Discuss website design for ecommerce sites, useability, navigation and other development considerations. To get feedback on your t-shirt design(s) or website, please post a request in our Site Reviews and Design Reviews section here.
...also interested in what people have to say - I have oscommerce (or it is provided by my host so..) but it isn't on your professors short list..worrying perhaps...
...also interested in what people have to say - I have oscommerce (or it is provided by my host so..) but it isn't on your professors short list..worrying perhaps...
I wouldn't worry too much, OSCommerce from what I've read has got good reviews, and it's on this list
On this list the only one I have used or worked with is Zen cart, "Out of the Box" none of the above have good inventory management. That is you can track how many actual t-shirts you have in stock in the cart.
So it's possible to sell out of one size/style but still have order. I many cases that would be ok since you will most likely restock before you have to worry about it.
Of the OSC and OSC clones Zen cart is currently the better one to use for a t-shirt site or other impritable/ engraving site and make it look unique.
Can anyone point to example sites that use the different packages? I know that might come dangerously close to breaking the self promotion rules, but it would be nice to see a site and hear some comments from the person who runs it.
I'm currently only selling on Etsy, which is quick and easy but very very limited. Also Etsy requires buyers to sign up for an account, which may turn people away, and it is easy for customers to get funneled into other stores. My web hosting service (dreamhost) has a one click install of Zen Cart. I have played with it in the past and came away frustrated.
I have used os Commerce and I am currently working on a site that uses joomla with the virtuemart plugin. os Commerce is a good shopping cart if you want to get started quickly, but I would recomend getting a template/theme. Here is a sample that one of my web hosting customers uses. (fashionsbaskets.com) this is not a t-shirt site, so I hope it is ok to post the address on here. One thing to noe: She doesn't know how to resize images thats why they are all oversized when you click on them.
I am using Zen Cart and have been very happy with it - Etch 'n Stitch - Custom Embroidering & Engraving, Corporate Identification, then click on "Shop at Etch 'n Stitch Online". It's a very versatile package, the online user forum is incredible, and it's FREE! However, I've found that you need a little technical knowledge to customize some of the features. You can find out how to make changes through the forum but, then you may need to change some php code and upload a file back to your server.
Included in the forum are many add-on features, built by ZC users. If you are a geek (like me) and can build some add-on's, you are encouraged to share them.
ZC allows you to categorize your products, display them with images of both the product and the options (i.e. color swatches, etc.) and also keep track of your inventory. There is an add-on to sync up with Quickbooks but, It's only for orders, not inventory. If you have a retail store (like I do), you'll need to do periodic inventory updates on ZC to stay current.
Please browse my site listed above and I'll be glad to provide any more information, if needed.
BTW, nobody asked but, I'd like to also recommend PHPList for your newsletter package. It is also free and very easy to get up and running.
It really depends on what you want. You should probably consider what features you want in your website. Are you just thinking of a cart or do you also want a Guestbook, a slideshow, etc. Also, how much work do you want to do yourself? All those carts generally require customization (some extensive customization). Do you want to spend the time figuring all of that stuff out or do you want something that just provides you fill in the blank forms so you can add the items and go.
I guess what I'm saying is when you're considering setting up a store, think more broadly about what you want your website to do for you rather than just the software you want to use. Figure out what you want from the website and then choosing the technology will be much easier. You may decide you want to go with a do it yourself system (see my sig. for an example) rather than getting just a shopping cart. In any case, it's all going to come down to what you want from your website
Finally, if you need to see examples for website that use a specific cart do searchers for the following:" Powered by OsCommerce", "powered by zen cart" etc.
List of shopping carts...which one. 
