hi,
i was looking for the best shopping cart software or package which
isnt too expensive and in which users can create their own accounts
and list their own items. kind of like ebay, but with or without the
auction feature.
  basically, i want to make a site in which the students of my
university can trade and sell their items to other students. so that
any student can go to the site and register himself and can list
his/her items(for a small fee). so its a little like ebay.
can u suggest any package like that? i already have bought a domain
and have a hosting package with all the SQL, PHP support etc features.
  Please provide me with detailed information about it. thank you.

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Clarification of Question by eskimo123-ga on 28 Nov 2005 08:56 PST

CLARIFICATION/CORRECTION :  I meant AUCTION package (like ebay) and
NOT just shopping cart.

eskimo123
You say you have a domain and a hosting package.  Are you getting your
website hosted by a Hosting Company?  If you are, then you are using
there computers to host a web site, and they will most likely have
restriction on what programs they will run on there own computers. 
You need to be a little more specific about youre set up.
Are you being hosted?  Their machines, their software, you simply
design the web page, they run everything
Are you colocating?  Youre machines, at their data center.  You put
whatever sofware you want on your machine and configure it,  they are
providing a fast internet connection.
Which Operating System are you using? - Windows or Unix (which Unix,
Solaris or Linux)
Also many hosting companies provide e-retail software applications
that you can use, so ask them about that.

Provide as much information about your setup as you can,  except for
passwords and account numbers and things like that of course.

Hey thanks for the comment. Well My hosting is on Globat Hosting
(Terabyte Package T03--it has LOTS of space and bandwidth)
  But its ok, i can change my hosting depending on my needs. The main
core of my problem is which Auction software can i use. I Checked out
PhpProBid. It seems to be pretty good and they also offer hosting
service which is tailored and designed to meet the requirements and
needs of their PhpProBid software.
   I also checked out the Softbiz auction program and a couple of
others. Since my target audience will mainly consist of University
students, i dont think softwares with many options for creating
revenue by using pay-per-ad etc, will work as i dont think commercial
companies will be advertising on a site like  that. so i think softbiz
isnt very well suited for my needs. PhpProBid might be better looking
at their demo on the site, but i still am not sure which ones out
there are the best. If you know of any others, then let me know. If
you also know the hosting on which the particular auction software you
suggest works, then let me know it too because i will buy a new
hosting account on that.