[ic] question about Interchange

Paul Jordan paul at gishnetwork.com
Mon Jun 21 14:50:17 UTC 2010


> I am new at web design, I started web design for the primary reason of 
> building my own site for my business. I am currently using Paypal  for my 
> online store and am not happy with how it preforms. If I integrated 
> Interchange into my site, could I make it have drop down options like I am 
> currently using?
> How hard would it be to  make it work similar to my current set up? RE: 
> http://www.vividme.com/prints.html

Jennifer

The question you really need to ask yourself is do you need technology you 
can leverage.

For example, if you wanted to make a custom shopping experience tailored to 
how people buy images, roll your galleries, password protected lightboxes, 
and checkout into one, then Interchange would be the ticket.

If however you are just looking to improve the shopping experience a little 
bit, Interchange's learning curve would prove cost/time ineffective for you, 
in my opinion. I say this because there are quite a few packages out there 
already tailored to photographers (and a pretty slick ones at that). Yes 
they cost, but they cost less than having a developer help you with 
something custom, and cost less than the amount of time you'll invest - 
which is taken directly away from time shooting.

My advice to you is take a look at the slick packages out there, figure out 
how many hours a month it would take for you to earn enough to cover the 
monthly fee - you might find only an hour or two. Then in the end you'll 
have improved your company image, and have more time for shooting.

Lastly, don't dismiss Paypal (and maybe Squareup?) too soon. A lot is moving 
in the realm of PCI that makes processing credit cards directly more of a 
pain for the small business.

ALL THAT SAID, if you want a challenge that will eventually lead to you 
being able to do whatever you please on the internet, Interchange is a great 
tool to learn with and use.

Paul 




More information about the interchange-users mailing list