CodeDog Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 Hi, I've been doing a lot of net searching for a multi-vendor system, and just came across a mod for PrestaShop called "Agile Multiple Seller". I've never used PrestaShop before, but I've used most of the other paid and free shopping carts for various clients over the years. PrestaShop looks great, but I need multi-vendor for my current project, so my question to all you PrestaShop users is: Does "Agile Multiple Seller" work well as a standard multi-vendor system? Is it up-to-date as far as code goes? The reason I ask is that I originally purchased iScript's MultiCart for this project only to find it's code extremely outdated, full of deprecated functions and errors when run under PHP 5.3+. Are there any pros or cons either way? And, is there a better multi-vendor mod than "Agile Multiple Seller" available for PrestaShop? I'm sure there will be varying opinions, but I thought it best (and easier) to just ask current users rather than purchase another script that may or may not work. I appreciate any thoughts either way. Thanks... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CodeDog Posted October 19, 2012 Author Share Posted October 19, 2012 Okay, thanks. Decided to go a different way... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m3isd Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 Hi CodeDog... Can I ask if you will share which way you decided to go? I am also at this point in decidin to stick with Prestahop and the Agile Multiple Vendor module or to look for something else to use as a Multi Vendor solution? Will you mind sharing your decision? Regards Pierre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CodeDog Posted November 11, 2012 Author Share Posted November 11, 2012 Hi Pierre, Actually, since I left the last post I've come back to PrestaShop and Agile. After my bad experience with iScripts MultiCart, I wasn't sure which way I wanted to go. I'd thought about the X-Cart multi-vendor because I was familiar with X-Cart, but it was cost prohibitive and I wasn't sure it would give us what we needed. I also looked at a multi-vendor system for OpenCart, which looked similar to the Agile modules but with fewer features. In the end, I talked with Kinro from Agile and decided on the PrestaShop and Agile combination. Though our store isn't quite ready to be opened, I've been working with the system and with Kinro for a couple weeks now and am extremely happy with the progress. The Agile modules were updated to work with PS 1.5x, but they are currently being updated again with even more features. Documentation is being written, and the system is looking really good. Couldn't be happier with this decision. Unless you're thinking about going to a system like X-Cart or Magento, I wouldn't move away from Agile at this point. And even then those system don't do the things we need as well as PS and Agile... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aysin71 Posted December 23, 2012 Share Posted December 23, 2012 Hi CodeDog, It has been a while since you went forward with Presta and Agile. Are you happy? Thanks, Aysin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CodeDog Posted December 26, 2012 Author Share Posted December 26, 2012 Hi Aysin, Sorry I didn't get back sooner, been having internet problems. It's been a mixed bag, overall. We're creating a 'somewhat' unique environment. Standard multi-vendor store, but with some differences. PrestaShop overall is a good shopping cart system, but we've been getting a little frustrated with bug issues that, after some research, I've found were supposed to have been fixed back in 1.4.9 but have resurfaced again in 1.5. Thanks to a lot of searching through the bug tracker and some handy posts found here and there by other users, I've worked through most of those issues and been able to modify the code accordingly. The modularity of PrestaShop has its upsides and downsides. On the one hand, the modularity allows you to do a ton of things with the software. On the other hand, when there's an issue you have to look through not only the base software but the 100+ modules to figure out if it's a bug or a combination of configuration settings. It's made the setup process somewhat frustrating at times. Then you throw in a large number of 3rd party modules to change the way the software works and it makes it exponentially more difficult to debug problems. Though I said before, and still say, that Kinro and the Agile crew are absolutely great to work with, and I have nothing but lots of good things to say about them. It's been a long and tedious process, but in the end (after getting through the bugs/issues and figuring out the seemingly endless possible combinations of configuration settings needed to make things work the way you want) I'd have to say it's going to be worth it. As a company we've set up dozens of online stores for clients (X-Cart, etc.), but this is our first PrestaShop install and the first time building a true multi-vendor system. I wouldn't recommend it for the faint of heart. But, if the PrestaShop bugs we ran into were straightened out and a few other corrections made, it probably wouldn't be that bad. Tracking down the bugs and fixes was really time consuming (and frustrating). Agile had just rewritten their modules for PS 1.5+ and there were a few things to work on there, but as I said they were very responsive and took care of everything quickly. At this point I don't see any issues with the Agile software and can absolutely recommend them. So, am I happy with the PS + Agile decision? Yes, I am now. Setting up something like this is always a process (nothing like a single vendor store), and things could have gone better, but I like what we have and think it's going to make an excellent multi-vendor store. If you have any questions feel free to ask. At this point, pretty much been there done that... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aysin71 Posted December 26, 2012 Share Posted December 26, 2012 Thanks so much for the detailed answer! If money was not a concern, but time was would you go with Xcart or Presta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CodeDog Posted December 26, 2012 Author Share Posted December 26, 2012 (edited) I'm a long time fan of X-Cart for clients, but a lot of that is because I already know it pretty well. I assume your question pertains to multi-vendor, so I'll answer that. If not let me know. The multi-vendor version of X-Cart is ~$1,800, but if you're serious about an online store that's not a huge investment. I did look at that option, but found a number of people having problems with that software also. Bugs and issues were being addressed, of course, but still something to look at. We also looked at functionality and operational procedures of the software. You can purchase various addons for X-Cart, but then you have to start looking at the same possibility of compatibility issues between versions and other things. In the end, we found that PrestaShop (feature wise) was as good as X-Cart for our purposes as a base for the store. And after looking into the Agile modules we found more features and functionality available to us for our intended purpose as a multi-vendor. The draw for X-Cart was that most things were built into the base product, and it was a little easier to configure and set up. The draw for PS and Agile was the modularity and flexibility it would allow us. In the end this was both a bonus and a setback because of the bugs we found that could effect so many areas and be so hard to track down to someone new to the PS system. As I said, initially it was quite a frustrating process of going through the system in detail and coming across a number of bugs/issues that had to be fixed before we could continue, but having been in the software development business since 1977 I know there's no such thing as a perfect, bug free system out there. You make your best choice, then deal with the issues to get everything to function correctly and as needed. To get a system that did everything we needed out of the gate with no bugs and no hassle, we would have gladly paid $1,800 or more, but we knew nothing would give us that. And now that we've gotten through the bugs and hassle, I'd still go the same way - PS and Agile. For what we needed, anyway. X-Cart and Magento are fine products, of course, but so is PS and Agile. X-Cart may have saved us a little time had it done everything we wanted (which it didn't by default), but would have cost us a few features and functions that we really wanted and would have had to integrate anyway. No real time saved. If you know anything about programming, the PS bugs we found aren't hard to fix once you find the answer. Any problems you might find with any of the Agile modules will (based on my experience) be taken care of quickly and to your satisfaction. If you don't know anything about programming, get friendly with someone who does before you start. No matter what system you go with. And time wise you need to look at a good month to get your store in order and operational, unless you have a bank of programmers at your disposal. Aside from any code work, it takes quite a bit of configuration time. You'll also probably want to change a fair amount of on-screen text, depending on what country you're in. PS has a great facility for that in its Localization section, but it didn't work for us and may not for others due to server restrictions. Our host only allows up to 1,000 data entry fields per screen, which isn't enough for the PS translation module to work for us. I had to do it all directly in the code files. If you're in a big hurry to get a store opened, pick the one you like best and hire a few good programmers. If a month or two isn't a problem, you should be able to get it up and going without too many problems - but you'll still need a little programming help. And even though PS is free, the Agile modules will of course cost, but you only pay for the modules/functionality you need. And if you don't know programming or anyone who does, the Agile team does custom work too. And if you didn't feel like reading all the above, to answer your question more simply, IMHO PS and Agile would be the best way to go in any case. If money weren't a concern but time was, I'd spend it on the Agile modules you need (PS is free) and a custom setup by a PS competent programming team. Hope that helps... Edited December 26, 2012 by CodeDog (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aysin71 Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 WOW is all O can say! You cannot imagine what a great help you have been and I have read every bit of line... I am not a programmer. Know a little bit of coding (I am a software engineer by profession after all) but my problem is, I do not have time as I also do consultancy part-time... And 1 month is exactly the time we have :-) I'll write the Agile guys and if they are free to help us immediately, I'll get a quote from them... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aysin71 Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 I have to risk looking stupid and ask : "how do I contact these Agile guys?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CodeDog Posted December 27, 2012 Author Share Posted December 27, 2012 Aysin, You can contact them from the link below.. The last communication I had with Kinro (company head, I believe) he said he would be on holiday till the 29th, but I'm sure somebody there could help you. If anybody could get your store set up and in order in a timely manner, it would be them. Tell them Terry said Hi. If you do have any other questions, PM me and I'll get you my email address. It's easier and I check it more often than here... http://addons-modules.com/en/contact-us Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CodeDog Posted December 29, 2012 Author Share Posted December 29, 2012 Hi Badolina I'd worked with Magento in the past, but have to say I have not worked specifically with Unirgy. While doing my research I looked at what Unirgy had to offer and looked at a lot of customer reviews around the net. What I found was that, even after paying the larger sum for Magento+Unirgy, there would still need to be some work done for some customizations. And as always, there seemed to be bugs/issues being reported. Magento is a great store front, and Unirgy is a well done product, but I simply couldn't find any real benefit in either appearance or functionality over PrestaShop and the Agile modules. I also found that there was an Agile module for just about anything we wanted to do, which was a bonus. I really don't want to sound like a salesman here, there have admittedly been a number of issues to take care of, both with PrestaShop and with the Agile modules (because of the rewrites for PS 1.5). Most of those issues with the Agile modules have been resolved and the modules work well now. A lot of the issues we have had to work through were because of the difference between how things work in Europe (where PS is developed) and the U.S. (where we are). Tax display issues, and a few other things. Language is also something that you may have to look at both in PS and the Agile modules, for instance we use "check" instead of "cheque", and so on. As I think I mentioned earlier, we didn't have a problem paying whatever it cost to get a good working system up and running, but I couldn't see paying so much more money just to have to do the same amount of setup and configuration work (and fixing a few issues). And, PrestaShop is a good looking storefront to begin with and can be themed to taste. I wish PS had an option to flip a switch and put it in U.S. mode (versus European) instead of having to make some changes manually, but in the grand scheme of things it wasn't too bad. As I mentioned to Asyin above, if money is no object and you just want a good looking, well functioning store that can be opened next week, either software will work fine for you as long as you throw some of that money at a programming team to get the work done. Otherwise, look at a month or two of work to get everything done. Remember, you have to take the time to learn the software well yourself to be able to tutor your sellers in its use, you have to completely configure the software to work the way you want, and there will always be at least some issues to work through. Now that we have most of the issues out of the way and most of the configuration done, we're starting to make a small series of video tutorials (along with written documentation) for our sellers to make it easier for them to get started in the store. Whatever store you choose, it has to be easy for you to work with daily, easy for your sellers to sign up and work with, and easy for customers to use the store. You'll hear opinions from all sides of any software discussion, and this is just my opinion, but we like the overall look and feel of PrestaShop as a store, and we like the functionality and diversity of the Agile modules. And we were able to put the money we saved on original purchases toward more enhancements... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diego Galma Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 (edited) Thank you very much for the information, was very valuable, could you show us how to become your website? What is the URL? Thank you very much. Edited March 19, 2013 by Diego Galma (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmyc Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 Great info. I hope your site is a success. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shokinro Posted March 27, 2013 Share Posted March 27, 2013 Just noticed this topic. Thanks CodeDog for introducing our modules. For anyone who are interested, you can try our live demo site with store back office admin, you can request demo access at our product page here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claraghosh Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 Great discussion. I'm quite new to Multivendor shopping cart. Here i observed so many things. Thanks for that. I would like to share an article here which would be a great stuff for newbie like me. One can find many about Multivendor shopping cart in the following article, http://www.mercuryminds.com/blog/xcart-magento-oscommerce/advantages-of-multi-vendor-shopping-carts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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