Hey Jlinc ,
Thank you for sharing with use all this, that's what I am anticipating will happen to us once we launch. Have you communicated with Cs cart help desk or sales about this yet ?
Tes: I got your message , I am working on something and will reply to you once Its sorted
Have you look into TAXJAR https://www.taxjar.com/pricing/ ?
I don't use it personally , but have read good reviews on it . Also i am based in the UK not the US , i know taxes run differently for you guys with states etc
We use TaxJar integration through Simtech and it works well...EXCEPT...it does NOT work with PayPal Commerce Integration. Simtech is still working on that. So, currently we only use Stripe on our marketplace because that's the only payment processor that seems to work well with CS-Cart Multi-Vendor.
So what we can do to let CS-Cart listen? Seeing those complains posted by "jlinc" is a serious matter CS-Cart need to address immediately. Losing vendors just after they signup a seller account is no joke.
CS Cart, are you guys reading this? Has any of you even tried to set up a product? or done a Bulk import Preset?
We have spent a week trying to figure out how to create a preset form
I really hope you guys are reading this.
Look at the terrible comments. Do not blame the sellers, I as a administrator cannot even set up a single product with variations properly and setting up a bulk preset is just ...........................................
Hi All,
Perhaps this will help prove your points. There have been multiple threads on the Etsy Forums regarding our new marketplace. Below are screenshots to some vendors who are complaining about using the CS-Cart (our) Vendor Admin Panel. Most of these vendors have cancelled being a seller on our platform because of the difficulty...which is lost revenue to us since we charge a subscription fee.
Below are 5 complaints on the Etsy Forums over the past week. If I took the time to get them all there's probably been 50 complaints over the past few months from sellers saying the CS-Cart Vendor Admin Panel is too difficult and confusing to use. (Of course, they refer to it as our admin panel)
Thank you, so your are using Stripe for all incoming payments as well as Vendor disbursements?
We use TaxJar integration through Simtech and it works well...EXCEPT...it does NOT work with PayPal Commerce Integration. Simtech is still working on that. So, currently we only use Stripe on our marketplace because that's the only payment processor that seems to work well with CS-Cart Multi-Vendor.
Saltwater,
Thank you for the advise.
Hey Jlinc ,
Thank you for sharing with use all this, that's what I am anticipating will happen to us once we launch. Have you communicated with Cs cart help desk or sales about this yet ?
Tes: I got your message , I am working on something and will reply to you once Its sorted
Have you look into TAXJAR https://www.taxjar.com/pricing/ ?
I don't use it personally , but have read good reviews on it . Also i am based in the UK not the US , i know taxes run differently for you guys with states etc
Tes....heads up...we abandoned using "product variations" completely and don't provide that to our vendors since it's impossible to train someone to use them. We only let our vendors use "options" since they make a lot more sense. Especially when you run a custom handmade marketplace like us.
The worst part is actually that CS-Cart deprecated the ability to track inventory on options which our vendors are begging for. CS-Cart literally had the functionality we need and took it away! Many vendors said they won't join us until they can track options inventory. CS-Cart says Product Variations is the new way to do it and even though I've been developing software for over a decade can't figure out how to easily use them. I really wish CS-Cart just kept both "Option Inventory" and "Product Variations" active to let the marketplace decide which to provide their vendors.
As for Stripe, we use Stripe Connect which automatically takes payment and splits it between the vendor and marketplace. So, we don't have to disburse anything.
Also, since my last post we had ANOTHER vendor cancel use of our marketplace because the Vendor Admin Panel is too difficult to use. I've come to peace with the fact we will eventually have to build our own marketplace and leave CS-Cart since it's not scalable. I just wish we didn't have to.
Just had our THIRD vendor cancel today because the vendor admin panel is too hard to use. This isn't to pile salt in the CS-Cart wound, but this certainly does hurt:
Here's the screenshot
Just had our THIRD vendor cancel today because the vendor admin panel is too hard to use. This isn't to pile salt in the CS-Cart wound, but this certainly does hurt:
Here's the screenshot
How hurt feeling to read such honesty from a seller who feel helpless as we do with CS-Cart. Thanks for sharing those screenshots. I'm just hoping CS-Cart will see it and do something.
Its really very sad as to what is happening to jlinc. in todays world of online business the biggest challenge is to get sellers and here after all the work they do they are losing them for such a simple reason.
Yesterday I went on to CS cart to see the sites they claim are a success (whom I had seen when I bought the license) thought I would contact them through their "contact us page" just to learn if they would mind sharing how they managed the vendor panel issues.
So far no replies, but thats how desperate I am.
The core PHP full stack developer that I have hired has built many sites using Open Cart and Woo. And I hired him thinking even though he does not have CS cart experience, how different can it be since the basics are the same across the board.
Unfortunately we are stumbling.
How do we get through to them?????
How hurt feeling to read such honesty from a seller who feel helpless as we do with CS-Cart. Thanks for sharing those screenshots. I'm just hoping CS-Cart will see it and do something.
I contacted a few sellers from the success story page too , before purchasing CS cart . One replied to me (she is no longer featured on the success story, because she has left cs cart )
She told me she stopped using cs cart, because it was daunting to find vendors. But she claimed it was her fault because she was not concentrating on the business.
I also got the app , that is useless , because vendors cannot fully add products from the app . in 2021 an app should let vendors open a store, manage the shipping option, tax , products. its a pity because my last hope was to offer the app for vendors as its a lot easier to add product.
if the vendor panel was good and simple , i would not even care about the app , i would just be content for now.
it is a pity. a lot of money spent for so far literally nothing.
Just had our THIRD vendor cancel today because the vendor admin panel is too hard to use. This isn't to pile salt in the CS-Cart wound, but this certainly does hurt:
Here's the screenshot
jlinc, there is cool add-on Etsy connector by WebKul, i bought it tested long time ago but haven't used it in a while should look into it for the near term.
How hurt feeling to read such honesty from a seller who feel helpless as we do with CS-Cart. Thanks for sharing those screenshots. I'm just hoping CS-Cart will see it and do something.
It won't...unless people who pays Cs-cart (us) stand up and demand change, for the record I have been demanding vendor on-boarding and vendor panel upgrade for last two years.
If CS-Cart is curious about my preference of the arrangement of the admin/vendor panel menus. Then just look at the attached screenshot of my vendor account in one of the successful marketplace in our area for your reference.For example the Shipment menu, it displays all about related to the actions and status of orders. It's very simple and organised. You can easily visualised what need to be managed.I don't know for you guys but this is easy for me to navigate and manage a store.
It looks great and well organised that's a bonus, if adding and managing products is easy .
the cs cart vendor panel white or just neutral color. with menu items reorganised. and a simplified products management would be just perfect .
It seems they are constantly behind on their technical services when I write to them I get a : See below
And when they do it is usually the standard links to... which are already online.
Thank you for the message.
We will contact you at the first opportunity. However, I am afraid that our technical support department is loaded heavily at the moment. We apologize for any possible inconvenience.
Thank you.
---
Sincerely yours,
Vitaliy Stepanov
Technical support engineer
User guide: http://docs.cs-cart.com/latest/user_guide/index.html
Developer documentation: http://docs.cs-cart.com/latest/developer_guide/index.html
CS-Cart Community Forums: http://forum.cs-cart.com
Get more add-ons and themes on https://marketplace.cs-cart.com
Our technical support team works Monday - Friday, 9 a.m. - 6 p.m., our local time is UTC+4It looks great and well organised that's a bonus, if adding and managing products is easy .
the cs cart vendor panel white or just neutral color. with menu items reorganised. and a simplified products management would be just perfect .
Ok. Some quick thoughts:
1) I wish one of the Theme Vendors (Simtech? Themehills? Etc.) would create a modern looking Vendor Admin Theme. I would by it INSTANTLY. While the workflows aren't ideal having the Vendor Admin Panel "look" like it's from 2005 is even worse. Perception is reality and when a Vendor first logs into the panel to build their shop it should at least look modern. Any idea how we could get an Addon vendor to create a modern looking Vendor Admin Panel theme?
2) With all the "doom & gloom" here I do want to mention we are growing and being successful with CS-Cart. I found the biggest key was to create our own help center to offer our vendor instructions on managing their shop. We also offer "live chat" hours from Noon-5pm EST Monday thru Friday. You can check out our vendor help center here: https://help.goimagine.com
3) I don't think there's any such thing as a perfect out of the box solution for a marketplace. That's why I expected to spend a fair bit customizing CS-Cart. Over the past year we have spent around $25,000 USD on addons and custom development to get to a good spot.
So, long story short, we are succeeding with CS-Cart. It's just been harder than it needs to be. Also, we would prefer to stay on CS-Cart long-term. Unfortunately, they don't seem to understand the needs of a marketplace vs. the needs of a stand-alone ecommerce site. They are very different and CS-Cart simply wasn't built with a marketplace being the primary design. It was more of a slap on afterthought and the further we use Multi Vendor the more we are having to customize because the core was not built for a marketplace.
I am doing business around the world and I am cooperating with the biggest ads and marketplace platforms like Google, Facebook, Twitter, Taobao (tmall), PingDuodDuo, Alibaba (aliexpress) , Banggood... apart the different colors all are minimal and "excel" looking style with focus on more stats information rather than beautify.
I could agree that cs-cart is missing some more modern "javascript" functions in admin (changing menus and updating products-orders...) and frontend (variations changing in a product it loads all page, or at checkout when customer change city need to click to get the new fees... that is unacceptable in 2021), but that it is more "speedy" than beautify.
Now in your case, if you want to run something big and you can spend $25k per year only for develppment I think you should start consider a full time job deleveloper and make all the changes you need on one version of cs-cart rather than keep updating and wait when the feature you wish will get released (this is what I am doing apart from cooperating with cs-cart devs also)
Ok. Some quick thoughts:
1) I wish one of the Theme Vendors (Simtech? Themehills? Etc.) would create a modern looking Vendor Admin Theme. I would by it INSTANTLY. While the workflows aren't ideal having the Vendor Admin Panel "look" like it's from 2005 is even worse. Perception is reality and when a Vendor first logs into the panel to build their shop it should at least look modern. Any idea how we could get an Addon vendor to create a modern looking Vendor Admin Panel theme?
2) With all the "doom & gloom" here I do want to mention we are growing and being successful with CS-Cart. I found the biggest key was to create our own help center to offer our vendor instructions on managing their shop. We also offer "live chat" hours from Noon-5pm EST Monday thru Friday. You can check out our vendor help center here: https://help.goimagine.com
3) I don't think there's any such thing as a perfect out of the box solution for a marketplace. That's why I expected to spend a fair bit customizing CS-Cart. Over the past year we have spent around $25,000 USD on addons and custom development to get to a good spot.
So, long story short, we are succeeding with CS-Cart. It's just been harder than it needs to be. Also, we would prefer to stay on CS-Cart long-term. Unfortunately, they don't seem to understand the needs of a marketplace vs. the needs of a stand-alone ecommerce site. They are very different and CS-Cart simply wasn't built with a marketplace being the primary design. It was more of a slap on afterthought and the further we use Multi Vendor the more we are having to customize because the core was not built for a marketplace.
I am doing business around the world and I am cooperating with the biggest ads and marketplace platforms like Google, Facebook, Twitter, Taobao (tmall), PingDuodDuo, Alibaba (aliexpress) , Banggood... apart the different colors all are minimal and "excel" looking style with focus on more stats information rather than beautify.
I could agree that cs-cart is missing some more modern "javascript" functions in admin (changing menus and updating products-orders...) and frontend (variations changing in a product it loads all page, or at checkout when customer change city need to click to get the new fees... that is unacceptable in 2021), but that it is more "speedy" than beautify.
Now in your case, if you want to run something big and you can spend $25k per year only for develppment I think you should start consider a full time job deleveloper and make all the changes you need on one version of cs-cart rather than keep updating and wait when the feature you wish will get released (this is what I am doing apart from cooperating with cs-cart devs also)
I understand what you are saying but you are missing the point, its not about beauty...its more about familiarity and conventional design so vendors are not lost or overwhelmed. So going by your list google, FB, Aliexpress, Etsy, Shopify, WooCommerce they all have menu in left column..the best one is Aliexpress the left column can switch between customer/seller menu (there is a button at top to switch) - this is what everyone is used to then you bring them to a cs-cart's horizontal menu at top that looks like a 80s project you start to lose people pretty quick....
Now get this I have Stripe enabled for my marketplace and I want all my sellers to activate with Stripe..but there is a payment method menu that gives them gazillion choices of payments..many of my sellers end up creating paypal method.
Then I have to tell them..no don't do that..go to a completely different place under vendor menu..click on your name and scroll down where you will find a connect stripe button click that to connect to stripe.
Once a marketplace is set for Stripe connect why in a world other payments are available? I can on and on and on...
Ok. Some quick thoughts:
1) I wish one of the Theme Vendors (Simtech? Themehills? Etc.) would create a modern looking Vendor Admin Theme. I would by it INSTANTLY. While the workflows aren't ideal having the Vendor Admin Panel "look" like it's from 2005 is even worse. Perception is reality and when a Vendor first logs into the panel to build their shop it should at least look modern. Any idea how we could get an Addon vendor to create a modern looking Vendor Admin Panel theme?
2) With all the "doom & gloom" here I do want to mention we are growing and being successful with CS-Cart. I found the biggest key was to create our own help center to offer our vendor instructions on managing their shop. We also offer "live chat" hours from Noon-5pm EST Monday thru Friday. You can check out our vendor help center here: https://help.goimagine.com
3) I don't think there's any such thing as a perfect out of the box solution for a marketplace. That's why I expected to spend a fair bit customizing CS-Cart. Over the past year we have spent around $25,000 USD on addons and custom development to get to a good spot.
So, long story short, we are succeeding with CS-Cart. It's just been harder than it needs to be. Also, we would prefer to stay on CS-Cart long-term. Unfortunately, they don't seem to understand the needs of a marketplace vs. the needs of a stand-alone ecommerce site. They are very different and CS-Cart simply wasn't built with a marketplace being the primary design. It was more of a slap on afterthought and the further we use Multi Vendor the more we are having to customize because the core was not built for a marketplace.
About item 1) the problem is that if someone made a theme they will have to constantly update it every time cs-cart decides to move a button or menu and test it, its a lot of work given number of change they have been making lately..but the real reason nobody is interested in making a theme is because ca-cart's framework is not standards based..case in point open cart takes standards based approach so updating it is not a lot of work so people actually offer free themes..isn't that crazy?
https://www.opencart.com/index.php?route=marketplace/extension/info&extension_id=13691
CS Cart has talented and skilled technical staff to easily create a new vendor interface if they choose to. Hope they will just do it and move forward.
Only question is how can we request them to take us seriously.
Most businesses use forums to learn about their customers likes and dislikes, hope cs cart is doing the same.
Until then we have to set up a whole department to help vendor onboard and stay there.
(Ladies and) gents, I agree with you completely about the vendor experience needing an overhaul. I am new to CS-Cart MV and am shocked at how archaic the whole system is - it has been a steeper learning curve than I had expected and I need a developer to do most things. I can manage that - it just costs me more. The far bigger problem is I will have to train my vendors to absorb the same learning curve. I sincerely find it embarrassing - that I have to present my vendors with this outdated admin system.
Just an option - If CS-Cart will not listen to your concerns then they might listen if you post your thoughts here: https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.cs-cart.com
Prospective users have a right to know what to expect after all. I would not have bought the CS-Cart platform had I known.