hi there,
i am new to this place. i like what i have seen here and this is my first posting. here's the deal. i want to set up a webpage where people can purchase the items i make and sell. i do beeswax candles and herbal oils and salves and such. hopefully more soon. i have a child due in march and it is important to me to feel like i am financially independent from my mate. it is my own need to feel that way. this is the first time i have been dependent on someone since my mother and i moved out of the house at 16 years old and was on my own since then. i see all of these wonderful webpages that other mamas have and wonder how to go about getting one for myself. basically i am computer ignorant as far as setting things up goes but if there is someone that can offer info about good ways to go about it and things to avoid that would be great. i have offers of help for actual design but am not sure what i really need to know to do e-commerce. so tahnks to anyone who reads this and can give any sort of info whatsoever.
sincerely gaiamama

I'm going to tell you the same thing that I told "freespiritmom"

You can do this thing!

1. register your own domain name and find a host
(i use netherweb.com - they have a domain registration feature so that you can have a name like "mysite.com")

2. create your files on your computer and upload them to your website.

3. tell the whole world about your product!!!

I want to caution you - that just because you HAVE a website doesn't mean that people will visit it. I have a friend who brings in all of his money on ebay and doesn't even have a website to hock his products...

As far as getting setup on e-commerce you can setup a store on Yahoo.com or setup a storefront through companies like Netherweb... you will need to either take payment by paypal or credit cards - it doesn't take too much to get setup to take Credit Cards through "Authorize.net" or a company like that.