The new Products module is embedded in JRCore, and looks great to me. It is set up so that any member can use their own Paypal account to receive payments for physical products sold from their own profile.
There is no need for the network owner to pay an expensive subscription to Foxycart, but the system is limited to Paypal. I see this as a good stepping stone option. If network members like it and there is demand, then it may become worthwhile for the network owner to invest in Foxycart.
The module asks the profile owner to first define one or more product categories, and then add products within each category. The set up has very useful generic features that can be used to sell and offer shipping for products in many different ways. Since one item can be given only one price at a time, we have to list the same item twice (e.g. for local and international shipping) if we want to show different prices. For a small number of products, this is not a problem.
When a product is added, two fields are automatically shown (corresponding to templates in the form designer): "Shipping and Handling", and "Buy it Now Price". The latter links to the profile owner's Paypal account. For this to happen, the profile owner must add their Paypal account email in the last or near-last field on the profile settings page. The profile must be in a quota for which PayPal Buy It Now module has been activated.
What I don't understand is this:
Should the "Shipping and Handling" price appear along with the "Buy it Now" price when a buyer pays for the product, or should the seller set a "Buy it Now" price that includes the shipping and handling, and then create a help note for buyers to explain that the "Buy it Now" price includes the stated "Shipping and Handling" price?
In my test of the system, it seems that the "Shipping and Handling" price does not reappear when the potential customer lands on the Paypal page to make a payment. Only the "Buy it Now" price appears.
--
PJ Matthews, Kyoto
Migrated from Ning 2.0. Now at Jamroom 6 beta and using Jamroom Hosting for The Research Cooperative (researchcooperative.org)
updated by @researchcooperative: 02/22/19 07:51:37PM