Shopify, Magento, and Khajiit, Oh My!

So, you want to start selling your wares online? Where to begin?

The first step is buying a domain—but then what? Spend a crazy amount of time and money developing something yourself? If you’re not technical, you can look into an ecommerce platform. Google it and you’ll find several, to the point that it’s almost overwhelming. Two of the biggest platforms are Shopify and Magento. Let’s examine those two to see what will be best for you.

First up: Magento.

The basics of this platform are that it’s “owned” by Adobe (of PDF fame) and is an open-source platform. If you consider yourself an L337 H4><0R, then Magento may be for you. If you’re not a “computer person,” Magento may not be the right choice because it doesn’t have intrinsic themes; most of it you build yourself.

It also isn’t self-hosted, which means you’ll have to shell out coin to host the store. It could cost under $10 if you’re savvy. But if not, you may get stuck paying hundreds of dollars or more for the server space and hosting setup where the site will live.

Magento is also great for confident coders because it allows for a lot of customization. There’s a huge community of users that can help usher you through the process of building and supporting your new digital wares stand on the World Wide Web. This also means that getting your shoppe up and running quickly just won’t be a thing. If you have no idea what any of that means, then Magento isn’t the right platform for you.

Which brings us to… Shopify.

If you want your goods on the internet and you want them up quickly, Shopify is your way to go. It offers free themes and myriad paid ones. These themes are mobile-friendly, which is great because the vast majority of web usage nowadays is on cellular devices.

It’s also easy to get your wares up, set prices, offer discounts, and do all that other commerce-y stuff that a shop should do. Shopify also makes it super easy to start taking payments; you could literally spend two hours on a site and have it up and running. Best of all, if you have no idea what you’re doing, Shopify offers support and is happy to help out.

The one caveat to Shopify, however, is that it can be pretty pricey. While it is self-hosted and you won’t have to pay those pesky hosting fees, you’ll have to pay a monthly cost for the platform, and if you use Shopify Payments, you’ll be paying a per-transaction fee as well. That being said, the cost is definitely worth it considering the power and ease of use of the platform.

Basically, if you’re a coding whiz, Magento is probably your way to go. If you’re a Khajiit and don’t know the computer stuff, Shopify is definitely your ecommerce choice.