A few days ago I wrote about trying to answer a simple question: what do I actually need from a shop? I got stuck, untangled some things, and ended up writing to Stef, aka Bloke, who makes the yab_shop plugin for Textpattern.
He wrote back at length. I wrote back. He wrote back again.
And somewhere in that exchange, the problem dissolved.
What Stef is offering me is a basket-based system where visitors can browse, add things, and check out – but no payment is taken at that point. Instead, I get an email with the order, and I contact them directly to arrange payment. UK bank transfer, Wise, whatever works.
My first instinct was: is that enough? But then I read it again.
- I get notified.
- I write to the buyer.
- We sort it out.
That’s not a limitation, but exactly the kind of contact I said I wanted, a transaction that I’d rather handle not as an automation but as a human.
The other thing I realised, with massive relief: I don’t need to engage with either PayPal or Stripe. Amazing! Wonderful. Given that I’ve apparently accumulated several mysterious Stripe accounts over the years without fully understanding how, this is a huge weight off my shoulders.
Not just because I won’t need to pay a percentage to payment processors, but because this reminds me yet again that I don’t need another platform.
The shop will live on my Textpattern site, organised by sections and categories – artwork, books, courses – with collections I can open and close as the mood takes me. Which is exactly what I said I wanted. I just didn’t know it was possible until I described it out loud.
Stef, it turns out, is building this plugin for a real client with real needs, which means it will get built. I’ve asked him how I can pay him for his help.
More soon – including, I hope, some magnolias.
***