Need your advice- websites for crafters

[etchingcrafts]

I will be starting a web design company soon and was thinking about offering a affordable way for people to create a website for their craft business.

I wanted to get some insight from people to better serve the market.

What would you need if you were going to set up a website?

Any feedback would be helpful

[Chris in VT]

Since Washington is going to take up and possibly pass legislation allowing the states to collect sales tax on internet sales, you're going to need a way to collect the sales taxes for the states that have sales tax, into your checkout.

This will be a nightmare for the small website owner. Because in some states, the tax is different for each county.

[CraftyChef]

I imagine the online shopping cart services will all have built-in sales tax collection if that eventually comes to pass. Can't imagine everyone who is signed up for a shopping cart now will be left flopping about on their own.

The thing with "affordable" is that it usually means "basic", but don't skimp on security. A shopping cart and SECURE site is very important. I don't know if you're planning a farm type thing like etsy or if you'd be like a Homestead hosting/website deal, but upgrades should be available since some people won't want "basic" forever.

The younger generation is more computer savvy than I am, so they know more about technology, but most people still do not understand or want to understand how a website works. Keep instructions specific and button-pushing simple whenever possible.

Need to upload photos into an organized arrangement. Need a title, description field, tag/keywords area. Need a menu with categories. Ability to put in a custom header. Color schemes would be nice, not everybody knows how to load up backgrounds and so on.

[Chris in VT]

I imagine the online shopping cart services will all have built-in sales tax collection if that eventually comes to pass. Can't imagine everyone who is signed up for a shopping cart now will be left flopping about on their own.

I agree. My site automatically collects the sales tax from Vermont residents.

But it is up to me to remit those taxes. And no state will do business with you without a sales tax number. Could that mean we must register with each state when someone from that state places an order?

Can you imagine the fun when we get one order from a state and then have to file quarterly or annual returns from that point on?

I can only hope somebody in Washington can see the plight of the micro merchant, although I doubt any of them are smart enough to do that.

[CraftyChef]

Can you imagine the fun when we get one order from a state and then have to file quarterly or annual returns from that point on?

I can only hope somebody in Washington can see the plight of the micro merchant, although I doubt any of them are smart enough to do that.

How could any state handle the additional volume? Look at this top 10 retail list, then add in all the little businesses that will have sales tax to "regulate":
1. Amazon.com
2. Walmart.com
3. eBay.com
4. BestBuy.com
5. JCPenney.com
6. Target.com
7. Kohls.com
8. Google.com
9. Overstock.com
10. Sears.com

Avoiding sales taxes will become a sort of black market activity. People always find a way. And since the government wonks don't understand how a business works or even imagine how one can get bogged down in paperwork, they will not figure out ahead of time how things will go, and there will be waivers for this and that, then the only folks who will get off are the big companies with power bases and the rest of us will end up drowning in red tape and going broke on penalties. Fun? You ain't kiddin'!