Selling Digital Downloads

[Larry Bohen]

We are having discussions with some audiobook publishers about selling
digital/downloadable audiobooks and would appreciate feedback from those
already selling digital products using ShopSite Pro 7.

In that the music industry saw a lot of mischief/theft a few years back, I
am particularly interested in knowing if ShopSite and/or systems it needs to
coordinate with like payment gateways, have the necessary safeguards to
prevent/minimize mischief/theft.

Also, have you found that the ShopSite digital products sale process is easy
for your customers to understand?

What additional features of selling digital products should be implemented
in ShopSite?

Any other feedback will be greatly appreciated.

--
Larry Bohen
www.audiobooksonline.com

[Teri S]

Hi Larry,
I sell machine embroidery designs via digital download using SSP 7. It
works quite well and most of my customers seem to understand the ordering
and download process, even though many of my customers are not too computer
literate. It is secure in that the download key that the customer gets is a
temporary URL that expires within a certain amount of time that you can
specify. And even with Paypal, the customer will not get that key until the
payment has been completed.

The biggest issue I have with the digital downloads is that there is no good
way to set up special pricing for bundles. What I have had to do is combine
product A and product B into a product C to offer special pricing if the
customer wants to order both A and B.I do a lot of bundle type pricing and
this means I have a lot of duplication of files that I have to store in my
download area. So not only do I have to store a zip file for A and a zip
file for B, but also a zip file for C (A+B). I probably use twice as much
disk space as I would otherwise need, if only I could designate one product
to consist of 2 or more zip files. Additionally, some zip files are rather
large, but I can't really break them up, as I can only have one zip for each
product. I tried using sub-products to get around this problem and could
not make it work.

I would also like to have a product option that points to different zip
files, depending on which value is selected. In your case, for instance,
you might want to have one product for a book title, then a different
product option for different languages for that title, each one pointing to
a separate digital download. As of version 7.0, this is not possible to do.
It makes for more work to have 10 different products for each of 10
languages, for instance.


"Larry Bohen" <lbohen@audiobooksonline.com> wrote in message
news:cnanvs$63t$1@eval.shopsite.com...

We are having discussions with some audiobook publishers about selling
digital/downloadable audiobooks and would appreciate feedback from those
already selling digital products using ShopSite Pro 7.

In that the music industry saw a lot of mischief/theft a few years back, I
am particularly interested in knowing if ShopSite and/or systems it needs
to
coordinate with like payment gateways, have the necessary safeguards to
prevent/minimize mischief/theft.

Also, have you found that the ShopSite digital products sale process is
easy
for your customers to understand?

What additional features of selling digital products should be implemented
in ShopSite?

Any other feedback will be greatly appreciated.

--
Larry Bohen
www.audiobooksonline.com

[Larry Bohen]

Thank you for your great feedback.

We would also run into the same issue you mention (I.E. special pricing for
more than one product). We currently offer a 5% discount on orders $100 or
more. This works well with ShopSite's order discount feature. Any reason
this 5% discount would NOT work with digital products? Would this work with
your situation? I.E. special pricing for a combination of products.

Because our downloadable/digital products would be a small subset or our
total offerings, I envision that some customers would WANT to order a
combination of digital and hardgood audiobooks. Given that we only charge a
customer's credit card when we ship (and some hardgood audiobooks may not be
in stock), I don't think I could allow digital and hardgood audiobooks to be
ordered on the same order as I would want to get payment prior to
authorizing a download.

It's interesting that you are the only one who provided feedback. I wonder
if this indicates how little usage ShopSite's digital download feature is
being used.

Thanks again for the feedback.

--
Larry Bohen
www.audiobooksonline.com
"Teri S" <teri@sewterific.com> wrote in message
news:cplqmd$mne$1@eval.shopsite.com...

Hi Larry,
I sell machine embroidery designs via digital download using SSP 7. It
works quite well and most of my customers seem to understand the ordering
and download process, even though many of my customers are not too
computer
literate. It is secure in that the download key that the customer gets is
a
temporary URL that expires within a certain amount of time that you can
specify. And even with Paypal, the customer will not get that key until
the
payment has been completed.

The biggest issue I have with the digital downloads is that there is no
good
way to set up special pricing for bundles. What I have had to do is
combine
product A and product B into a product C to offer special pricing if the
customer wants to order both A and B.I do a lot of bundle type pricing and
this means I have a lot of duplication of files that I have to store in my
download area. So not only do I have to store a zip file for A and a zip
file for B, but also a zip file for C (A+B). I probably use twice as much
disk space as I would otherwise need, if only I could designate one
product
to consist of 2 or more zip files. Additionally, some zip files are
rather
large, but I can't really break them up, as I can only have one zip for
each
product. I tried using sub-products to get around this problem and could
not make it work.

I would also like to have a product option that points to different zip
files, depending on which value is selected. In your case, for instance,
you might want to have one product for a book title, then a different
product option for different languages for that title, each one pointing
to
a separate digital download. As of version 7.0, this is not possible to
do.
It makes for more work to have 10 different products for each of 10
languages, for instance.


"Larry Bohen" <lbohen@audiobooksonline.com> wrote in message
news:cnanvs$63t$1@eval.shopsite.com...
We are having discussions with some audiobook publishers about selling
digital/downloadable audiobooks and would appreciate feedback from those
already selling digital products using ShopSite Pro 7.

In that the music industry saw a lot of mischief/theft a few years back,
I
am particularly interested in knowing if ShopSite and/or systems it needs
to
coordinate with like payment gateways, have the necessary safeguards to
prevent/minimize mischief/theft.

Also, have you found that the ShopSite digital products sale process is
easy
for your customers to understand?

What additional features of selling digital products should be
implemented
in ShopSite?

Any other feedback will be greatly appreciated.

--
Larry Bohen
www.audiobooksonline.com

[loren_d_c]

FYI, all Coupons, Discount Schedules, and Quantity Pricing features work
the same for Digital Download products as for tangible products.

-Loren



Larry Bohen wrote:

Thank you for your great feedback.

We would also run into the same issue you mention (I.E. special pricing for
more than one product). We currently offer a 5% discount on orders $100 or
more. This works well with ShopSite's order discount feature. Any reason
this 5% discount would NOT work with digital products? Would this work with
your situation? I.E. special pricing for a combination of products.

Because our downloadable/digital products would be a small subset or our
total offerings, I envision that some customers would WANT to order a
combination of digital and hardgood audiobooks. Given that we only charge a
customer's credit card when we ship (and some hardgood audiobooks may not be
in stock), I don't think I could allow digital and hardgood audiobooks to be
ordered on the same order as I would want to get payment prior to
authorizing a download.

It's interesting that you are the only one who provided feedback. I wonder
if this indicates how little usage ShopSite's digital download feature is
being used.

Thanks again for the feedback.

[loren_d_c]

Also, regarding:

"I don't think I could allow digital and hardgood audiobooks to be
ordered on the same order"

There is no setting to prevent Digital Download products from being
ordered in the same order as tangible products, however there is a
Digital Download setting to not show the download keys for the Digital
Download products on the thankyou receipt or the email receipt, and
instead allow you to use the 'Send Keys' button that will appear on a
Digital Download order when you View Orders to send the download
information at a later date once you have received/cleared payment or
have shipped the tangible items from the order.

-Loren


Loren wrote:

FYI, all Coupons, Discount Schedules, and Quantity Pricing features work
the same for Digital Download products as for tangible products.

-Loren



Larry Bohen wrote:

Thank you for your great feedback.

We would also run into the same issue you mention (I.E. special
pricing for more than one product). We currently offer a 5% discount
on orders $100 or more. This works well with ShopSite's order discount
feature. Any reason this 5% discount would NOT work with digital
products? Would this work with your situation? I.E. special pricing
for a combination of products.

Because our downloadable/digital products would be a small subset or
our total offerings, I envision that some customers would WANT to
order a combination of digital and hardgood audiobooks. Given that we
only charge a customer's credit card when we ship (and some hardgood
audiobooks may not be in stock), I don't think I could allow digital
and hardgood audiobooks to be ordered on the same order as I would
want to get payment prior to authorizing a download.

It's interesting that you are the only one who provided feedback. I
wonder if this indicates how little usage ShopSite's digital download
feature is being used.

Thanks again for the feedback.

[Teri S]

"Larry Bohen" <lbohen@audiobooksonline.com> wrote in message
news:cppsfm$2vc$1@eval.shopsite.com...

We would also run into the same issue you mention (I.E. special pricing
for
more than one product). We currently offer a 5% discount on orders $100 or
more. This works well with ShopSite's order discount feature. Any reason
this 5% discount would NOT work with digital products? Would this work
with
your situation? I.E. special pricing for a combination of products.
I do occasionally use the discount feature as well as the coupons and they

both work fine with digital downloads. I suppose I could use the coupon for
my bundle pricing, but that means the customer will have to remember to put
in the coupon code when they order. I would rather be able to set a price
for that bundle and have one Add to Cart button for it.

Because our downloadable/digital products would be a small subset or our
total offerings, I envision that some customers would WANT to order a
combination of digital and hardgood audiobooks. Given that we only charge
a
customer's credit card when we ship (and some hardgood audiobooks may not
be
in stock), I don't think I could allow digital and hardgood audiobooks to
be
ordered on the same order as I would want to get payment prior to
authorizing a download.
Loren's suggestion about not including the download link on the receipts is

a good one for this. That way you can control when they get to download it.

I think the restriction on associating one zip file with one product might
be a problem for you as well as for me. Aren't your audio books pretty
large files?

It's interesting that you are the only one who provided feedback. I wonder
if this indicates how little usage ShopSite's digital download feature is
being used.

ShopSite really needs to beef up its digital download features. More and
more sites are offering all sorts of digital products and SSP is missing out
on a huge market. I can only speak for the machine embroidery market, but I
see hundreds of new sites popping up each year selling design files. A
great many of them resort to emailing the files or using sites like Paypal,
BMTMicro, or 2Checkout for their order processing and the results are less
than desirable. It is much cheaper and you have a lot more control over
your orders and payment processing if you can have the shopping cart and
payment processing right on your own site and not have to rely on a 3rd
party for this. Not to mention that some of those 3rd party sites are not
terribly user friendly and if you have a customer base like mine, where so
many are not very computer savvy, they find it difficult to use those other
sites.

Something else I'd really like to see is the ability to lock out certain
customers based on IP address, email address, or name and physical address
or phone number. When you get into digital products, you begin to realize
how widespread the software piracy problem is. There are entire newsgroups
dedicated solely to illegal software sharing. Austions sites are another
problem. Ebay, for instance, does not police itself very well as far as
illegal auctions of software and other digital products. I am constantly
fighting theft and resale of my designs. I have a long list of people that
I know are involved in sharing or illegally selling embroidery designs and I
would really prefer not to sell to them. But with instant download, I can't
pick and choose who will buy my products. It would be nice to be able to
lock them out. Just something to think about.

Teri S.
www.sewterific.com

[Teri S]

Well, it turns out the coupons won't work for my bundles. Let's say I want
to offer a special price for product A + product B, both ordered together in
the same order. I can set up a $10 off coupon and specify those 2 products,
but then the $10 would be applied to both products individually, whether
they order both or not. So I don't see how I can use the coupons for
bundles, do you?

I do occasionally use the discount feature as well as the coupons and they
both work fine with digital downloads. I suppose I could use the coupon
for
my bundle pricing, but that means the customer will have to remember to
put
in the coupon code when they order. I would rather be able to set a price
for that bundle and have one Add to Cart button for it.

[loren_d_c]

What version of ShopSite are you using? There is coupon setting in newer
versions to only allow the coupon discount to apply once.

-Loren



Teri S wrote:

Well, it turns out the coupons won't work for my bundles. Let's say I want
to offer a special price for product A + product B, both ordered together in
the same order. I can set up a $10 off coupon and specify those 2 products,
but then the $10 would be applied to both products individually, whether
they order both or not. So I don't see how I can use the coupons for
bundles, do you?


I do occasionally use the discount feature as well as the coupons and they
both work fine with digital downloads. I suppose I could use the coupon

for

my bundle pricing, but that means the customer will have to remember to

put

in the coupon code when they order. I would rather be able to set a price
for that bundle and have one Add to Cart button for it.

[Teri S]

I'm using SSP 7.0.5. Is there a way to require that both products A and B
be purchased in order for the coupon to apply? When I tried it, I was able
to apply to apply the coupon to either A or B, even without ordering the
companion product.

"Loren" <loren_d_c@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:cpsc9c$kr4$1@eval.shopsite.com...

What version of ShopSite are you using? There is coupon setting in newer
versions to only allow the coupon discount to apply once.

-Loren

[Rob]

You could use the minimum order value in conjunction with the specific
products listed to "force" the customer into having both products in the
cart, or at least a dollar amount equal to both with at least one in the
cart for the coupon to apply.

Rob

"Teri S" <teri@sewterific.com> wrote in message
news:cptgdd$dcf$1@eval.shopsite.com...

I'm using SSP 7.0.5. Is there a way to require that both products A and B
be purchased in order for the coupon to apply? When I tried it, I was
able
to apply to apply the coupon to either A or B, even without ordering the
companion product.

"Loren" <loren_d_c@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:cpsc9c$kr4$1@eval.shopsite.com...
What version of ShopSite are you using? There is coupon setting in newer
versions to only allow the coupon discount to apply once.

-Loren