KVR Audio

Tone2 Synthesizers · Post by **Tone2 Synthesizers** » Mon Jul 15, 2024 7:19 am

I am not happy with their B2B support and am considering to migrate to another platform. Can you recommend alternative software distribution/payment platforms?

dexrow · Post by **dexrow** » Mon Aug 19, 2024 8:11 am

I am using Patreon but I don't really need to sell it is just good to have it as an option. It may be great for some kind of subscription in addition to what you are doing.

Marvinh · Post by **Marvinh** » Fri Aug 30, 2024 10:06 pm

Paddle.com I am trying now. Also Fastspring is popular too as that is what Reaper Akai and Adobe have used

quikquak · Post by **quikquak** » Wed Sep 04, 2024 9:52 am

I’m in the process of setting up FastSpring. I’ve had a few major problems with MyCommerce, and their support is now being moved to a Digital River robot wall.
They NEVER admit to a problem their end.
It took them a week to fix a major problem, with no message back.
They’ve also decided to pay out every two months now, which they smugly point out was in the contract all along!
Their website is now slow, and creaky.
This all gives the impression of a skeleton staff, and a unstable future.

FastSpring’s interface is breath of fresh air. It’s also fast and responsive.
Their key generator is also easy to create and deploy.
Their support is fast and informative, so far.
They also pay out twice a month.
It’s all going so well, I didn’t even look at Paddle yet, so I can’t compare.

hugoderwolf · Post by **hugoderwolf** » Wed Sep 04, 2024 10:24 am

FastSpring works like a charm, but note that their accounts are run in USD. If you want to get your money out in another currency, their payout portal charges a hefty fee hidden in their shitty conversion ratios. That's another few percent gone through the window. Can be circumvented by paying out in USD to Wise and then converting there at a fair rate.

With Paddle you can run the account directly in EUR, so it might be better suitable for EUR-based businesses.

Currency conversion is often a point where you leak a surprising amount of money without even noticing it. For example PayPal will go out of their way to make you convert USD to EUR with them if you're a EUR-based business and receive payments in USD. And they'll make it really hard for you to get your foreign currency out without charging a few more fees here and there.

quikquak · Post by **quikquak** » Wed Sep 04, 2024 12:12 pm

Thanks for the extra info, hugoderwolf. I'm probably losing a lot through MyCommerce anyway. I'm based in the UK, I'll just go for getting paid in USD.
It was so fast to set up, that it'll make a good alternative until, and if I find anything better.
I just need to get away from MyCommerce.

hugoderwolf · Post by **hugoderwolf** » Wed Sep 04, 2024 1:51 pm

Definitely route your payouts through Wise then, they're extremely low fee and have fair exchange rates.

quikquak · Post by **quikquak** » Wed Sep 04, 2024 3:13 pm

Yes."Wise" seem to do USD and GBP.
Even though this list says otherwise...

https://www.top10moneytransfer.com/send ... XsEALw_wcB

The top one, Xe, looks reasonable.

Urs · Post by **Urs** » Wed Sep 04, 2024 3:20 pm

Afaik FastSpring do Wise, but not any others.

quikquak · Post by **quikquak** » Wed Sep 04, 2024 3:22 pm

Oh, so it's all to do with what FastSpring allows?
I didn't know that, thanks.
I thought it would be just be like a normal bank transfer.

hugoderwolf · Post by **hugoderwolf** » Wed Sep 04, 2024 3:28 pm

Payout from FastSpring is a normal bank transfer (ACH for USD, IBAN for EUR with shitty conversion), so it goes into Wise via bank transfer as well.

Tone2 Synthesizers · Post by **Tone2 Synthesizers** » Thu Sep 05, 2024 4:39 pm

quikquak wrote: Wed Sep 04, 2024 9:52 am I’m in the process of setting up FastSpring. I’ve had a few major problems with MyCommerce, and their support is now being moved to a Digital River robot wall.
They NEVER admit to a problem their end.
It took them a week to fix a major problem, with no message back.
They’ve also decided to pay out every two months now, which they smugly point out was in the contract all along!

To my understanding they now do not pay out in a two month circle, but with one additional month of delay.

I can confirm horrible B2B support

quikquak · Post by **quikquak** » Fri Sep 06, 2024 5:06 pm

Oh OK, thanks. It still means I didn't get paid for August.
To be honest their email support used to be pretty responsive for me, within a day or so.
Now, from the Digital River 'solution center' I just have a string of random names for over a week, saying:
'We are still working with our support team to get this resolved. We know how important and urgent this for you. We made a follow up today to ask guidance to further to help you.'
- I never to be heard from them again!!

sascha · Post by **sascha** » Fri Sep 13, 2024 7:50 am

I'm late for the party but hopefully this is related enough for an ongoing discussion. Maybe my intellectual bandwidth is way limited but I already failed understanding Digital River's present website in search of the essence...
I'm in the process of deciding whether to go with FastSpring or Stripe. Already got accounts at both, but not sure which one to finally choose, based on my circumstances and requirements:
- As EU citizen, FastSpring's conversion would also hit me without going through a middleman service
- I'm using a CMS that doesn't require cookies (yet), and I want the user to remain anonymous until a point of purchase. Therefore, no cart system yet. I'd go with plain PHP and YAML to brew things myself. I read that FastSpring only provides a Rest API (?) so I'd have to use curl I guess. Definitely need a post-purchase webhook but assume that's the norm with all services.
- I have a plugin for my CMS that can handle Stripe
- But Stripe does not handle PayPal, which means having to work it out for two services, with the added hassle of PayPal not being that vendor-friendly in certain cases (I hear)
- Stripe (as PayPal) is just a payment gateway, not a merchant of record

Q:
- How would you guys value the importance of PayPal these days, based on your customers' choice and their location?
- Since FastSpring is a MoR rather than a pure gateway, they'll handle tax affairs and everything around for you. I hear that Stripe made progress in this regard but how's the situation actually with them in 2024 when you're like selling from the EU to anywhere else?

Urs · Post by **Urs** » Fri Sep 13, 2024 8:14 am

Paypal accounts for almost exactly 50% of sales.

We think that anything other than a MoR is useless. What you save with Stripe you'll probably outspend for services that do tax stuff. You won't be doing it yourself, as you certainly can't keep up with VATs and GSTs which in the US can vary within a street.

AFAIK Fastsping is a good and quick way to go, and if you use Wise, you'll get very good conversion rates (Fastspring pays Wise in USD, Wise pays you in EUR for a pretty minimal conversion fee)

Alternatives:

https://moonbase.sh <- this one is new, and we'd go with it if we were just starting out
Cleverbridge (Fabfilter use them)
2Checkout (now Verifone)
Paddle (good conditions, but doesn't have a cart system, great for single products)

Alternatives to ShareIt/MyCommerce/Digital River