Easy to use e-commerce software

[anlag]

I'm looking into starting up a web shop for digital items, and so have been searching for appropriate e-commerce software to use. I've got a domain I can use to get started, with PHP/mySQL/etc, which I'm fairly sure will do the job, but what software to opt for?

So far I've seen


osCommerce, open source and with a long tradition, though possibly a bit dated now?
Batavi, building on from osCommerce, more up to date but seen comments that it's difficult to install
VirtueMart, runs as part of a Joomla CMS
Ubercart, plugin for Drupal
Magento, where the community edition is open source, but will I miss something that's only in the paid versions?


...and probably a few more. Since it probably takes quite a bit of time to get to know either of these well enough to know its strengths and weaknesses, I thought I'd ask for pointers. I'd like for my choice to be free and ideally open source, and if possible I'd rather avoid spending a massive amount of time setting things up. On the other hand, I probably won't need a massive amount of features so a fairly basic solution should be okay.

As for background, I know my way around a shell and can install and configure stuff with confidence, though haven't done anything in the way of web pages for a good many years, and don't really know PHP or mySQL more than some very basic fundamentals.

Thanks in advance for any help!

[Cuddles McKitten]

Zen Cart is probably the easiest configured "out of the box" and has its own CMS for easy alterations. YMMV, but it's definitely another option to consider.

http://www.zen-cart.com/

[samalex]

I've been using osCommerce on one of the sites I maintain for some time now. It's pretty simple to setup and use, and it has LOTS of features. If you're working with PayPal it's a breeze to get going, but I think most of the others are also now'days.

I've tested Magento but the community version is too limited. Plus looking at the comparison between editions, what's up with 'Indemnification Not Included'? Indemnification from what? Not to thread hijack, but do vendors need to indemnify their users from lawsuits now?

At any rate I've always liked osCommerce and the community support behind it.

Take care --

Sam

[anlag]

Thanks a lot to both of you. I decided to have a go with ZenCart, and now have it installed and working on my server. So far, so good, and without any real difficulty.

I also liked the look of Magento at first but got cold feet when I saw that comparison chart between community and paid versions. I'm not even sure what all the entries meant, but I could just see myself finding out a few months down the line that THAT feature which isn't available to me would be damn useful... Feel safer with one of the entirely free versions.

Thanks again!