I've recently completed a review of the services available for Independent Software Vendors who distribute their products over the internet. Here is a brief list of the various companies I came across during the review. I haven't gone into the details of pricing and features as these change over time, however this list should help you encounter the key service providers.
Digital River is a large US company which provides e-commerce solutions to software vendors. They offer sales, licensing and payment processing services to large vendors such as Symmantec and Kaspersky. They also provide these services to smaller vendors, shareware providers etc., marketing their platform through a range of websites. Their sites include RegNow, RegSoft, esellerate and Share-IT.
E-Junkie provide order processing, license key distribution, downloads but do not provide payment processing. Their platform integrates with PayPal, Google Checkout and other payment processors. For this reason, they charge a flat monthly fee and the payment processors percentage fee is charged independently. E-Junkie are based in Arizona.
FastSpring provides payment processing and distribution to software vendors. They are based in California.
Digital River is a large US company which provides e-commerce solutions to software vendors. They offer sales, licensing and payment processing services to large vendors such as Symmantec and Kaspersky. They also provide these services to smaller vendors, shareware providers etc., marketing their platform through a range of websites. Their sites include RegNow, RegSoft, esellerate and Share-IT.
E-Junkie provide order processing, license key distribution, downloads but do not provide payment processing. Their platform integrates with PayPal, Google Checkout and other payment processors. For this reason, they charge a flat monthly fee and the payment processors percentage fee is charged independently. E-Junkie are based in Arizona.
FastSpring provides payment processing and distribution to software vendors. They are based in California.
Kagi also provide payment processing and software distribution services.Yes, they are also based in California.
There are several issues you should have in mind when choosing a company which provides these services:
There are several issues you should have in mind when choosing a company which provides these services:
- Exclusivity. Are you free to sell your software product through other channels concurrently or do their terms and conditions restrict you to selling through their website?
- Fraud Prevention. How good is their fraud prevention? You don't want a high proportion of your sales to consist of providing the license key or software download and then a couple of days later being informed that the payment was canceled because the purchaser's credit card was fraudulently used.
- Chargebacks. If a user complains to the credit card company about not receiving the product or the product not being fit for purpose - how does the payment processor communicate with you and the customer?
- Fees. How do their percentage fees compare to other providers? What is the minimum charge? Are you charged per download or for storage space?
- Taxes. How does the service provider handle sales tax rates or EU VAT rates?
- Funds Transfer. How do you get your funds from the service provider? Must you pay a fee for funds transfers? How frequently does the vendor receive their funds - monthly, bi-weekly, daily?
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