Topic: Open Bitcoin Store: Free bitcoin online stores - page 3. (Read 17311 times)

what about appfog? Or modifying the plugins to use Wordpress MU? (Which would be AMAZING) Single sign on for example. Or a "shared" walle where you could buy in different shops / sites from the "Bitcoin shop MU" would be amazing

Unfortunately free hosting without credit card signup was proven to be terribly abused and risky for the hosts. The ones that offer this tend to be super flaky, put ads on the sites and play scam games.

None specific but here is link to list that do ... one may actually be open to the idea of Hosting the beta store projects for free to establish itself for future paying options/upgrades etc and as the go-to hosting for bitcoin stores using your paltform.

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Trade#Web_Hosting

If I can find a hosting company that supports bitcoin and is willing to offer a free basic hosting plan for the stores, then I will use them. If it is just a matter of paying by bitcoin versus fiat, and I'm taking all the risk and volatility for a community project personally, then I'd rather use USD and specifically AWS.

I imagine that out of 1000 bitcoin stores, 90% will get one order a month and little traffic (just the reality of retail "long tail"). So for a hosting company, the questions is: how to offer reliable FREE service to the 900 stores and then upsell the successful ones that emerge into supported and paid hosting plans.

There is a tremendous opportunity for a hosting company to partner (see http://openbitcoinstore.com/index.php/partners/).

Any specific ones in mind?

Use hosting that you can pay for with bitcoin?

I think there are bitcoin-only hostings already somewhere.

Our BETA has generated more than 75 applications for bitcoin stores in about 4 days. I have absolutely no doubt that the stated goal of "a thousand bitcoin stores" can be achieved by the end of the year, barring unforeseen changes in adoption.

We've proven there's demand for easy-to-setup instant stores. We've proven there is a huge community of retailers, wannabe retailers and volunteers willing to work together. Now, we need to overcome some of the initial problems and really take this to the next level.

PROBLEMS:

* We've found a bug that is causing the content to reset on Heroku. It may force us to reconsider our hosting options.
* All the free hosting options require a credit card for verification. That is a relic of "old economy"

Our plan BTC needs a Plan B for hosting (and C,D,E...)


I am asking for suggestions for hosting:

Where would you host 1000 stores based on WordPress?

Are there ANY decent free options that do not require a credit card for verification (both Heroku and AWS do require one).

I am considering a paid hosted option, funded by donations and hosting multiple virtual stores in a single instance server (multiple databases). This will cost about $100 a month, but we should be able to host a lot of low-traffic stores without problem. That would also make it faster to set them up.

Help? Comments? Thoughts?

I definitely need help, especially JS and client-side. I need to implement a "hover for BTC price" with exchange rate. Not easy...

Please visit openbitcoinstore.com and go to Volunteer, or email at [email protected]. Sorry for the extra contact request, too much going on and I need to use a process to not lose my head!

Definitely interested. I am setting up a Partner page for additional services.

My expectations are simple and consistent with the OpenBitcoinStore mission.

1) All partners will offer a basic free service of some kind, just like OBS does.
2) All partners will also volunteer to support store owners via IRC, on a best-effort basis

I have requests for partners in SEO, advertising, PR, graphic design and Wordpress templates so far. I want to have a nice healthy ecosystem of services around OBS.

So yes, please join us. Send me an email please at [email protected], so I don't forget this conversation (sorry, many many store requests, I'm overwhelmed)

Thanks!

hi aantonop, great initiative!  If I can help out, please let me know.  I could help if you need some client-side JS for validation or something, or if you need anymore work done on WP (although it's been several years since I last worked with PHP, I'm sure it would come back although you're responsible for any residual effects this has on my programming prowess [joking]).

Please let me know if there's anything I can do.

Hey aantonop, I have a new, free advertising network available. Would you be interested in joint partnership with each other so my users can try out you system, and your visitors have a new avenue to list their website. The site is marketuopia.co.uk, you can also list your own site if you like.

Cool, nice use case the elephant.

Not sure if you have thought about this but if it is open source ... have you wondered about people putting stores up on Tor hidden sites using this software?

Thanks. My favorite part was implementing the "elephant" in the demo. It has unique features, like you can't use the SHIPFREE coupon and it is very expensive to ship, because of the weight. There's only 1 in stock. It nicely shows several of the complex and sophisticated features of WooCommerce, the underlying store software.

Luv the puppies and kittens listings on the demo store ... nice touch 

Project Update

We have now received 67 applications in 48 hours. We have processed about 20 and have finished TWO stores already.

We also have received 10 volunteers, two donations and lots of heartfelt support.

The website is much more complete now: openbitcoinstore.com

I expect we will reach 100 stores before the end of the week

great!
hey owners, don't hesitate to add your stores here https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=5.0

UPDATE:


Today we started the launch for TWENTY NINE new bitcoin stores.

Twenty nice applications were submitted in full in less than 12 hours. We have responded to all applicants and they are in the process of setting up their FREE bitcoin retail stores.

The stores started today are planning to sell a huge variety of products and services, both physical and intangible (media, software downloads).

I was honestly surprised by the incredible variety of ideas that bloomed out of the basic concept behind OpenBitcoinStore:

Launch a retail bitcoin store, for free, in less than an hour, without techie skills.


We will be collecting testimonials and making a directory of the new stores.

The beta is officially closed - but we are now accepting applications from all, for the next stage.

Visit openbitcoinstore.com and click "Get a Store!". (or to volunteer or donate)

Actually, not in this instant. Maybe in a couple of days.

UPDATE:

Yikes!

We now have more than 200 requests for stores.

That's 200 people wanting to sell goods and services in bitcoin, in less than 24hrs, from one post.


Please see the new site: OpenBitcoinStore.com

Go there to SIGNUP for the beta, to volunteer, to donate, or to read the FAQ.

I can no longer take PM or email for beta signups, as I am completely overwhelmed. Form entires will be handled on a first-come first-served basis.

Thank you for all the amazing support

WOW!

We have had a sudden response with more than 20 requests for new stores in an hour, since posting on reddit.

Since the process is not yet automated (beta test), it will take a bit of time to manually do all those, solve the bugs and document.

However, EVERYONE will get a store. That is the whole point. So, I will add everyone to a list, tell you how many before you,  and provide updates on progress, so you know when we will get to your store.

This is fantastic news, as the project just got enough momentum to ensure it's continuation.

I have also received several offers for donations. Since I will not be taking any money for this project myself, I am setting up a separate address and policy for the use of any donations. All donations will go to offer tech support to store owners and for project development. Standby for more details.

Do you have any more beta stores available, I'd like to try creating a store.