I need so much help!

[gotoim]

I am trying to build an ecommerce store for clothing. I have my domain name. I found a designer on craigslist and he stole $900 of my money! I paid him over 3 months ago, and he has not given me any design. I am heartbroken because that was all I had to get this project off the ground.
I wanted a site similar to this Bcat Threads Indie Fashion Boutique - Independent San Diego Designers - Fashion Blog by Brooke Catherine Nevins. I really want a boutique type feel, but now I don't know what to do. I have no idea what software to use, and I can not design anything pretty.
Anyone know where I could get some help??

Thanks,
T

[Susie N]

I'm really sorry that happened! I am not available for new projects at this time, but I thought I'd show you a page on my website that might help you get moving in the right direction.

Ecommerce/Shopping Cart Websites | Auxano Creative

Any of the carts listed there are super easy to use. Plus, when you visit those websites, look in the navigation bar for something about template designers. For example, on Shoppe Pro's website, go to Templates > Template Designers. You'll see lists of people who have premade templates for sale and/or who provide custom templates for the carts. I've seen a lot of boutique quality work on some of their websites.

Hope this helps!

[scadesigns]

WordPress might be the way to go, I found another cart as well that I like to use with it. It's called shopplugin.net

[gotoim]

Susie,

Thank you for the information, but those designs are out of my price range. Only because all my budget is gone. However those designs are breathtaking! Exactly how I pictured my website.
I will check into wordpress. Thanks

[mybrokengnome]

I'll re-iterate, WordPress is the way you'll want to go. Also, I didn't look at the Shoppe Pro's site, but this site has some amazingly good themes, that are relatively inexpensive for what you get WordPress Themes, HTML Templates - ThemeForest.

A couple more things:
1) It sucks you got ripped off, never pay for the full price up front. At the most pay 50%, which I find to be the normal rate for a good faith deposit.

2) If you're only selling a small number of things, for instance 10 items, on your site to begin with then skip the shopping cart and just do PayPal buttons. You'll probably be able to get your site up and running faster. I have my own shopping cart code which I've integrated into WordPress very very easily, but the fact of the matter is, you don't even need to use a shopping cart plugin, you can do everything with WordPress posts & a posts meta tags.

3) You might not get the boutique look and feel that you're going for out of the gate now. You might have to settle for another look, at least till you can afford a designer again, or learn how to use Photoshop yourself. While a good design is important, if what you're selling people really want to buy, they'll look past any bad design on your site. It might turn away a few customers, but it won't turn away everyone. With that said, you don't need to have a bad design of your site because you have no money, you might just not get the boutique.

4) Google for free wordpress themes - 45 Best Free WordPress Themes of All Time | WordPress Resources and 100 Amazing Free Wordpress Themes for 2009 - Smashing Magazine are two really good sites that came up

5) Most of the designers on WAHM are good people (note I said most :-P ) and if you asked nicely might be able to work with you on maybe a payment plan or something to help you with the design of your site. Maybe $50-$100/month until it covers their cost.

[Chef Bek]

feel free to email me. bek @ bekdavis.com -- I may have some ideas for you.

[MikeF0421]

How did you pay this individual?

Depending how you paid for the services, you may have some recourse here.

If you paid by PayPal, you can contact them. They are pretty quick to reverse transactions.

If you paid electronically through a bank account using your account number or debit card, you can file a dispute with your bank and have a pretty good chance of getting your money back.

If you paid by check, you might be able to file a dispute through the bank as well, but maybe not.