@Matt - The support forums are restricted to paying users but there should a publicly accessible forum for pre-purchase questions.

If there is no forum for pre-purchase questions just email them but I doubt they will tell you how to avoid hard-cropping, that would be a support request not a sales enquiry.

I'm not sure but I suspect you could probably get access to the support forums if you buy just one add-on and the cheapest is $15 - I'm just guessing but you could ask if that is the case. Realistically, you're probably going to need to buy some add-ons anyway if you want to run a real online store.