Allowing Customers to Add Products (using Admin Profiles?)

Hello everybody :smile:

I've performed some research on the subject, but haven't found the answer... so I would really appreciate any suggestions on the fallowing:

What I would like to achieve:
Enable customers to add their own product to my site (under construction), in the simple manner, preferably covered by the same log in as the rest of the site.
Note: Site is selling only virtual products accessible via download.

My ideas on the subject:
Option 1
Use Admin Profiles add on:
On the main page place add your product link linking to the selection of categories leading in terms to the selection of sub-categories. At the next step customer is picking the type of product which would result in directing the customer to admin/product.php...new_product (adding a product within proper category, with product type as already picked). Customer permission is set through the AP and s/he can only access that one particular page, appropriately customised, to fit the rest of the store.
Problem:
How to enable AP to assign appropriate permission to every logged in customer?
Is it not dangerous to expose yr admin area, although just one page, SO much?

Option2
Construct from scratch a new page with functionality similar to admin/product.php...new_product page, place it on the catalog side of the store and set appropriate permissions.
Problem:
It just seems extremely difficult to get it placed appropriately within ZC structure............................ :blink:

Any suggestions, including totally different approaches - highly appreciated..

tia,
joasai

Did anyone ever work this out? I am interested in doing a similar thing, allowing others to sell their products on my shop, by creating a category for each separate "stall" with access only to that one by a password.

ZenCart is not designed to be an auction script
It is designed to sell your own products

create an uploads directory on your server then give it ftp access. Let each person have that login info for ftp upload and you can create a directory with their names in the upload direcctory:

for instance upload/merchant

then they upload their items with 2 zips...one with the products and the other one with their paypal information for payment/price of item/description for store page/what they want their "slot" to be called.

You will then be responsible to add them to the store.

kobra:

ZenCart is not designed to be an auction

True, but irrelevant to the matter of allowing different people to manage different categories. An auction is a different kettle of fish.

DarkAngel:

create an uploads directory on your server then give it ftp access. ..... You will then be responsible to add them to the store.

You're probably right: learning how to use the admin interface is a bit too much to expect of people who might want to put their products in my shop because they're not up for opening and managing their own. If they were, they could do it for $5 a month at Ochanoko (I'm in Japan), which would be easier to manage.

Still, I found and will check out this add-on, which sounds exactlywhat I was describing: http://www.zen-cart.com/index.php?main_page=product_contrib_info&products_id=1088

looks good and may be easier but I do not envy you trying to relay to the merchant how to add product and attributes to the items...

may be more trouble than you think...there are some pretty dense people out there...

:ohmy:I know I had an awful time figuring it out myself before the rock hit me...then it wa like OH yea that is what they meant...lol