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Getting More Than You Paid For: osCommerce's Open Source Storefront
By Scott Koegler
August 24, 2004

Continued from Page One.

Inexpensive Alternatives
While osCommerce claims to be "the leading open systems e-commerce solution," there are low-cost PHP-based and similar alternatives that might be worth considering. Products like x-cart, LiteCommerce, and Quickstore are available for purchase, and pricing for the basic versions range between $100 and $200.

However, you'll also pay for any options you want to add to these systems. For instance, Quickstore's credit card plug-ins cost an additional $49.95, and other options such as "online catalog builder" cost from $50 to $100. Some users will decide that the advantage of buying a product gives them some assurance that the system and its modules will work properly. This may be especially true for people uneasy with user-supported software like osCommerce.

Online vendors who have had experience with osCommerce as well as other systems acknowledge a differences between the offerings. But osCommerce's wealth of built-in features combined with the amazing (and growing) list of contributions makes a compelling case for at least trying the free system.

Luke Rohenaz, a network technician with Diversified Network Solutions in Albany, NY, turned to osCommerce after trying several other packages.

"I liked how modular it was," Rohenaz said. "It's well-organized and not too hard to find where the code is that needs to be edited to do what you're trying to do. I've tried modifying other programs in order to add new features, and in general, I find it is easier with osCommerce than with a lot of other scripts."

No software is without problems, and open source applications are no different. But by all accounts the base system is extremely stable. The contributions can be less stable simply because they haven't been tested as intensively as the base system. However the user/developer community seems to be very active and responsive, so any problems you may find are likely to be answered quickly.

According to Rohenaz, "The fact that osCommerce is open source, and that there is a whole community talking about it and sharing their finds and tweaks, is a huge plus."

Should you use it?
If you want your store to look or behave differently from the rest of the crowd, or if you're struggling with managing the details of your existing store, you may be exactly the right candidate for osCommerce. When Steve Howland's product offering grew beyond 1,500 products, he switched to osCommerce because of the daily maintenance time required.

As Howland puts it, "Previously, I had used an e-commerce service which is was excellent as far as it went, but I found it difficult to manage in scenarios where the store had more than about 100 products, or the products changed frequently. Diecastairplane.com has about 1,500 products with about 10 new products every week. Using osCommerce, it takes me about 1 hour every week to manage changes and add new products."

So, while you may not eliminate every headache, you may be able to create a more functional store while, at the same time, cutting down on the time you spend managing it. And, you can't beat the price.

Scott Koegler is a contributor to eCommerce-Guide.com.

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