I think you will find building your own e-commerce platform, even a 
rudimentary one, will pose more challenges than you anticipate. Going 
with something already well established and dumbing it down for your 
needs is likely a more efficient solution, unless of course you want to 
do it for the rewarding experience it brings.. :)

On 8/8/[masked]:30 PM, Todd wrote:
> Thanks for this. I'm only looking for the most rudimentary
> functionality. I have a suspicion that it might just be easier for me to
> roll-my-own. I'm trying to avoid this -- it just seems about as
> intelligent as writing your own framework (I did this -- stupid^3).
>
> The "key" is that there will be (I hope) hundreds of stores/vendors
> served by the same site. I don't need the fancy tax calculations,
> multiple payment methods, inventory management, etc. Those aren't
> terrible things, of course... but "not worth it" if they significantly
> increase the complexity of what should be fairly straightforward.
>
> I'm looking for dumb software for dumb programmers.
>
> Cheers,
>      Todd
>
>
> On 08/08/[masked]:32 AM, James Todd wrote:
>> there are a bunch of choices (in fact too many its overwhelming).
>> there is
>> magento
>> oscommerce
>> zencart
>> foxycart
>>
>> so, you have entered into a whole new world.
>>
>> You are going to get so many different endorsements and opinions...
>>
>> I would go with the one that is simple and offers the easiest template
>> and format customization.
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Aug 8, 2014 at 11:28 AM, Todd <[address removed]
>> <mailto:[address removed]>> wrote:
>>
>>     Is anyone able to recommend software that mimics
>>     https://www.shapew...­ <https://www.shapew...;­ or
>>     https://www.ponoko...­ <https://www.ponoko...;­ ?
>>
>>     I looked around but didn't find anything suitable.  I'm not
>>     opposed to paying for something.  I've been using PHP+MySQL+jQuery
>>     to build a similar site.  I'm making progress... but a little
>>     voice is saying, "you shouldn't be doing this -- go reap the
>>     benefits of another project's suffering." Basically, I need to
>>     allow users to create "stores" to sell their products.  The
>>     uploading/validating­/parsing/billing/etc­ of designs is
>>     straightforward.  It's just the schema that allows a user to sell
>>     their stuff.
>>
>>     Hoping that y'all can save me some headaches...
>>
>>     - Todd
>>
>>     BTW: This is not for my "day job." I'm helping a friend start his
>>     business.
>>
>>
>>
>>
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