Several different shipping options are offered: lump sum, a sum based on the gross cost (different price levels have different shipping rates), costs per carrier (U.S. Postal Service, FedEx, and UPS), and shipping urgency (For example, Priority, 2nd Day, and Next Day). Using your zip code, Freemerchant.com will calculate tax rates; its tax tables are updated monthly.

There are a series of special features that distinguish Freemerchant.com from its competitors. Brick-and-mortar stores can put up a map on the site, offering directions to the store location(s). Upon request, Freemerchant.com will post product information to eBay (as well as set you up with an eBay account if you don''t have one) and point toward your Freemerchant.com storefront, as well as register your site with five Internet search engines (you can choose which five from a longer list). Freemerchant.com will also maintain an opt-in mailing list for you (limited to 500 e-mail addresses), where you can keep in touch with customers by informing them of new products or specials.

Freemerchant.com doesn''t perform any billing or shipping. If you want to accept orders and process them immediately, you must set up your own merchant account and payment gateway. Freemerchant.com does have existing relationships with Intellipay and Authorize.net. Alternately, you can merely accept credit-card numbers via a secure connection and process them yourself in your own store using your existing equipment.) Adding payment capabilities to your storefront is a matter of entering account information within Freemerchant.com -- there''s no need to manually insert any HTML code anywhere on your site. In addition, you''ll need to set up transaction settings, specifying what payment forms (credit cards, money orders, C.O.D., checks) you''ll accept.

Freemerchant.com informs you about new orders in several different ways. Upon a new order, you''re immediately sent an e-mail and/or a fax, with a limit of 100 faxes per month for free. (It can also send order information to two e-mail addresses.)

With features like this, it seems petty to complain about the offering''s drawbacks. One such drawback is the site-reporting tools, which are minimalist, offering only the total number of hits in a specific period. The shipping-calculation tools are limited to those firms shipping from and within the United States; if you want to ship internationally, you''ll need to enter shipping information on your own.

Still, for small businesses looking for someone to host their electronic storefront, Freemerchant.com is the best tool we''ve seen. It''s easy to set up stores, enable payment creations, and begin the process of promoting your online effort. (And make no doubt about it: you''ll need to work to bring customers to your store). But Freemerchant.com gives you a great head start, and at the right price.

Pros: Free; banners are optional; easy to build a store; back-end tools are impressive.

Cons: Site-reporting tools could be better; not much international support.

Sites using Freemerchant.com: Goldnbeans.com, Conga Coffee and Tea, The Tech Shop.