Selling products on your WordPress site

Ever wanted to sell a product or service on your own website? Almost anything is possible with WordPress and this is one of the most common features a website owner wants. There are several options available to add a web shop on your site and I’ll be highlighting just a few.

What are you selling?

Whether you’re selling 1 item only or a bunch of products, you can easily do this (or have it done for you) and connect your shop to PayPal or use another payment method. Before you know it, you can turn the virtual “Open” sign on and start selling online!

Easy or complex?

Made your list of items to sell? Here’s a breakdown of your options: easy or complex

Easy: one or two products
Options: PayPal button or Simple PayPal Shopping cart

1. PayPal Button

To use a PayPal button only, you do not need to install a plugin but. Follow these steps to create your button in PayPal’s dashboard.

1. Log into PayPal, Select Tools
2. Create a button (Buy Now) for your site
3. Select button type and add relevant details of your product, including variation (sizes) under “Add drop down menu”.
4. Click on Step 3, where you can indicate that you want PayPal to collect buyer’s shipping address. (Not a default setting)
5. Click on Create button and copy the HTML code.
6. Paste the code on your post or page, but make sure you’re in the Text screen
7. Save as Draft or Publish when ready.

This is a great option if you only have 1 or 2 products. The bad thing is that you’d have to sign in at PayPal if you need to make any changes and if you don’t have time for that, check out the next option.

2. PayPal Shopping Cart plugin

This plugin allows edits from your WordPress dashboard: the WP Simple PayPal Shopping Cart.
Set it up once, learn how to tweak the “code” for products, and you’re good to go!
Learn more about this plugin at the WP Simple PayPal Shopping Cart founders’ site.

In both scenarios you’ll have to create a regular Post/Page, add your product image, description and then include the button or shopping cart [code] on the post/page.

Need a bit more?

What if you own a shop with many products. For that girlfriend, you need a more robust eCommerce tool.

Complex: many products
Options: WooCommerce or Shopify

My current favorite is WooCommerce! Shopify will only work if you have a Shopify account and honestly, if you’re already paying for one, why would you go through the hassle of putting the shop on your blog? Maybe to combine both? You can find details about the Shopify plugin here.

3. A robust eCommerce tool

I like WooCommerce because you manage everything on your site. It’s a free plugin for a basic shop, with paid modules to expand webshop options. Unfortunately, they’re not cheap. but in my experience, you would be just fine with a basic, free WooCommerce shop.

It’s a bit more work to set it up, but you’ll have a professional shop. If you don’t want to do the work you can always hire us.

Set up shop!

So, there you have it! Your options to sell services or products online can be easy or complex. From a simple PayPal button or shopping cart, to a comprehensive eStore, you no longer have an excuse for not selling online.
Brick and mortar shop owners can enhance their sales with a web shop. The future is here (hello Amazon and Etsy), buyers like the convenience of shopping from home or office so they don’t have to get in traffic and deal with the crowd.

In the past couple of months, I’ve had several requests to “set up shop” from customers around the world and if you need one, we’d like to help you too!

From a simple 1-product page or building a web shop for your products or services, you can have it all!
Check out our services page here.

Have any questions? Post them below and get the conversation going.
Thanks for your input!

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