Hi All
I am looking to incorporate Ecwid into my website. I only need the lowest option for now, £5 per month in the UK. Will the base account still connect to my website. It says there’s no domain connection in this option.
Yes @Devro, it will.
Even the free account works with Sitely.
You can find more about Ecwid & Sitely here - Payment | Sitely Documentation
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My greatest of thanks. I will get started.
Ecwid no longer has a free plan since its acquisition by Lightspeed.
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@Mart, you are totally right! My oversight! 
What use to be free is now $8/month, and I see the second tier has virtually doubled in price. Mmmm… Lightspeed says they are all for the small business? 
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Yes, seriously starting to consider if it’s worth staying with Ecwid. Anyone suggest an alternative that works well with Sitely for approx 100 products?
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You could install a PHP shopping cart script on your server. If you’re not sure how to do it, many script developers can install it for you. Such scripts come with a relatively small price tag, but you do own it. Once installed, you would typically add a single code snippet in one of your Sitely web pages where you want your online shop to display. The only thing you will have to have is a payment gateway account - PayPal or Authorize.net so you can accept online payments, but once it’s installed and running, you can easily manage the shop through an online admin area. Check out phpjabbers and look for the Stiva Shopping Cart script. I’ve used this on a number of client websites and it works very well.
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Not to be a “doubting Thomas”… but is this php shopping cart script maintained?
The way I see it is this would be the weakest point of a Sitely website. The big ecommerce players would look after this side of things, hence the price and the price gauging!
Could I suggest Gumroad…
There is no subscription fee. They take a percentage on your sale made instead, so if there is no sales there is no fees.
In the end I do feel having as much control over an online website (in this case the ecommerce side of things) is a good thing, but I’m also weighing things up to see if it is all worth the hassle in the long run, especially leaving a door partially open to those obnoxious hackers!
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You’re right to be concerned about maintenance and updates, but most good developers will keep their scripts up to date - not all, but many do. In the case of phpjabbers their scripts have undergone a number of improvements over time. Furthermore, they’ve enhanced their offering to include a totally hosted solution that includes maintenance, updates, daily backups, and installation/hosting of any of their scripts on their own servers. However, the monthly/annual charge for this service put them in the same cost territory as platforms such as Ecwid, so you have to do a cost/benefit analysis to decide which service is best for any individual situation. In any event, phpjabbers will not charge a commission on sales - it’s your shopping cart that you administer - they just host it for you as a paid service.
In many respects, I prefer to buy these types of scripts and host them on the same server where the main site is hosted. This helps ensure that the shop is always online as long as the main site is online.
I guess it’s all down to the value placed on the online store. If it’s set to be a substantial income-earner, keeping it within your own server environment could make a lot of sense. But, if it’s a small site with only a few occasional sales, a third-party hosted solution may make more sense - particularly a free service.
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Thanks for the clarification Stephie! 
It is great to hear they maintain their software, but your right, their hosted service per month is up there with the best.
I guess my concern was most of Sitely’s Users are not host savvy or self-host ecommerce savvy… and maybe even think once it’s on the server it is a set and forget conclusion.
But you’re right, the best thing to do is a cost/benefit analysis to see what is best for the individual and their business! 
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Just a little update. I have managed to get Ecwid going and I think it’s very good. I still have the £5 per month option which will do for now. I thank you for your replies and views.
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