I have loaded CPShop and would like to customize it. Are there any free or low priced basic templates out there to give me a headstart?

You can use any of the free html website templates that you might find on the internet. You just place Marty's [content] and [sidebar] tags to place the the CP shop generated information in the template where you want it to display.

Thank you.

I am confused on the css placement. If I do as you say, can I link to the external style sheet in the /website.com/cgi.bin/store/ directory? (or do I need to stick it all in that CSS field in Admin?

I'm trying to link to an external style sheet, from within the standard default template, and I just can't get it to pick up the .css stylesheet. I've tried an absolute url and a relative address. I have not been clicking on the "hide CPShop stylesheet" because I'm just trying to add to and overide CPShop styles. Any tips?