What's Happening with SnipCart?

Support
#1

Hey Everyone,
I have been using SnipCart for a few important projects, and I have generally been happy with it. But I am finding that there is a disturbing lack of information, communication, and responsiveness from the company in recent weeks.

I see no responses from the SnipCart team here on the forum. I see no blog posts since April 2022. I am receiving no responses to my service requests.

Worst of all, in the last couple of days I am seeing lapses in the API access. That makes me worry about the core functionality of my apps that rely on SnipCart.

Is anyone else experiencing the same things?

1 Like
#2

Hi Matthew, thank you so much for posting this. I just recently joined and very quickly realized something’s not right. So very little to almost none communication or responses on forum, lack of information in documentation and everything you mentioned.

I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but it’s frustrating when the documentation says the integration process is straightforward, but I’m struggling with what should be basic stuff, and at the same time don’t get any response from the support.

Out of all solutions out there, I wanted to use Snipcart for the main reason they offer functionality of automatic e-mail for digital products. But because of all problems I am encountering and a lot of time wasting without success on this platform, I started looking for other solution.

I am sorry for people who are here longer, I hope the support will reach out to you.

#3

Hey guys, I think you should also have some confidence. And don’t immediately fall into self-doubt if something changes in the product or activities are reduced.

Look here, it’s being developed: Release notes – Snipcart Documentation

#4

Christian,
As a developer myself, I totally understand the complexities of managing the continued development of a project like this, along with handling communication. And I do think that SnipCart is very good, as it is developer-friendly, while also being simple enough that if I have someone on my team who only knows HTML they can jump in to make changes. SnipCart is unique in the shopping-cart world in that it works smoothly in this way.

With that said, SnipCart needs to be aware that if their team does not answer service requests for weeks and weeks, and their team does not really make an appearance on the forum, that will naturally lead to the kinds of concerns seen in this discussion. Put that together with news that SnipCart was bought out by Duda, and it’s clear why SnipCart customers would worry.

By the way, the information regarding the Duda buy-out is highly confusing. SnipCart might want to clarify what in the world is going on there. As a developer, I loathe “website builders” and find them a drag on creativity and flexibility, and a total headache for many of my clients who are duped into thinking that these things actually serve them. Anyway, that’s a separate issue.

As for the forum, there are some really good points raised here, and it would be worthwhile for SnipCart to consider some of these ideas in SnipCart development. For example, I have posted about allowing SnipCart to take open-dollar purchases.

Thanks,
Matthew

#5

Hey Matthew,

I’m not a developer myself, but have taught myself everything I need to know to run my website. So I don’t have any clients that I have to provide answers for. I also think Snipcart is a cool tool.

I don’t like website builders either. It doesn’t come into my house as long as I can manage everything with my knowledge.

To be honest, I haven’t needed support yet. However, I can understand what you think and feel. I would also like to see more communication in this regard. It would also drive me crazy what my customers ask about the system.

Matthew, ultimately I don’t know what Duda is planning to do with Snipcart either. In my area: Germany, Austria and Switzerland, I see that the number of projects using Snipcart as a solution is increasing. I don’t think Duda would be doing himself any favors by dissolving Snipcart. That’s my opinion.

I would also like to see a proper statement.

Thanks, Christian

#6

Hi Christian,

My apologies. I misunderstood and thought you were a SnipCart employee! I edited my last post to correct for that.

Of course, that means that SnipCart still has not responded to this discussion.

Thanks,
Matthew

#7

Hi Matthew,
I’m on your side! And I don’t really have any answers as to why Snipcart is behaving this way. I always maintain open communication with my customers so everyone knows what’s going on. This kind of communication is a “nogo” for me. I would lose customers very quickly.

Everyone talks about digitalization. That’s why I don’t have the option of creating PDF invoices or connecting to merchandise management systems and accounting systems that take care of everything. Snipcart could be a really good alternative to Shopify or something similar.

I believe that the integration of Duda is taking a long time because it doesn’t work as easily/quickly as we thought.

Thanks, Christian

#8

Hi Christian,
I’m already beginning to move my apps away from SnipCart. My clients really need their e-commerce systems to be super-reliable, and I cannot risk having any “surprises.”

I build all of my sites/apps on a PHP framework. I’m developing a direct shopping cart right on top of Stripe. That will have the benefit of having my apps only needing to rely on Stripe, which is a very stable gateway. Also, it will save my clients the additional 2% fee for the shopping cart.

I wish I could just keep going with SnipCart, because I think the system has a lot of great aspects. But a long time ago I learned that great features don’t mean much if there is not a reliable organization behind them.

I’m still hoping for news from SnipCart that changes my mind!

Thanks,
Matthew

#9

Hey Matthew,
I would probably do the same if I were you. I’m not that fit in PHP and JS to implement that for myself. I use the CMS - Redaxo, where I have 100% control over the code.

Since I only use Snipcart for myself, I’ll wait and see what happens. Everything still works for me. I have a feeling that everything will be fine. But it will take time. If my feeling is wrong, I would replace my small store, which is on a subdomain, with a proper store system. That would mean a bit more free time for me…

I’m still hoping for positive news.

Matthew, if we don’t read each other again, have a good time.
Christian

#10

I also only use Snipcart for my own business Christian342, though if anyone is aware of direct alternatives that would be great! Shopify is far too expensive, and no longer offers their Lite plan so that’s not an option.

The ones I have come across, but have not looked too much into or tried are:

  • Commerce Layer – most similar to Snipcart’s API-first approach, though their per-order pricing model is pretty unpleasant looking
  • Ecwid - really weird name but that’s truly it and not a typo
  • Shoprocket - looks similar to Shopify’s “Buy Button”
  • Sellfy - looks really similar to Shopify
  • Payhip - digital stuff only
#11

Hi debyltech,
You could also look at FoxyCart.

#12

Hi Matthew, their pricing model is interesting. I can’t see much on their end for documentation.

Unfortunately the only option for me that comes close would be Commerce Layer, which is fairly cost prohibitive, and Shoprocket (awaiting addition of 3rd party shipping support). I have a lot of custom authored webhook handlers, fulfillment automation, and shipping option automation integrated with GoShippo which require a comprehensive API on the eCommerce Cart end that seem not to exist with all or any of these serviced; at least not quite as good as Snipcart

#13

Hi debyItech,

Yes, the features of SnipCart are what make it attractive to me as well. I can have non-coders jump in and make small changes in HTML using SnipCart. And the pricing is straightforward.

FoxyCart is actually a good system, but a little more difficult for non-coders to handle.

I had never heard of Commerce Layer. But if you set up an account for each client, it seems like the straight $0.90/transaction would work well for a lot of cases. But yeah, that’s a big jump from $0.90/transaction to $649/month! The 1,000-SKU limit is kind of a little vague…

It’s true that e-commerce can get complicated. That’s why I have been moving my app development over to a straight “build on top of Stripe” model.

Thanks,
Matthew

#14

Hey debyltech and Matthew.
Exactly Matthew, that’s what made Snipcart interesting for me. It allowed me to quickly add a store function to my website.

I would have to take a closer look at FoxyCart first. I’ll have to take a look at that first. The others that were mentioned are out of the question for me.

If Ecwid is integrated into the website, it takes a long time to load. Suddenly you have 5-7mb that have to be loaded. That is also out of the question for me.

For me, I have to consider more. I live in the EU and have to implement the data protection laws there. With Snipcart, it has always worked well for me to comply. Here in the EU, for example, every visitor has to give their consent to the storage of data in the USA if I use Google Analytics.

The cheapest solution I know would be Wordpress with Woocommerce and a purchased theme. You can expand it as much as you like for little money. That would be my alternative if Snipcart doesn’t work.

#15

I was really hyped about SnipCart when I first heard about it. I am currently building a webshop. For the launch I have integrated SnipCart, but now I am working to get Medusa JS running so I can switch. Would love to have the simplicity of SnipCart but the new owners have to understand that E Commerce means that a real business is behind the project and not some hobby thing. And a real business needs reliability of its core infrastructure first and foremost.

#16

Why you guys are using sign at the end of each conversation :joy: