The sound of the S4

Every morning as I get in my car to leave for work, I see my neighbour from a few doors down pulling out in his new Audi S4. I always delay getting in to my car so that I can hear him pull off; the sound of the V6 Supercharged engine at 6:30am always puts a smile on my face. I�m a petrol head, there, I said it. I went with him to buy used Audi S4 in Oxford a couple of years ago.

During the summer months my neighbour and I often take our cars round the back and wash them and chill with a can of beer. We both love our Audis and have mutual respect for each other�s cars. I used to have an S4 but I recently traded that in for a S5 as my kids are now grown up and no longer need lifts from me!

The S4 uses a 3-litre TFSI V6 engine, producing 328bhp and 325lb of torque. It can do 0-62mph in 5.1 seconds, as is the norm now a day it is electronically limited to 155mph. My neighbour drove over to Germany last summer and while he was there he got his car de-restricted so that he could �stretch its legs� on the autobahn. My neighbour drove over to Germany last summer and while he was there he got his car de-restricted so that he could �stretch its legs� on the autobahn.

Although the S4 is all about power and performance it does have very impressive fuel consumption and CO2 figures. On a combined cycle it can return 29.1 MPG and emit 225g of CO2 per Kilometre. My neighbour has the S-Tronic gearbox which further improves fuel economy to 30.1 MPG and 219 grams of CO2 per Kilometre � not bad for a high performance saloon.

Pros And Cons In Buying A Used Car In �Cars For Sale

The major benefit in buying used car is you save lot of money. Not all the people can afford to purchase a new car. And you save considerable amount on car insurance and other charges as well. Many are attracted to the scheme of buying used cars whenever they see the display notice of used cars for sale. Often we see in Sunday newspapers and magazines lot of sale is being done where you can buy even fresh cars which have not run 10,000 miles.
If you are well versed with the car and its make, model and running conditions then you can go ahead and make a deal. It has become a hobby for influential and rich persons to change their car frequently for sentimental reasons. Sometimes you can see brand new cars which have been bought just one year or two years back standing in the row for sale.
During the initial years you need not have to change the brakes or check the battery and the exhaust system of the car. The warranties for some branded cars may go up to 3 or 4 years depending on the model. Above all you need not spend for fresh insurance coverage since the owner had already taken one. You are more fortunate if the car has covered only less kilometers because some leading manufacturers give warranty up to 4 years or up to fifty thousand miles whichever is before. You have increased choices if you are read for used cars.
More vehicles are there with the dealers with lot of options in prices as well as accessories. Warranty can be transferred from the first owner to you with no added charges. So you have chance for improved reliability in buying used cars. You can select the right car with good model, great durability with availability of warranty since you can go for lot of choices.
It is even better to buy the used cars from known persons than going for �cars for sale� options. The car will be definitely well handled by the first owner and you will also have added advantage of getting accessories also with the car you purchase. On the flip, the interest rates are higher for used cars than new cars, since it carries more risk. Another disadvantage is unless you are tech-savvy you cannot find out the condition of the car without using it. Sometimes even the car would have met with minor accident which is mostly not disclosed to the buyer.

Car Service in Philadelphia: A Guide to Corporate Transportation

A lot of thinking goes into corporate travel when the occasion arises � for some it becomes second nature, for others it can be a stressful endeavor. Choosing adequate corporate transportation in Philadelphia is one of many factors that need to be ironed out before embarking on a trip. Once seated on the plane with a good book and an eye mask, find peace in an afternoon nap knowing that all transportation details are taken care of upon landing.
Corporate transportation in Philadelphia is very useful for business travelers with a lot on their plate and little time to think about logistics. Many car services in Philadelphia offer online reservations for town cars, corporate shuttles, and vans for efficient transportation to and from Philadelphia International Airport. Radio dispatching and reservations departments can assist travelers in the event of not finding the chauffeur at the time of arrival.
A car service in Philadelphia can take the corporate traveler to a number of prime area business locations with no hassle. Navigating through a new city can be worrisome at times � allow a car service in Philadelphia to do it for you. Car services are available for easy transport to the Philadelphia Convention Center, Valley Forge Convention Center, local sports arenas, business centers, restaurants, theaters, shopping and hotels. Car services can chauffer executive assistants and colleagues to Center City, King of Prussia, Malvern, Plymouth Meeting, West Chester, and other business hotspots in the area.
Corporate transportation in Philadelphia is perfect for executive assistants making arrangements for high-level employees in the organization. Get employees where they need to be on time by managing reservations online, creating a corporate accounts and passenger profiles, and printing receipts for seamless transportation arrangements. Choose from a wide array of vehicles including vans, town cars, limos, mini buses, SUVs, Sprinters, and luxury buses for customized travel needs. Corporate transportation in Philadelphia can accommodate small or large groups with multiple radio dispatched vehicles for organized travel. Drivers are professional, experienced, and very familiar with the area to answer any questions about the Philadelphia area.
Utilizing a car service in Philadelphia can also make the lives of travel agents, travel managers, and event planners much easier. From groups of 5 to 10,000 a car service can handle any volume of travelers for multiple types of events. Corporate transportation in Philadelphia offers GT3 connectivity for automated reservations through the GDS as well as auto receipts for record keeping. With a car service in Philadelphia employees can ensure that business travel is something to look forward to, not dread.

Nissan Commercial Vehicles: Because You Need a Van that will Also Promote your Business

Going into business, particularly a business where you have to make the rounds to make a profit, you�re going to need a great automobile. Basically- you�re going to need a Nissan. If you�re looking around the market for Nissan commercial vehicles, you�ve made the right choice considering this is one of the most popular and most reputable brands for commercial vehicles. You�ve essentially got five kinds of vehicles to choose from when you want it to be Nissan like the NV1500, the NV2500, the NV3500, the Frontier and the Titan.
When you visit Nissan dealers Canada, they�ll no doubt, have the vehicle that you�re looking for. When it�s not only about convenience in getting around, you have a good car to advertise your business in. Together with your truck or your van properly labeled with your company name, you�ll already be showing your prospects and your customers that you�re a good company and that you�re a company that they can trust. They�ll know it by the look of your commercial vehicle and they�ll know it by the name of your commercial vehicle. For everything that you need with your business, vehicles from Nissan dealers CA will satisfy it all.
If you think that with purchasing your Nissan commercial vehicle, that it�s already the end of your relationship with your Nissan dealer, you can trust that it�s not. For maintenance and service, you can always go get the best of Nissan services where you�ll get factory trained expertise that ensure you a long running partnership and performance with your Nissan commercial vehicle. Surely, you need your vehicle to be more than just a van and you�ll get the best when you choose Nissan. You�ll get that feeling from the moment you drive your vehicle out of the lot to after many years of doing business with your clients and customers.
As for the Nissan parts that make your vehicle, you have a way of customizing your Nissan too. When you�re shopping, you can take your pick for what kind of body you want for your commercial vehicle, you can also pick the engine and the roof. If you�re looking for something with a V-8, you�ll find it at the dealership and if you�re looking for a high roof, you�ll also find this at the dealership. For specific parts that extend your vehicle�s capability, you can also rely on Nissan parts Canada to provide you with practical accessories.

Unreliable cars unveiled

In the world of cars some car manufacturers have a good reputation while others simply don�t. Some manufacturers have historically always produced reliable cars, but occasionally manufacturers with a good reputation turn out unreliable cars.
Based on claims made against the warranty on the car, below is a list of cars you probably thought were reliable but in fact aren�t:
The old Lexus LS sold between 2000 and 2003. Lexus is known for being both luxurious and of high quality but a massive 31% of this LS model broke down every year. And this is the same percentage as another Japanese car, the Mazda RX-8. But while a Lexus repair can cost up to �650, a repair of a Mazda RX-8 can total over �4,000. So if you own a vehicle like this, you should probably pray yours in one of the reliable ones.
Another well considered car is the Volkswagen Golf but the 2004-2009 model had a breakdown incident rate of 32%. Still a great car with excellent handling but clearly not as reliable as you would think. The Audi A3 is another well respected German offering which frankly disappoints when it comes to reliability. The annual failure of the A3 is a massive 38% with repairs costing up to almost �4,000.
But the least reliable of all is the Land Rover Discovery with a breakdown rate of 62%. This is a very popular car on British roads but with figures like that you have to wonder why. Repair bills can run as high as �3,000.
So noticeably it�s the traditionally very reliable Japanese and German cars that also turn out to be the most unreliable just proving that even great manufacturers can produce duds from time to time. If you�re in the market for a new car, it�s clearly worth checking online how reliable your favourite car is before you visit any local car dealers in Kent or any other regions. It might even be worth looking at other car makers such as Peugeot or Citroen

Space Saving Small Cars

With petrol prices continuing to increase and cars becoming more expensive to run, people are turning to small cars to solve their problems. These cars have gained incredible popularity due to their compact size, cost and fuel efficiency. These cars have contributed in a major way to the modern car industry and almost all of the major manufacturers around the world offer a range of compact vehicles.
The size of the car ranges from 4400mm and 4750mm long for convertibles, 4100mm and 4450mm long for hatchbacks. Small family cars based on sports utility vehicle design range from 4400mm to 4750mm in the international based models and for the U.S. models it is 4200mm to 4500mm. The considerations of compact cars in Japan are under certain conditions and they are as follows: the vehicle needs to be 3.4m long, 1.48m wide, 2m height with an engine capacity of 660cc to 2000cc, 4.7m long, 1.7m wide, and 2m height. There are no special considerations for hatchbacks, minivans, SUV�s or CUV�s. They run on either diesel or petrol with an engine capacity of 1.5 litres to 2.4 litres, some are 1.3 litres to 1.4 litres units for economy models, within an absolute range of 100 bph and 170 bph.
In the year 1950, the compact class was introduced, built on a 2500mm wheelbase and to it were added hardtops, hatchback and station wagon designs. The �compact� term was coined by the American motor industry, and is now used all over the world. It was between the 1958 and 1960 when modern compact cars were greatly expanded. During the 1960�s small vehicles evolved into slightly smaller versions with 6 cylinder engines, with two-bench six-passenger sedan but were among the smallest in North America.
Consumers today seek vehicles in the U.K. that are fuel efficient as well as fun to drive and for this reason the sale of small cars are at an all time high. Manufacturers are coming up with new ideas and innovative designs in this sector which is proving extremely popular. According to information in 2010 these smaller versions of cars made up about one third of the overall car sales.
Over the next few years, with fuel prices expected to steadily increase even more, the sale of small cars is set to rocket. Not only do small cars save you money in terms of buying them, running them and fuelling them, buy they save a lot of space on the driveway and in the garage.

The Things you didn't know about folding sack trucks

A folding sack truck is basically a sack truck that is foldable. This fold ability provides an extra bonus to the already useful sack truck. Folding sack trucks are used to transport large or bulky items without difficulty or injury while having the luxury of small space storing. Folding sack trucks are commonly used in industrial facilities and most types of transportation trades.

Two pneumatic wheels can be found at a folding sack trucks base that provides greater stability on uneven ground, with telescopic handles at its top. A small platform- commonly known as a toe plate- is also located at the very base and folds up to minimize storage space requirements. When foldable sack trucks are in their upright position their toe plate is laid flat against the ground so that goods can be placed on top of the sack trucks platform with ease. Once it's loaded, the folding sack trucks are tilted back in order to move goods by balancing on its two wheels.
You might be a bit confused by having heard alternate names in reference to the foldable sack trucks but they are often used interchangeably and the most common names are; dollies, two-wheel dollies, hand trucks, stack trucks, hand carts and bag barrows.
Foldable Sack trucks are a key piece of equipment for the workplace or home. So often we find tools and other equipment to be too heavy to carry freely, a foldable sack truck is perfect for those times. In commercial use, foldable sack trucks can help move heavy or awkward shaped goods with ease. These trucks can save time, injury and money from the lack of manually carrying such items.
Some places where you may have seen foldable sack trucks used would be as follows:
1. Furniture stores
2. Large warehouse wholesale clubs
3. Any form of transportation of goods - like beverages to bars and retail stores, etc.
4. Train stations and airports utilize foldable sack trucks for assisting customers with their luggage & other items.
5. Storage facilities
Lots of different materials are used to make foldable sack trucks. This includes polystyrene, tube steel, aluminum steel, and aluminum excursion. A powder-coated steel construction also can help improve the quality of the frame, making it less susceptible to wear and tear.
It's hard picture a moving and transport company without the use of foldable sack trucks; how would the movers get all the furniture into the buildings and houses?
Picture a huge warehouse without the use of foldable sack trucks; perhaps the goods could be pushed around on skateboards.
What about the Coca Cola man trying to make his deliveries without his foldable sack truck; would he use a wheelbarrow?
As you can see there are a number of reasons to own a foldable sack truck and once you own one, you won't be able to live without it.
For more information on foldable sack trucks and other trucks log onto www.sacktrucks4sale.co.uk

How To Save $500 On Gap Auto Insurance

The average price for gap auto insurance sold by an auto dealership or finance company is $578.
Q. So why would anybody in their right mind pay $500 more they should?
A. They don�t know any better.
Imagine you�re in a car dealership and you�ve just purchased a brand new car. You�re sitting there with a self satisfied smile on your face that lets everybody in the showroom know you just brought the salesman to his knees with your finely honed negotiating skills.
Next you go see the finance person to arrange a loan. This is where you�re casually informed that if you wreck your beautiful new car during the next year or two you�re going to have fork over maybe five grand because the car will be worth that much less than what you still owe the bank.
Lucky for you the finance guy has a tailored made solution to the problem. For a measly $578 one time fee you can purchase a gap policy that protects you from a potential shortfall, up to $5,000, if you owe the bank more than the car is worth when that bus hits you.
Of course you�re going to say �sure, go ahead� because you�re afraid of losing your shirt and, by the way, did I tell you the premium could be rolled right into the loan?
On one hand, you�re relieved to know the value your asset is protected, but on the other hand you�re asking yourself why it had to cost so much.
Well, it doesn�t. But who knew that there was even such a thing as gap insurance much less how much it�s supposed to cost. The problem is not with you, but with the major insurance companies and their brokers.
The reason you don�t hear anything about gap from your insurance agent is that it isn�t exactly a big money maker. With an average gap endorsement costing around $35 a year, there isn�t a lot of profit incentive to buy 30 second spots on American Idol.
Besides the price, there�s another difference between the gap insurance sold by a car dealer and the policy rider sold by a name brand gap insurance provider. When you buy gap from a major insurer you can cancel the rider as soon as the loan balance and value of your car reach parity � usually within the first two years of ownership.
With dealership gap insurance, the coverage is spread out over 60 months and cannot be canceled for a refund � whether you need it or not.

Top five family hatchbacks

If you�re in the market for a new family hatchback below is a rundown on the top five as voted by a renowned online car buyer�s guide.
Top of the picks is the Volkswagen Golf hatchback which is described by the use of words like �refined�, �comfortable� and �fun�. As most Volkswagen cars it�s reliable and well built and holds it value well, it comes with an array of safety kit as standard and both looks and feels good to drive. It�s only let down by its rather conservative appearance.
In at number two comes the Skoda Octavia which has more space than the VW Golf and offers great value for money. But the models on the lower end of the price scale also miss out on some equipment so expect to pay more for things like rear electrical windows and alloys.
The green Toyota Prius gets the third spot with its spacious cabin and big boot. It�s got excellent fuel economy and low emission which makes up for the rather disappointing interior.
Forth in the top five is the Hyundai i30 which is the cheapest of the top five cars and also comes with a great warranty package. It�s described as a solid car but a bit bland.
Last of the top five cars is the Mazda 3 which is described as funky and fun with good resale value.
So if you�re in the market for a new family hatchback, you probably won�t go wrong by checking out one of the above. If you�re after a new Volkswagen, Mitcham has a dealership which should be able to help.

Ferrari 458 Italia Manettino, Launch Control and Interior

The 458 Italia is equipped with a racing manettino switch leading toward more sporting set ups and giving the driver a wider selection of electronic controls parameters. The ICE setting saw in the F430 has been removed, while the CT setting has been added in order to deactivate the traction control and at the same time maintain the stability control. There are five different manettino positions and conditions: Low Grip, Sport, Race, CT and CTS. Low Grip setting provides maximum grip under all driving conditions, and it is particularly suited for low grip surfaces. The emphasis is on comfort and stability without compromising the handling. Sport is the best setting for day to day driving and guarantees great safety under good grip. Race is particularly suitable for track driving providing maximum performance and stability in optimal grip situations. CT helps the driver improving his driving skills in safety, by keeping active the stability control. It allows over-steer right to the edge of the car�s limits and guarantees enhanced driving pleasure and fun behind the wheel, particularly on the track. Under CTS setting, both stability and traction control systems are deactivated, giving the driver maximum freedom and control on the track. No electronic systems intervene on the vehicle stability with the exception of E-diff3 and ABS.
On the 458 Italia, the driver can decouple the suspension damping from the electronic configuration selected on the manettino. The suspension decoupling button offers improved �filtering� of uneven road surfaces in order to improve performance and handling on uneven broken surfaces, such as the ones at the N�rburgring race track.
The launch control button is instead designed to offer the best possible acceleration from standstill. It delivers the maximum possible torque to the ground and prevents wheel spin as the car accelerates away. Its activation is indicated in the instrument panel. To start using the Launch control, the manettino must be selected on race, CT or CTS setting. With the car still at standstill, the driver then needs to put the gearbox in manual, selects first gear, pushes the launch control, presses the accelerator pedal and then releases the brake pedal.
The stylistic interior choices developed by Ferrari Centro Stile reflect a functional, ergonomic cockpit design. The driver is set in the center of a streamlined and intuitive layout, which is very much in line with the marquee�s signature styling cues.

Need The Key To Smart Shopping? Start Online!

Recall your last Shopping experience
and list out the shopping traps, you got caught up with. Compare against this standard list of common shopping mistakes, shoppers tend to commit:a) Forgetting your grocery list or shopping list, back home
b) Not sure, which are the items, you're running short on
c) Enticed at the sight of all 'New Arrivals' and other displays at the store
d) Tickled by the idea of saving smart with "Huge Sales" and other such captions
e) Missed on one of the 'Most Needed Items'
f) The "Impulsive shopping disorder"
g) Your kids running all over the store persuaded you, into purchasing a stack of unwanted stuff. Of course, you couldn't say no to him!
h) You lost track of your shopping budget, going overboard!
i) Comparative shopping syndrome: Other shoppers give you pointers on what else you could need
j) Not so well Informed Store Assistants! Web could have been better than this
k) Long queues & waiting lines at the check counters. Time Out!!!
l) Jam-Packed parking lots, at the mall. And that extra effort, gas and the swelling bills.
Honestly, if you had committed even 3-4 out of these 12 most common shopping mistakes, it's time you should look up to web for rescue. Don't you agree overtime, your over indulgence robs you off the much needed cash at hand? Or else, shocks you with blown up credit card bills, at the end of every month. More often than not, the shopping trips culminate into a nightmare, with not so planned and unorganized indulgence at the shoppers end. 'Online shopping' on other hand is one where you still have a controlled shopping environment and as such, comparatively lesser chances of splurging & regretting, later on. Nevertheless, the disadvantages that accompany are as crucial to the shoppers. For instance: insecure online payments, home delivery concerns, mishandling of the stuff by shippers, late delivery, loss of shipment, visible differences in the item displayed online and in the shipment, received and much more.
Well, how about balancing your offline shopping with a little online planning? That means you can still evade a lot of differences, anxiety and shopping mistakes by combining a few web elements (or say tools) into your shopping activity. Make your shopping more planned, organized, more manageable and more fun. This is how you could do it:
1) Prepare a list of items you need to shop for. I knew you always did! But this time, I want you to do it over the web. Go online, open up a spreadsheet or a word document and quickly list out your items. Print and take them along. Follow closely, with the requirements you have listed out.
2) Shop online with smart gadgets and carts. This means, you can directly log on to your favorite stores like HomeGrocers.com or TraderJoe or any other store, you like for grocery and other related shopping. And simply, create your online shopping lists. Print them and carry it over wherever you go.
3) Try Shopping 2.0! In case, you don't have a preference for stores and wish to shop at a combination of stores offline or online, use web applications and shopping tools like 'Shopping List' at Infodoro.com or Froogle at Google.com. These web based shopping lists could be created, managed, stored and even accessed online. This is the biggest advantage, if you had been forgetting your shopping lists back home. You can login and access it anytime and even over your cell phone.
4) Creating a shopping list not always means, only jotting down all items you need. This is anyways what your brain can easily store, process and recall. What could still slip off would be stuff like quantities, brands and the stores, from where you need to get an item. Utilize shopping tools like Shopping Lists and Froogle, to create an organized shopping list with items, item descriptions, stores, quantities, categories and more details you wish to capture.
5) Shopping Smart is not always about faster and organized shopping but also saving all the dollars you can. You got it right! I was coming to coupons, you could always redeem for items at the stores you shop at. After all, why end up paying more when you know you could save with coupons. Just make sure you are on the look out for coupons from your previous purchases and that in the newspapers and do carry them along when you go shopping. There would still be many, who will forget to carry them or completely miss on making use of it, while standing at the counters and making payments. The solution is to store all your coupons in a Shopping bag, no matter whenever you get your hands on one. Make it a ritual and keep doing it always. This way, next time you go shopping, you won't have to at least forget them back home. And to remind you of the coupons when paying off the bills, simply list coupons or add coupons to your online shopping list. That means, indicate 'Coupons' next to items you have it available for. And do keep an eye on your 'Shopping list' when paying off the bills. This way, you'll definitely utilize your Coupons and save a few dollars. Web applications like 'ShoppingList' at Infodoro and even online shopping stores, have a section for coupons on their online shopping list tool and shopping carts.
6) Prioritize your Items as 'Most needed' to have a quick list of the immediately needed items. Again, web and a few desktop shopping applications help you filter your shopping lists by 'Most needed' items like for Coupons. Use these web applications and you'll realize the shift in your overall shopping behavior besides purchasing & spending patterns.
7) Make Specialized Shopping lists sorted by Category and Stores. To make you shopping chore more manageable, you can always consider staying focused. You can split your list of items and share some of your shopping tasks with your family members, children or spouse. Web applications allow for sorting of your shopping lists and segregating of items by stores and categories in ascending or descending orders. Using web, you can forward one half of your shopping list to your spouse to let her pick up stuff from a store next to her work place and you can take care of the other half with stores, on your way back home. This way, you save time and don't have to struggle with parking problems, at all stores you stop by. You can also sort your lists by item categories and decide what are you good at & what could be taken care of by your children or partner. Suppose, you can be quick and more decisive at grocery shopping whereas someone else in your family can do well at merchandise shopping et cetra. Splitting your list by categories and sharing some of your shopping tasks with others, would also save you a lot of time, gas, efforts and struggle with the not so supportive store staff.
By integrating a little web usage in planning for your shopping tasks, you can easily spare yourself a lot of time, efforts, gas and the mistakes that you keep repeating always. What's the harm, if you could optimize your personal time, with a little planning online? Use web to your advantage, be it concerning tasks like shopping or planning shopping! And next time, you come across a baffled shopper, don't forget to offer tips and tricks that could make him smarter too.

What is the Best Shopping Cart Software For Your Ecommerce Website?

Searching for the best shopping cart software for you ecommerce website can be a daunting task. There are literally hundreds of carts and ecommerce solutions available. How do you know which one is right for you?
You should consider the following factors when you are searching for a shopping cart that fits your needs.

• What is a shopping cart?
• How much does it cost?
• Should I buy or lease a cart?
• What Features Should I Look For?
• What Kind and How Much Support Does will I get?
• Which Payment Gateways Work with the Cart?
• What Hosting/Server Platform is Required?
• What if I Need Customization?

What is a Shopping Cart?First, let me define a shopping cart or ecommerce website. In the most basic terms, a shopping cart is software that allows you to list your products on a web site and then automatically collect fees when a customer buys products from your website.
For example, lets say that you sell vitamins from your home, and now you want to start selling them on your website. First, you need shopping ecommerce software. You will also need to have a business bank account and a payment gateway, a service that allows you to automatically process credit cards on your web site.
Once you have the cart software set up on your website, you can add your vitamin products to the website using a web browser. The software allows you to add product images, descriptions, prices, shipping and tax rates, and so on. Once your cart is populated with all of your products, you can start selling them on the web.
Here's how it works: A customer comes to your web site and adds products to her shopping cart. When she is ready to buy the products, she enters her shipping and credit card information in a form so you know where to ship the product and whom to charge it to. When the customer clicks the button to submit the order, the shopping cart uses your payment gateway (credit-card-processing service) to validate the credit card and then transfer the money from the customer's credit card to your bank account. Then it's up to you to ship the product.
You can also use a shopping cart to sell digital, or downloadable products such as electronic books, music, and software.
How Much Do Shopping Carts Cost?
As you might expect, shopping carts come in a wide range of prices, from free to thousands of dollars. Does that mean that the more you spend, the better cart you get? Not necessarily.
There are several free shopping carts that are very powerful and full of features; for example, OSCommerce and ZenCart. Both of these carts are completely free and offer most of the features you would expect in a modern shopping cart: unlimited products, connections to the major payment gateways, credit card payments, real-time shipping prices, discount customer groups, multi language, and more.
Unfortunately, there is a downside to free: free products lack good documentation and support. For example, there is no official support group that you can call when you need help. And there is no official user's guide to explain how to use the software. You usually have to search through user forums to find answers to your questions.
Free shopping carts are probably not be the best choice if you are new to ecommerce and are trying to do everything yourself.
Fortunately, there are many commercial carts in the range of $100-500 that offer lots of features. The carts in this range usually have some kind of support system to help you with problems, and they usually have documentation to explain how to use their software. X-Cart and Ecommerce Templates are two carts between $150 - $200, and both are very powerful and relatively easy to use.
Should I Buy or Lease a Shopping Cart?
There are two basic models for online shopping carts:

• Pay a one time fee for the software and install it on your web server: This can be a daunting task unless you are comfortable working with Linux web servers and configuring web-based software. The good thing about this model is that you don't have to pay monthly fees, and the software is usually much more customizable than leased shopping carts. If you have the skills to install the software on your server, or if you hire a website designer to install and configure your shopping cart, this method is more economical than leasing.
• Pay a monthly or yearly fee to lease the software: This model is easy to implement because you don't need to install, configure, or maintain any software. If you are going to do it yourself and have little web experience, this is the easiest way to get started. The downside is that leased software is often hard to customize and many ecommerce sites need some customization. Furthermore, it can be very expensive when you add in the cost of leasing over many years.

What Shopping Cart Features Should I Look For?Most shopping carts come with standard features like unlimited categories and products, web-based administration, easy-to-use product creation screens, and tax and shipping calculation. Unfortunately, not all carts include all the functions YOUR business will need to operate an online store.
The following is a list of features to look for in a shopping cart:
Installation and Design

• Easy-to-use web interface: A web interface allows you to administer your shopping cart from any web browser that is connected to the internet.
• Shopping Cart Reporting: The ability to get detailed reports about your sales, inventory, states, users, categories, products, destination zones, taxes, shipping rates, orders, membership levels, etc.
• Multiple Languages: The ability to display multiple languages in your shopping cart
• Customer Support: Most carts usually provide email or forum-based support, but sometimes they provide live phone support.
• Upgradeable: Find out if you can get free updates as the software is improved. Usually you can get free updates for 6 to 12 months.
• Template-based Design: Tempate-based designs make it easier to customize the look of your website
• WYSIWYG Editor for Products: This feature allows you to enter product text and images using a word-processor-like editor.
• Content Pages: Does your cart allow you to create content pages? For example, can you create an "About Us" page?
• Mini-Cart: A mini cart is a small box that indicates if the user has items in their shopping cart. These are usually located on the top or side of the page. Most carts have this feature.

Customer Features

• Newsletter Function: Do you need to ability to send mass emails to your customers? Many carts come with the ability to send emails to customers.
• Customer Order / Customer Account / Customer Registration: The ability for your customers to view their account and their order history.
• Product Search: A search tool for your products. This function is especially helpful if you have more than 20 or 30 products.
• Googlecheckout: Google Checkout is a new service that makes online shopping faster, safer and more convenient. Many carts have been updated so they work with Google Checkout.
• Wish list: A "Wish List" allows your customers to save products to a wish list. That way they can come back to your online store at a later date and buy the products in the Wish List.
• Send to friend: This feature displays a form that allows customer to enter a name and email address so the can send a link of a product to a friend.
• Memberships and special pricing: This feature allows you to create memberships on your store and then give them special prices or discounts.
• Printable Invoices: The feature allows your customers to print their invoices.
• Multiple Shipping Addresses: The feature allows customers to store multiple shipping addresses. This is a handy feature for customer who often ship gifts to friends and family members.

Store and Products

• Unlimited Number of Products: This feature means you can list as many products as you like. With many leased shopping carts, the total number of products is limited by your plan. The more you pay, the more you products you can list.
• Unlimited number of categories: Products are usually stored in categories; for example, Men's Clothing, Women's Clothing, Children's clothing.
• Products can be assigned to multiple categories: This feature allows you to assign a product to more than one category.
• Featured Products: This feature allows you to list feature products in a box or area on your home page.
• Bestsellers: This feature automatically lists your best-selling products.
• Related products: This feature allows you to relate one product to another product so the customer can see products that are related to the product they are looking at.
• Unlimited product options and option price modifiers: This feature allows you to add options to products, and the options can add or subtract from the product price. For example, T-Shirts come in sizes Small, Medium, and Large and colors Red, Green, and Blue.
• Custom Input Fields for Products: This allows you to add fields to products. For example, if you sell custom greeting cards, you can use a custom field so the customer can enter a custom message to be printed on the card.
• Unlimited number of product images: This feature allows you to add more than one product image for a product.
• Popup Product Images: This feature allows you to add popup images so your customer can see a larger, more detailed product image.
• Manufacturers: This feature allows you to associate manufacturers with products.
• Drop Shippers: This feature allows you to sell products that another company stocks and ships. When your store receives an order for a drop shipper product, the shopping cart sends an email to the drop shipper with the product and shipping information and that company ships the product to your customer.
• Discount coupon codes and gift certificates: This feature allows you to sell gift certificates or to offer coupon discounts.
• Inventory control: This feature allows you to enter the number of products you have in stock and then automatically makes a product "Unavailable" when there are no more products in stock.
• Quantity discounts: This feature allows you to give discounts based on the quantity ordered.
• Retail and wholesale price: This feature allows you to create a wholesale and retail price for any product.
• Limit minimal order amount: The feature allows you to specify and minimum order amount.
• Real-time USPS, FedEx and UPS shipping calculation: This feature allows you to provide realtime shipping calculations for USPS, FedEx, and UPS.
• Shipping Label Generator for USPS and UPS
• Allow your customers to choose delivery methods: This feature allows your customers to select a delivery method; for example, USPS, FedEx, or UPS.
• Add handling fee: This feature allows you to add a handling fee per order.
• Digital Electronic Downloads: This feature allows you to sell digital products such as E-Books, Music, or Software. Once a customer purchases a digital product, the cart sends them an email with a link to download the digital product.
• Product-specific taxes: The feature allows you to charge a unique tax on any product.
• Payment Gateways: This feature is VERY important. Most carts support many different payment gateways; for example, Authorize.net, Paypal, or 2CheckOut. If you already have a payment gateway, make sure the cart you purchase supports your gateway.
• The ability to Optimize all pages for search engines: This important feature allows you to optimize your product and content pages for Google, Yahoo, MSN, and other search engines. This is a VERY important feature; if the search engines can't find your products, your customers can't find them either.
• Multiple Administrator Accounts and Account Levels: This feature allows you to have multiple administration accounts. This feature is very handy if more than one person maintains your shopping cart.

What Kind and How Much Support Does the Shopping Cart Provide? Shopping cart software and ecommerce is pretty complex and there are many opportunities for problems. Whatever shopping cart model you choose, be sure to consider amount and type of support offered by the leasing host or the software seller. Because a smooth operation of your website and shopping cart are necessary for financial success, you'll want to have appropriate support for emergencies.
Which Payment Gateways Work with the Shopping Cart?
If you are going to use a leased shopping cart, or you are going to buy shopping cart software, find out which payment gateways will work with the shopping cart.
Note: Each shopping cart provider builds their own interfaces for payment gateways.
What Hosting/Server Platform is Required?
Will your website and shopping cart be hosted on a Linux / UNIX server or a Windows server? If you are going to use a hosted shopping cart, you probably don't need to worry about this unless you already have other web-based software applications installed on your current web host.
If you are going to buy shopping cart software, your choice might be limited by your server choice. Currently there are many more shopping carts made for Linux / UNIX than for windows.
What if I Need Customization?
Every shopping cart I have installed, designed, and configured, has required some customization. In most cases, the client wanted to do something the cart did not do. For example, one client wanted the ability to send a custom email with specific products so he could send special instructions whenever a customer ordered a specific product. A few shopping carts have this ability, but most don't.
The best solution is to first determine your specific requirements and then find a cart that fits your needs. Unfortunately, it's hard to find a cart that does EVERYTHING you want it to do. If this is the case, you'll need to have some custom development done to add a new function to the cart.
Keep in mind that many popular shopping carts have dozens of Modifications and Plugins that you can add to the shopping cart software to make it fulfill your requirements.