I am starting an online gourmet food/gift business & will need dropship automation plus web hosting too. Is it best go with a package deal (like Volusion) or do you end up paying more doing that? I'm also interested in website design services that are reasonably priced. I would appreciate any unbiased help!

Go-Daddy has everything we need and use. It's easy and affordable. It's also simple to use. But there are others, and they are all about the same. Prices can vary somewhat, you'll need to check a few sites out to meet your individual needs.

Try Ipowerweb, they offer what you are looking for. I have used them for years, $53 for 6 month hosting is not bad...

Also look into Paypal, more and more companies use them now.

Here's a great list of eCommerce shopping carts ...

http://www.ecommerceoptimization.com/eco...

We are in the process of rating and reviewing them all, but for now to find out more you can just copy and paste their company names into Google or Yahoo.

They are separated into popular, hosted or downloaded carts, so you can narrow from there. We like Yahoo Stores, Shopify, Volusion, Captures, Monster, but there are many many more depending on your needs.

Let us know if you need help choosing once you have made a list of two or three you like.

I use http://www.LowPriceBuilder.com for few years. They only charge flat price, ($15 per month) ,and include Web hosting, Shopping Cart system and 30 more features ..... etc. This would be the most inexpensive way to have your e-commerce web site to go online. The builder allows you to create your web page easily without knowledge of programming language. Also, apply for a Paypal account so you can integrate with your shopping cart later. Good Luck!