Setting Up Shop

Yahoo! Store

Possibly the most widely-used e-tailing service, Yahoo! Store makes it easy for you to set up shop (up to 1000 products) online. For $100-300 per month, you can create your virtual storefront, which will automatically be listed in Yahoo!; you can also apply for your own domain name and for a merchant account. Small wonder Yahoo! Store has attracted such luminary customers as Ben & Jerry's  and Sharper Image.

iCat

Another wildly popular e-commerce service, iCat offers full-service online e-business creation and management, or if you already have a site in place, you can just use their shopping cart services. The monthly or annual fees are based on the number of products you showcase on your site, and are comarable to Yahoo! Store's.

Freemerchant.com

Unlike its major competitors (such as the two above), Freemerchant.com is, as the name would imply, free. As if that weren't reason enough, the service also has no limit to the number of products you want to list, offers a handy store building tool and can even export your products to eBay.

Freemerchant 2.0 offers considerably more help running a store than the original product.  New features include automatic export of sales data to Quickbooks or other accounting software; shipping/sales tax calculation; over 40 design templates; and inventory control.  Other new features: Banner ad placement and affiliate marketing; Expanded links to eBay allowing customers of FM stores to initiate eBay auctions; Online message boards to facilitate resource sharing; and original content offering expert advice on an array of small business issues.

CCNow

Now here's a handy service -- CCNow will handle all your online credit card transactions, including shopping cart services, with no startup cost or monthly fees. For a 9% cut of your revenues (lowered to 8% during the November-December holiday comsumer frenzy), CCNow will make you an instant online retailer. And since CCNow is based in Delaware, your customers will pay no tax on domestic orders. What's not to love?

Digital River

If you're out to sell strictly digital products, such as software, music or video, consider Digital River. Handling both virtual and physical fulfillment, Digital River offers store hosting, secure transactions and more -- for a fee. Depending on the level of service you use, Digital River takes a portion of your revenue.

1ClickCharge

It's the little things that count, right? What with high per-transaction credit card fees, it's the little payments that count against you. iClickCharge allows you to offer your customers a means of paying for small-ticket items, including pay-for-use services and content, without leaving your site. And for transactions under $15 apiece, you're not left holding the bag with high transaction fees.

Qpass

Qpass offers another means of simplifying the buying experience on your site, using their PowerWallet software. Once signed in, customers can buy digital or hard goods without filling out tediously long or confusing forms. PowerWallet effectively acts as a virtual credit card, and can include major bank branding for optimum customer confidence.

iPin

Customers reluctant to offer up their credit cards to buy your online goods? iPin lets them buys all manner of e-goods, including software, online music and more, and charge the bill via their ISP's monthly charges. Customers can track their purchases online with iPin's account management service, much like an interactive bank statement.

QuickBuy

That's a promising name, isn't it? QuickBuy offers a slightly different approach to e-tailing. You publish your products as "Buycons" (cute, huh?), which customers can drag and drop into their QuickBuy shopping cart. Buycons can be published on the Web, sent via email, even sent through streaming media or push technology. Best of all, it is integrated with NetObjects Fusion, making publishing of your Buycons easy and quick!

CNET Builder.com: Make $$$ With Your Site

A comprehensive set of hints, pointers and free advice to get your e-commerce site up and working for you. You'll find tips on everything from technology to fulfillment to customer support.

ZDNet E-Business

This is the gateway to all the news, reviews and features on e-business in the monolithic ZDNet site. In particular, I was impressed with http://www.zdnet.com/enterprise/e-business/solutions/ E-Commerce X-Ray, an interactive multimedia demonstration of the flow of information during typical e-commerce transactions.

E-Commerce Times

The front door touts E-Commerce Times as "Everything You Need to Know About Doing Business Online." Well, maybe not everything , but there's certainly enough information here to keep you busy and abreast of events and trends in online business.

Cyveillance

Who has time to stay on top of all the news necessary to keep abreast of evolving trends in e-commerce? It seems that every 5 minutes some hot technology emerges, new law is passed or Internet startup is consumed by a larger corporation. Cyveillance's services acts as your insider guide, keeping your finger on the virtual pulse of events in the industry, as well as issues of corporate image and intellectual property law.