Ok, figured this out.
Note to self and all newbees - READ THE SMALL PRINT and follow ALL of the instillation instructions carefully
the issue was resolved by following the instructions below
This is the final step. There is a configuration file in Virtuemart that requires the url of your site. Navigate to:
administrator\components\com_virtuemart\virtuemart.cfg.php
At line 35 and 36 change the following to the url of your site:
define( 'URL', '
http://localhost/eshopper/' );
define( 'SECUREURL', '
http://localhost/eshopper/' );
example:
define( 'URL', '
http://www.mysite.com/' );
define( 'SECUREURL', '
http://www.mysite.com/' );
Make sure that it ends with a trailing / at the end.
Save the file and the installation is complete!