Why did VP-ASP 5.00 achieve adoption? Because its feature list, for its time, was genuinely competitive:

Thus, VP-ASP 5.00 websites are not merely obsolete software; they are —the contract that said, “I, the merchant, will maintain the machine.” Today’s SaaS model offers convenience, but it also offers a new form of serfdom: algorithmic strikes, sudden terms-of-service changes, and the impossibility of ever truly exporting your store’s logic.

Short-to-medium term mitigation if migration isn’t possible

VP-ASP 5.00 suffered from severe security vulnerabilities, the most notable being related to the "shopexd.asp" file.

The core source code was entirely open, allowing developers to manually modify the script files to alter layout, checkout logic, and shipping calculations. Key Features That Defined Version 5.00

Scale your store without worrying about product limits.