Simple Ecommerce

I'd do the Learn HTML & CSS learning adventure and then the Build a Simple PHP application course

James, it looks like Andrew is looking for a software solution, not trying to build it himself.

I don't have any experience with e-commerce software, but I have heard that Magento and Prestashop are popular solutions, and both free. I've also heard of Volusion, but I don't believe it's free.

I've worked on store/website for a friend: http://outdoorshopping.com/

We used OpenCart, but it was not a fun experience... the end result came out half-decent though.

I know you asked for a free solution, but Shopify is pretty good. It may cost $29/month but between the hosting, theme, inevitable development/design work, it's actually somewhat of a bargain.

Another option you have is using something like https://gumroad.com/

You can build a simple storefront for your friend, using HTML/CSS and use Gumroad to sell the products.

Andrew, I have run an e-commerce business for four years, I think I've tried all the softwares around and I've found Prestashop is the best to start. It's free, quite simple to install, there's a great support and lot of quality themes.

If you are new to e-commerce site development I would not recommend Magento. It's a powerful software, one of the best, but it is far too complicated to set-up alone, you would need a team behind it. I hope it was helpful.