VP ASP Shopping Cart - www.vpasp.com

VPASP have been wonderful helping me move my cake decorating business online. Their support team guided me and my husband through the whole process from start to finish and we felt very involved with the custom design of our website (which is beautiful).

I'm not sure why VPASP don't get more coverage as their shopping cart truly is a fantastic product.

They are also based in Australia just a few hours drive from me :)

VP-ASP touts the flexibility of their software, but what they really mean is that the software REQUIRES reprogramming just to run properly. If you were buying a house, it would be like a buying a "fixer-upper" in a bad part of town. If you happen to be a carpenter who wants to dedicate considerable time to fixing the place up -- and are betting the neighborhood will someday improve -- you've found your dream home. If you just want an appealing, comfortable place to live that isn't falling apart, look anywhere else.

I am a professional web developer, and I have had the unfortunate experience of dealing with VP-ASP for 2 separate projects. Many years ago, I made the mistake of choosing VP-ASP to set up an online store, and more recently, a client of mine asked me to move an existing e-commerce site to a new server. I am an expert in this area and yet both experiences were miserable.

Pros:

-- The initial costs are relatively low.

-- Offers most standard shopping cart features.

Cons:

-- The software itself is poorly coded and poorly updated. The files are terribly organized, almost to the point of being comical (if it weren't such a headache to deal with).

-- Their support system is a borderline scam. To begin with, the free online support materials are rarely helpful. This is probably intentional so that they can charge you for support.

Before their support staff will even answer a question, you have to buy non-refundable "support points," which have a completely arbitrary and unpredictable value. In my most recent experience, I had to buy $100 worth (50 points) before they would even respond to a single question. And if you think you can save unused points for problems down the road: they expire after 30 days.

You can always post questions in the forums, but most responses will be from people who are equally frustrated by the same problems and can't find solutions. A common response from VP-ASP staff is to purchase their hosting, which is not competitively priced.

-- All versions require a Windows server.

-- The admin area could be worse, but it's cumbersome and unsophisticated by modern standards.

-- Most advanced functions require the purchase of 3rd party add-ons. The add-ons community is small, leaving you with few options, and the available options are overpriced.

Needless to say, I would not recommend that anyone try VP-ASP.

VPASP have been great for me and my business. I own a hand made soap shop and had been wanting to move into selling online for a while but I was afraid my lack of computer skills would hold me back. I contacted a few shopping carts to enquire about opening a store and the level of care shown by Garth in the VPASP sales team convinced me to go with VPASP. Garth told me he would set my store up for me and all I would need to do would be to add my products. I signed up for one of their business ready kits and my store was ready the same day. Garth talked me through how to add my products and set up paypal and a few days later my store was open. Very pleased with my store so far and surprised at how easy it is to use, even for a computer novice like me.

Thank you VPASP

During my immersion into the ecommerce industry (an industry that is fairly new to me) the team at VP-ASP have made my experience a pleasant and manageable one. From the moment I started working with their software they have been there to lend hands, hands that have been steady, patient and extremely helpful.

Over the course of a few months, I have worked mostly with Angelo, Gavin, Wilson and Anthony and they have all been extremely helpful, patient, resourceful and knowledgeable.

I did have some issues with setting up my databases, but I was confident that if I gave as much information as I could about the issue, the support guys would follow through with an approach and results.... and that appears to have come true so far.

I recently gave our sales team a demo of the software and in short, they loved it! After showing our sales team a sneak peak of the demo I was going to be giving them, (Demo to the Demo, I suppose) one of them was so proud of the way that the site looked and functioned that he was very eager to show it off! After only seeing it for about 45 minutes, he was in another conference room asking me if he could access the site from his own laptop so that he could show it off to one of our biggest vendors.

So far I couldn’t be happier with VP-ASP and I am looking forward to our ongoing relationship as my store becomes more and more established.

Keep up the good work guys!

DO NOT USE THIS OUT OF DATE, UNSUPPORTED "SOFTWARE".

I recently had a client who used VP ASP and wanted me to move their site over to a new host under a new domain name.

Knowing nothing of VP ASP (Other than it's built on classic ASP from 1998) I decided to try contacting their Tech Support (I'm in the UK) so called their UK number. After an automated message it hung up - offering NO tech support. So I called their sales line where I was told either I purchased "Support Points" or my client paid for another license in order for them to want to help. After pointing out that this is outrageous the Australian guy speaking to me simply replied "To be honest mate, I don't care".. I was absolutely shocked! Unless myself or my client gave over money there would be no help. My clients site is currently broken and will not be fixed without them purchasing a new license (since support only lasts 30 days after license purchase apparently).. So be warned, if your looking for help after 30 days your not going to get it unless you part with $$!

If the software was the greatest out there it might be worth forking out that extra cost, but it's built on technology from the 90s and appears to be run by rogues only after your money.

Not something I'd ever do to one of my valued customers. But unless your rich it seems your not valued by VP ASP.

Pros

It has all the basic features of a good shopping cart software.

Cons

It is difficult to get your local machine set up so that you can run the software.

The Verdict

There are other server-based shopping carts that are easier to navigate.

http://shopping-cart-review.toptenreviews.com/vp-asp-review.html

STEER CLEAR!