Author Topic: Looking for open source e-commerce platform to sell images and video (Read 15669 times)

click_click · « **on:** January 12, 2011, 15:48 »

I've been exhausting myself trying to find an open-source (in other words FREE) e-commerce software to sell digital content, more specifically images and footage.

I used oscommerce before (but I don't think digital content can be set up). I tried shopware (shopware.de) which is very good but costs money to add english language pack and it's overkill for my needs.

I "just" need a platform that can handle image and footage previews and a processing system (Paypal is fine) to create instant download.

Did I mention that it should be safer than iStock?

I'm not going to pay a monthly/yearly fee. Before I do that, I will set up the shop manually with individual Paypal Buttons.

It's not going to be a large shop. Maybe 30 products to start with.

Any ideas?

Anita Potter · « **Reply #1 on:** January 12, 2011, 16:34 »

Darn and I was going to suggest OS Commerce too. There is a way for it to download digital content and I tried to figure it out a few years ago and it was clunky. There has to be a way to deliver digital content to the buyer after purchase is okay and cleared without having to do it manually after the fact.

Have a look at http://www.zencart.com just looking around the forum seems to have a way to set up digital downloads with different attributes. Last time I used it (about a million years ago) was easy to set up and integrate into your own site. And it's free. Thing is looking at a forum post about it it seems that the download is in the buyers my account page and didn't send a link in an email. The email templates can be customized to suit your needs but that's beyond my remembering right now.

yuliang11 · « **Reply #2 on:** January 13, 2011, 00:58 »

i'm currently trying to build a site from scratch. i've googled around there are some stocksite but u need to pay for it

leaf · « **Reply #3 on:** January 13, 2011, 04:50 »

I've used zencart with a regular type store and was happy with it. I would guess the digital download part isn't going to be super efficient as it wouldn't be made for masses of files but it might work with a little tweaking.

I would NOT suggest magento. They are another open source store that look very nice, but breaks and is extremely buggy. On every update the store has serious errors that you have to spend a day googling to try and trouble shoot! It's not worth the trouble.

click_click · « **Reply #4 on:** January 13, 2011, 09:40 »

Thanks for your replies so far. I set up the ZenCart, trying to get the digital download to work.
That's my main issue to get the payment processed and then have the software provide the download link immediately.

tbmpvideo · « **Reply #5 on:** January 13, 2011, 22:20 »

People don't seem to be having much luck with creating more general, individual artist, sales sites. If you have footage of some unique and interesting value - which is going to draw you lot and lots of hits - this project may commercially viable. For instance, type in "bangkok riots 2010 video clips stock footage" into any search bar. What you are directed to is my stock footage on one or two of the major sites. This may qualify for some off-site pages and generate some sales. That is, if the footage is so unique that a simple internet search will put you on the first page on Google. If not, your efforts are most likely in vain. Stock footage marketplaces exist because people go there - they know they are going to be able to find footage on a vast number of themes without conducting deep internet searches. Even if your results were successful, given the example above, do you want to be dealing with lots of issues surrounding relatively small purchases? Coping with buyers? Here is an effort by a very talented artist to create his own sales site. Results, apparently are less that stellar, even at the give away prices he is offering. People are not coming to this site: www.slamstock.com How are potential buyers going to find yours?

Kuler123 · « **Reply #6 on:** May 16, 2013, 04:19 »

My suggestion is OpenCart.
Well I think OpenCart provides you an easy using platforms even you are not a tech guy. It also saves much cost than other same types. You know, OpenCart is a good choice for small online business.
Moreover,there are millions Free OpenCart themes, then it is not hard for you to find the Best OpenCart Themes suitable for you.

jbarber873 · « **Reply #7 on:** May 17, 2013, 08:30 »

Quote from: tbmpvideo on January 13, 2011, 22:20

Stock footage marketplaces exist because people go there - they know they are going to be able to find footage on a vast number of themes without conducting deep internet searches.

tbmpvideo hits the nail on the head. Driving traffic to a website is very expensive. Pay per click advertising on google was over $4 per click the last time I looked for the words "stock photo". I've set up several sites over the years, using paid solutions like e-junkie and zenfolio. They work fine but the traffic is not there. Meanwhile sales on SS and Pond5 for video are exploding. Let them deal with the issues of getting the traffic, selling the files and hosting the huge quantity of files that brings buyers to the site. The further away from the client I am, the better.