A article! Click to subscribe:

Comments

Dave,

Just a general comment. PayPal no longer requires that a user have a PayPal account before they can make a payment credit card or other wise.

I agree with you on recommend PayPal just because it is so easy.

Also if your going to set up your own shopping cart and merchant payment option then you have the added problem of security. The cost of a even a shared certifite to make a transaction safe is really a hidden cost to use your own merchant account. By using PayPal you solve that problems as well. Also the minimum charges of most merchant accounts can add up fast.

Good luck with that on line site.
Frank

PS Great job Dave enjoy your info and help greatly.

Posted by: Frank Woodman Jr at April 20, 2005 8:13 AM

"Just a general comment. PayPal no longer requires that a user have a PayPal account before they can make a payment credit card or other wise."

Actually, here's where that becomes a problem: if you already have a Paypal account associated with your email address and you want to pay for something through Paypal via credit card, you need to either use a different email address or you'll find that Paypal complains that you already have an account and need to sign in. Sign in, and you can no longer specify that the specific transaction should occur via credit card, it instead just automatically goes against your existing Paypal balance.

Posted by: Dave Taylor at April 20, 2005 8:20 PM

Ola Dave,
thank you for your instructions on how to set-up Paypal on myspace account. I'm trying to set-up a store to sell, and this info was key to sell relaxation music and soaking music for www.aquadio.com on http://www.myspace.com/aquadiosteven

-steven

Posted by: Steven Burgess at January 27, 2007 8:33 AM

I do not want to write separate button codes for each item,I want to customize a single button so that to give item_name and item_code values from Database.

Posted by: asim at July 21, 2007 8:43 AM

One easy way to add paypal shopping cart onto your website is to use 3d party shopping cart software, that automatically generates add to cart buttons based on your product entries in the database. Because shopping carts, like this one http://www.ShoppingCart.org automatically updates your online Paypal store every time you update your database, you have to do very minimal maintenance.

Regards,
Jim

Posted by: Jim Arias at December 2, 2007 10:42 PM

I need to know how to edit the shipping amounts on the pay pal add to cart . the editing i need to do is the shopping cart let me use a % for shipping or a flat rate but what i need is to allow customers to add the amount of shipping i tell them because my supplier has way to many different shipping zones in the usa and a flat rate or % depending on the amount of your purchase so again need to know how to edit the hmtl code it the add to cart button to allow costumers to add shipping cost manually ..

Posted by: Alex at February 11, 2008 6:59 PM

Ok, I seen someones page on myspace that was selling items they made and had (add to cart) buttons and paypal logo. I currently use paypal for my customers so I'm wanting to know how I can do this to my page also along with the cart buttons. I don't have a website yet so I'm wanting to try it this way first. Can I do this and how? Thank you in advance for all your help:)

Posted by: Ginger Newsome at March 11, 2008 12:13 AM

How do you add a shipping option to the cart - I want free shipping if ordering from say USA but to pay if shipping from say Europe or Africa... I dont want to charge everyone and I just dont see how to do this. Can you help?

Posted by: desre at July 28, 2008 8:06 PM

Hi.dave, i want add shopping card to http://www.convertdirect.com/
how can i do that,i meaning google shopping"_

Posted by: jietjiang at October 11, 2008 6:18 AM

hi guys,

I need to integrate paypal shopping cart with my website , my question is how to add mu product images with my product details . Ia there an option to edit these images ? i tries the above way to integrate paypal to my website ? does i need a database to store these items ? Does i make changes to the products and and the generated code each ti me ? please give me a clear idea...

Thanks in advance

Meenu

Posted by: Meenu at January 27, 2009 9:45 PM

Hi David,

Do you know someone who can help me with the process of building my first website. I purchased a package from simplesitesbigprofit but i am unable to use it because i am not getting anywhere trying to get started and not enough help. Can you please help recommend or do it for me.

Posted by: YWCB at April 3, 2009 9:48 AM

I have two projects to make a shopping cart site. but both parties don't want online transactions. what they need is just make a cart online. and on finish an email is generated to the seller with contact info of buyer. they'll contact and arrange to exchange money and items on phone/email. both parties have their sites up an running. I'm not a programmer nor a developer rather I'm a system engineer. but looking for some FREE software that can make a good looking shopping cart like things for them.

Posted by: Iqbal Sajid at July 10, 2009 8:04 PM

Dave,

I have been trying to figure out the best way to add a web mall/shopping cart to our website www.dabarefootchef.com and your web page magically appeared before my very eyes. Please help! I don't know a lot about HTML formatting, but am trying. Since I already have a website if I add anything to it then it needs to be put into HTML format. Whew, I need your assistance in adding a page for the web mall/ shopping cart in HTML format please. Also I would like to add pictures and descriptions of our items that will be for sale on our website.

Thanks So Very Much In Advance!!!!
HTML Confused,
Amy :)

Posted by: Amy & Da Barefoot Chef at December 11, 2009 5:01 PM

Thanks for the article and code snippets. I am looking for something a little different, I guess. What I would like to see, is an ecommerce shopping cart with a "blog this" type of option in the backend, or a blog with an admistration back end that will allow selling of products.
Any thoughts on something like this?

Posted by: larry michaels at February 7, 2010 10:54 AM

I used http://www.popcart.net for my site and was impressed with how easy it was to add. You just paste some code wherever you want a "buy" button and that's it - you've got your shopping cart.

Posted by: Mike at March 10, 2010 10:36 AM

how do you editing an existing paypal shopping cart that is on your site? say you want to later on modify fields on it. can this only been done within the embedded code?

Posted by: Teabone at April 6, 2010 2:27 PM

hi dav..i come to the end of shoppin cart and there i want to send an email to my customer and to me as well..coorresponding to the shopping mad eby the customer ..m designing my page usin asp..plz rope me out of this..

Posted by: bipin sharma at April 13, 2010 7:50 AM

Great info, and for the most part, I agree. However, you can still pay with another method, even while signed into your Paypal account. It's a bit tricky, but it's possible... I've done it on several occasions when there wasn't enough dough in the bank account associated with the Paypal account.

Posted by: Ryan at May 9, 2010 9:21 PM

I have to agree with Mike's post above. After using http://www.popcart.net I will never use any other cart. PopCart is very easy to use but i really like how it is white label so it can match my site's branding.

Posted by: Jonathan at June 5, 2010 11:13 AM

Thanks! I signed up!

Posted by: Jay at July 5, 2010 12:16 PM

My question: Can I add a 'add to order form' button to my items? They are on my site in a Word format as text only. It is not taken or loaded from an Excel sheet. It is currently an online catalog and the customer just emails me their order using the 'contact us' page. (I would probably need to modify my 'contact us' page to make an order form on there too.) We then confirm stock and send them an e-invoice through paypal. A little unconventional but this is a free site for a non-profit org and we would like to keep it free. Down side is that it is not searcheable and not very interactive or easy to change stuff on it, so we are considering a cart/store setup yet too. Would the cart/store thing just be a better way to go? Problem is that I don't really feel like re-entering all the info and descriptions over again. Thanks for your input, I love you online gurus b/c I learn so much and have found most of the info very helpful for this 'old' lady.

Posted by: Brenda Hoekstra at August 4, 2010 12:48 PM

Thanks It worked For me

Posted by: anshuman at August 31, 2010 1:54 AM

Hi Dave, Can't believe I found you. I so desperately did not want to go through my bank .....fees fees fees, hidden fees....to set up a shopping cart. I sent your site to my website guy. Thanks so much for sharing. If all goes well we will add pay pal through your site so you get the commission.
Thanks so much for sharing Dave.
Darlene

Posted by: Darlene's Rug Hooking Shop at November 6, 2010 10:49 AM

Hi,

I own an on-line sports store. With as many as a dozen suppliers and 7,000+ potential items, I am finding it extremely difficult to get all of my suppliers items into my store's inventory. What is the fastest way to get this done without spending anything? I don't have much to spend on this. And is there a way to get real-time inventory from my suppliers so I don't sell any items that aren't in stock?

Thanks,
Charlie

Posted by: Chuck at November 14, 2010 7:22 PM

Hell I am trying to add paypal shopping buttons to our website but when somone clicks add to cart they go to the there cart on paypal is there a way to add a checkout button so they only go there when they are finished shopping?

Posted by: Robert at June 19, 2011 9:31 PM

I dont see these options, any more its seems paypal has made the process more automated, however I would like to get the code as you have it above so that I may customize my own buttons rather then use paypals buttons and ideas on that?

Posted by: ddskier at July 27, 2011 10:48 PM

Not sure what's different about our accounts, duskier, but I just checked on PayPal and if I click on the "Merchant Services" tab, there's "Add to Cart" as one of the buttons I can add to my site. Do you not have a verified or merchant account?

Posted by: Dave Taylor at July 28, 2011 8:43 AM

popcart.net is not good.. yes it is free but you can only add 1 single product, if you need to add more, you have to pay $4.00 to $9.00 a month! I recommend www.ecwid.com very easy, and you can add unlimited items for free!

Posted by: chelsea at August 24, 2011 3:13 PM

Hi my ecommere website is ready..but still i want to link my prduct buy button to paypal.so whats the next as i have opened my account with paypal. now whats the next..

Posted by: Manish at August 27, 2011 8:51 AM

hello buddies i got a question i have been working for like 10 days or more now ...i have done all the process to build my ecommerce site for my project . now i have the cart too totally working.. the prob is how to integrate and code for the checkout button so it will be directed to order page and the details will be inserted into mysql database.any sort of help will be appreciated..and thnx in advance..

Posted by: kishan at September 2, 2011 3:55 AM

Check out www.turbo-cart.net, its still in beta mode but it will support shippable, downloadble products in the next few weeks.

Once the site goes live i will post a coupon that will allow people to use the pro and premium account for 3 months for free!

Posted by: Carlos at September 8, 2011 7:00 PM

I buy-passed a shopping cart and just use affiliate links to send the customer to the stores in question, they can handle all payment better than me

Posted by: steve at November 9, 2011 5:42 PM

Hi Dave,

Thank you for providing this service, it's so helpful!

I started making shopping cart buttons for my services & now I would like to provide a way for customers to add a tip amount of their choice. I don't see an obvious way to do this. Did I miss something?

Thanks,

Posted by: Kathy at November 19, 2011 3:13 PM

what i need is an online cart without a 3rd party. we want an email generated to us (the seller) with contact info of buyer and credit card info. we process with our own payments. but looking for some FREE software that can make a good looking shopping cart in ASP that works with all browsers (explorer, safari, chrome, firefox, etc.)

Posted by: Doug Brody at December 4, 2011 8:16 PM

I would keep your items price on the server side of processing. I could change it on you if you didn't. Just a heads up.

Posted by: mark at December 22, 2011 2:30 PM

www.ecwid.com is ok but as soon as you get to 100 products it costs currently (USD)$17/(GBP)£10.75 /(EUR)12.93 euros every month once you go over 100 product! I've found you get better value for an outstanding hosted ecommerce cart when using http://www.shopintegrator.com which charges just (USD)$6.67 USD/(GBP)£4.17/(EUR)5.00euros for a 100 product subscription.

Posted by: Max SwashBuck at February 4, 2012 4:46 PM

I have something to say, now that you mention it, but ...

I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you for all your efforts on this Web site by buying you a cup of coffee!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!

How can I fix too little virtual memory in Windows?

How do I install Windows XP in Boot Camp on my Mac?

How do I download photos onto my Apple iPhone?

How do I convert WMA to MP3 audio files in Windows Media Player?

How can I add a Google search box to my site?

How can I put music on my Apple iPod?

How can I get my Nintendo DS to connect to the Internet?

How do I reset my Mac OS X administrator (root) password?