So many people are frustrated with e commerce solutions that feel more like straightjackets. If you’re ready to take the bull by the horns, there are open source options . . .

Magento is a one-stop shop to manage and sell your products online. The open-source platform allows merchants full control over their eCommerce business and the underlying software that runs it. With Magento, you can create feature-rich, professional storefront including:

• multiple images per product, with zoom-in capability
• product reviews and ratings
• stock availability
• shopping carts and wishlists
• suggested or optional product lists
• send to a friend” product referrals
• customer service and customer account management
• full online payment options and integration with Google checkout, Paypal, and Authorize.net accounts

But some of the best features of this platform are on the back-end. Magento gives merchants the ability to customize their database and manage their inventory, orders, and customers from a simple and easy-to-use web interface. Pull sales reports and user analytics like cart abandonment rates and most popular products. Set RSS feeds to notify you when new orders pop up or customers leave a review.

While it may not be for the faint of heart, it’s at least worth a bit of sniffing about if you’re interested in making your platform part of your secret sauce.