Compare eCommerce Website Providers
Let's see how the Tiger compares to the other leading ecommerce website providers in the jungle...
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| Price | £17.99 /month | £19.99 /month |
Express - £20 per month. Web based service.
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Tiered pricing determined by number of products in shop. Starts at $29.95 /month for 20 products (first month discounted to $19.95). $49.95 /month for 100 products, $79.95 /month for 250 products etc. |
£25 /month (for basic package). | Software is free, but you pay sliding scale transaction fees on your revenue e.g. if your shop generates sales of £2,000, transaction fees will amount to £90 /month. | Tiered ecommerce shop packages starting at £4.99 /month. Pricing is determined by number of products in shop (see below) & amount of webspace / traffic used. | 3 tier ecommerce packages £9.99, £18.99 and £39.99 /month. Pricing is determined by the number of products in shop (see below). | £14.99 /month plus £4.99 for sales management tool (Selling Manager Pro*) PLUS up to 10% commission on every item listed & sold. Additional charges for 'Featured' and 'Anchor' shops. |
| Set Up Fee | None | £49.95 | £49 (Express only) | $199 | None | None | None | None | None |
| Contract | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | You have to have a registered seller account, must be PayPal verified and have a minimum customer feedback score of 10. |
| Hosting / Automatic Software Upgrades | Hosting included. Free automatic upgrades. | Hosting included. Free automatic upgrades. | Hosting included for Express. Hosting & upgrades NOT included for Catalog. | Included but bandwidth limited for each package. 1GB for basic package (20 products). | Hosting included. Free automatic upgrades. | Hosting included. | Hosting included, but webspace / traffic is restricted. | Hosting included. | Not a free standing web shop. Infrequent technology upgrades. |
| Free Trial | Yes, build your own shop within 60 seconds. | Yes | No. Demo shop only for Express. | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No, but there is 30 day free trial for Selling Manager Pro* |
| Web Based or Offline | Web Based (Online) | Web Based (Online) | Express is Web Based (Online). Catalog requires software installation & runs management of shop from your PC. | Web Based (Online) | Web Based (Online) | Web Based (Online) | Web Based (Online) | Web Based (Online) | Web Based (Online) |
| No. of Products / Categories | Unlimited | Unlimited | 20,000 |
Steel – 20 (Platinum package costs $197 /month with $199 set up) |
2,000 | Unlimited | £4.99 package - 100 products, £9.99 package - 1,000 products, £24.99 package - 2,000 products, £44.99 package - 20,000 products |
150 products only in basic package, rising to 10,000 in top package. | Unlimited products. 300 maximum product categories. Storage of more than 1mb (for product images / shop logo) incurs additional charges. |
| Marketing Features (Promotions, discounts, voucher codes, special offers, email marketing) |
Advanced marketing features; full range of product promotional tools. Also, product reviews & product comparison tool. eMail / newsletter marketing functionality including option to target user preferences. | Comprehensive product promotions. No email / newsletter marketing functionality. | Express - Very limited marketing features. No email / newsletter marketing functionality. Catalog - Limited promotional features. Generates email lists but email / newsletter marketing functionality not available. |
Advanced marketing features including email marketing functionality. | Does not include customer product ratings / reviews or product comparisons. | Includes email / newsletter marketing functionality. Does not include any basic promotional tools. Only supports PayPal for online payments. |
Basic packages have no marketing features. You need to pay at least £24.99 to get basic marketing functionality. | Basic packages have no marketing features. Limited on more expensive packages. Only supports PayPal on the basic (£9.99) package. |
Very limited - you have to operate within the confines of eBay's own selling technology. eMail marketing (1,000 per month) plus some offline marketing features (promotional flyers, branded stationery). |
| Support | Free eMail / Telephone Support. Video Tutorials, User Guides, Online Forum also included. | Free eMail / Telephone Support. |
Express - Free eMail / Telephone Support.
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Free 24/7 Telephone Support (from their US offices) | No eMail / Telephone Support - just User Guides & Help Forum. | Free | Free | No eMail / Telephone Support - just online support centre. | Speaking to anyone at eBay is virtually impossible (no telephone support advertised) and email response is slow. FAQs, online help centre and members forum are fallback. |
| Add-on Services (e.g. Design & Online Marketing) | Full range of web management services available as packaged or bespoke solutions: design, website setup, SEO & online marketing, training. Integrated telephone ordering function. | Design Services | Design Services | Design Services | None | None | 1&1 Advertising Package (Google PPC) | None. | None. You can through 3rd party providers. |
| Independent Expert Reviews | 2008 Reviews Personal Computer World, PC Magazine, Computer Active, What PC, IT Week ***** 5 stars - "An effective tool for small businesses looking to get up and selling on the web" - "It's quick and it works and that's what matters" - "Very easy to use" - "Useful options" |
No recent reviews. | 2006 Review (Express) Personal Computer World **** 4 stars - "Simple to manage, clear upgrade path. No batch import, small range of templates" |
2007 Review
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None | None | 2008 Review PC Pro - "An inexpensive route to making money on the internet" |
None | 2008 Review PC Pro **** 4 stars - "The limitations and relatively high cost mean it's more suited to promoting a selection of items rather than providing a complete inventory. More demanding companies should look elsewhere" |
*eBay's Selling Manager Pro is an online selling tool to help eBay shop owners create listings, manage post-sale activities and manage inventory. It includes:
• Automatically list and relist items
• Buyer auto notification; payment received, item shipped
• Auto feedback upon buyer payment
• Restock alerts
This ecommerce website provider comparison chart was last updated in September '09. All information is accurate to the best of our knowledge.
