Cart Newbie Question

So I’ve finally decided I have the extra time and income, plus the dedication and motivation required to try my hand at owning my own online business (store).



My price range for a shopping cart is between $100 - $500, but unfortunately there are so many shopping carts that fall into that range, the decision is mind boggling.



What I have done over the past week is make a list of every cart that falls into my price range. Next I tried to weed out any that I felt didn’t meet my specific needs.



I was still left with quite a few, so I went to each site, read everything I could about them, read features list, briefly checked their forums, and tried their online demo (if they offered one).



After this grueling process, I have narrowed my choices down to 3 shopping carts.



Now of the 3, I can tell you right now, this forums seems to be by far the most active, most friendly and most knowledgeable, and for me right off, that’s a major plus because I’m a forum warrior.



The 3 carts I am looking at are: CS-Cart, ViArt Standard, Sunshop Cart



CS-Cart is $285, ViArt Standard is $150, and Sunshop Cart is $250 I believe.

I know that CS also offers $100 off additional licenses, which is needless to say, very nice!!



Now I know that the opinions of the members in the CS-Cart forum will no doubt likely be very biased towards or very pro CS-Cart, however I would like if possible some honest, objective information about CS-Cart, especially if anyone here has used or has any experience with the other 2 I listed.



Two things I have heard about CS-Cart that worry me are:


  1. Many have said that it is slooooow. Slow is BAD. I need a FAST cart.

    Some of those reviews might be older, the cart speed may have been improved since then, I don’t know. From trying sites that use it, I haven’t noticed a problem personally. It’s hard to compare speed tho when the diff carts are all running on different servers, which are also all different distances from me.


  2. Some have said that CS-Cart doesn’t have good handling of back ordering, individual item shipping, etc… These are likely options I will need.





    Can anyone answer these 2 questions, or give me your personal experience with CS-Cart as compared to my other choices (or even just in general as compared with other software you have used)