This is not so much a review or recommendation as it is a rant about how difficult it STILL is to implement a simple and yet modern e-commerce site.BACKGROUNDThe naive days of the early web are gone yet most users are either sophisticated or uninformed and both need to be properly serviced. I need to build a simple e-commerce solution for what amounts to a e-ticket or event system.PUSH BACKThe problem with most commercial versions of this type of software is that it is typically a SAAS (software as a service). And many charge a fee based on the percentage of the cost plus some fixed amount. This can be problematic because there is also a monthly fee and between the two costs it’s too expensive to operate.USE CASESannual registrationonce a year we ask our members to pay a family fee and register or name the membersevent registrationAbout once a month we have an event. There is a fee for the dad and the first child. Each additional child may or may not have a fee associated with itEach member needs to be identifiedSometimes we need to know shirt size or some other questiondad’s need to be reminded to acknowledge terms and conditions, etcdad’s need to be reminded that annual registration is requiredI need reporting for headcount etc so I can verify the dependency requirements.CHALLENGESThere are many challenges. Firstly not all features in most eCommerce sites lend themselves to eTickets and vice versa. I’ve tried a number of compromises and very few are complete or they expect the user to jump too high.WHAT NOW?I understand and respect that all these vendors need to make a living. If I had to build this site from scratch it would cost way more than I would like. I know this is open ended but maybe there is something someone else has done that might work? I’m not averse to hosting my own project or code but I’m very conscious of PCI so no personal information should leak; therefore some professionalism is required.Thoughts?I looked at paypal but I cannot confirm the reporting.