Alternatives to ShareIt/MyCommerce/Digital River

[IaES]

If you refund September orders then they should be balanced against september's sales because DR hasn't sent out the sales reports for september yet so that should go OK I think.

But we've had the sales reports for August so refunding August sales would mean they'll try to deduct that refund from future October sales. But if there are no October sales they have two options.

1. Take the value of the refunds from the money they owe you
or
2. try to bill you seperately for those refunds because they can't go back and re-do the August sales report.

Option #1 would be easiest for them but I suspect they'll want to keep all the money they already stole from you so will try to steal more by billing you. In fact if they go into administration the administrators would likely bill you because adminstrators wouldn't want to re-open the August sales report. They don't like paying anyone anyway but they do like billing people.

[Christian67587]

What if the user never gets the refund, because they may not pay it?
Like they may show us the reduced balance and not refund the credit card.

[IaES]

What if the user never gets the refund, because they may not pay it?
Like they may show us the reduced balance and not refund the credit card.

That's a good question. Refunds I've made have been taken from my shareit account reducing the amount they owe me. But so far I haven't seen any buyer who actually received anything. It does take a few days though so I'm giving it a few days before deciding.

[gullfo]

i don't have a dog in this fight (i'm on the consumer side of the equation), but another consideration, if you can afford it, is take the loss and write it off on your taxes as an interim measure pending any future legal actions or continuing to pay them fees for which they do not render agreed services.

[sft234]

they will withhold the money for 180 days, backing this by the article 5e of the agreement 6.1. Imho that's a bit stretchy. Also it's nowhere written that they have 180 days, nor that number can be defended by anything - like chargeback period, etc.

Got an update to my termination ticket today, and got the same information:

We are actively coordinating with the internal team regarding your contract termination request. Please advised that upon termination, your remaining balance will be held for 180 days to cover refunds and chargebacks that may be received for your recent MyCommerce orders. After that period has lapsed, your remaining balance will be paid using the payment details we have on file for your MyCommerce account. You can verify this information through your account's control panel, under the 'Administration' section to 'Your Payment Information'. In the interim, you will continue to have access to reporting in your MyCommerce Control Panel, but no further sales will be processed.

In other words, now that I have terminated my account, all of my balance, including the July payment, are now "legally" (according to their interpretation of 5(e) of MSA 6.1) on hold until April 2025.

Can anybody confirm they are still processing refunds currently? I think this will be the only way to see any of the money again at all.

They will never pay since they won't exist anymore in April.
If it would be any other then DR would honestly inform all merchants that payments will be postponed to the next year because of a credit tightness - which maybe would stop the exodus to the concurrency

But they do nothing. They do nothing to hold customers. They don't give ANY clear information, they lie all the time, they block all communication channels. You can't call them, you can't email them.

Which means: they know that they're done, but want to hide it and so constantly lie about it. Their new CEO Barry L. Kasoff probably has received all his "Certificates" from the Mafia. A CEO can't be any worse than this guy. I believe he simply wants to rob the dying Digital River with his many-times proved mafia-method and then walk away with many millions richer.

Digital River should rename itself to Digital Ripper, or Digital Robber.

Our mission: Stealing money globally

[Christian67587]

...is take the loss and write it off on your taxes

Well, if you take their credit note and book it as income for your business, you can later take it off the books as loss, when you realize it's uncollectible.

Currently I can't take their credit note seriously.

It's a loss as it's not realized income. If we don't get it, we wouldn't declare it as income and thus never pay tax for it.
But we'll see what our tax con-sultant tells us.

[IaES]

I never do an invoice for the payments from DR. When they arrived I just book them into the bank as income. My accountant has never complained about me doing it that way.

But these missed payments didn't arrive so there's no booking. Simply don't exist in my accounts.

[yps]

Option #1 would be easiest for them but I suspect they'll want to keep all the money they already stole from you so will try to steal more by billing you.

Well, the apparent reason for the 180 day delay is that they want to deduct refunds from your balance, so one should figure that option #1 is the one... But you never know these days.

This entire 180 day thing is clearly part of the plan to secure cash flow while crashing their business and squeezing money out of it.

Anyway, I have refunded a few orders now, and my October turnover in the dashboard has turned negative.

[yps]

I never do an invoice for the payments from DR. When they arrived I just book them into the bank as income. My accountant has never complained about me doing it that way.

Credit notes as sent by DR are like "reversed invoices", so they are the same thing as an invoice (created by you and sent to them), just created by the other party (and sent to you).

But these missed payments didn't arrive so there's no booking. Simply don't exist in my accounts.

Well, for July (edit: and August), I received the credit note, booked it, and already paid the 19% VAT. Even though the money never arrived.

In Germany, we have a thing called "Sollversteuerung", which means that you have to pay the VAT already by the time you deliver the service/goods (or send the invoice, or receive the credit note) - not only when you actually receive the payment.

[whatamess]

Howdy, I'm affected by this mess as well, albeit from what I read from others, I'm a small fish in this pond. Losing a quarter's income doesn’t get more enjoyable, but alas, you all have my deepest sympathies.

I have read what others have written and would like to add a few points I haven’t seen mentioned.

If we recall how Digital River GmbH, originally based in Cologne, Germany, came into being, we’ll see that they once were a fully legitimate German company called Element 5, which was bought for around $120M in 2004 by Digital River Inc. Element 5 had ShareIt as a product, and Digital River took over, operating the platform for some time before eventually transforming it into MyCommerce.

For us, I can confirm that the only contract or agreement we ever entered was the original ShareIt agreement, which is still visible in my account. It has an actual date and time when it was entered. We never signed any MyCommerce MSA, and the original ShareIt agreement includes no provisions for unilateral contract changes. Today, only the MSA 6.3 is in the account, but if I open that frame in a new tab, the "6.3" in the URL can be swapped for "6.2," "6.1," "6.0," and "5.0," and each version has a blue button at the bottom allowing me to enter into said agreements—though we never did. Moreover, since 2007, there has been no communication requesting us to sign these. This might be important regarding Digital River's right to change the agreement's terms.

Looking into the German Handelsregister (trade register) for this company, we see that they moved from Cologne to Frankfurt during the pandemic, specifically on December 7th, 2020, with another change in Frankfurt in February 2022. The Cologne company no longer exists and has been dissolved. The Frankfurt address currently listed in the Handelsregister (Wiesenhüttenstraße 11, 60329 Frankfurt am Main) belongs to TMF Group Germany, a provider of virtual offices, as seen in Google Street View.

Why is this significant?
1. The MSA 6.3 claims that the company is at the Cologne address, but how can we have a valid contract with a legal partner that no longer exists at that location?
2. It could mean we're witnessing the perfect crime, with no real accountability.

Potential Criminal Charges:
- Fraud (Betrug) - § 263 of the German Criminal Code (StGB): The intentional withholding of payments and charging fees for support services while failing to address the core issues could constitute fraud. If Digital River is intentionally deceiving partners and profiting from this situation, it may qualify as a fraudulent scheme.

- Insolvency Fraud (Insolvenzverschleppung) - § 15a of the Insolvency Code (InsO): If Digital River GmbH is insolvent and continues operating without filing for insolvency, they are in violation of insolvency law. Failure to declare insolvency promptly under German law is a criminal offense.

- Usury (Wucher) - § 291 of the German Criminal Code (StGB): The imposition of excessive fees, such as the $185/hour support fee, particularly when vendors are financially distressed, could fall under usury laws. By charging these fees while vendors seek payment, Digital River may be exploiting their vulnerable financial situation.

Enforcement Challenges:
As a GmbH, Digital River GmbH as a legal entity is protected from criminal prosecution under German law—only individuals, such as the company's management, can be held criminally accountable. According to the Handelsregister, on September 11th, 2024, the company’s Geschäftsführer (CEO) became John Murray, with an address in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Under U.S. law, extradition for financial crimes like fraud or insolvency fraud is uncommon, especially for non-violent financial offenses in foreign jurisdictions such as Germany. As a result, it’s unlikely that Murray or his management team will face criminal charges in Germany. At most, they may face travel restrictions in Europe, but they can likely continue operating from the U.S. without facing significant legal consequences from German authorities.

TMF Group’s Role:
TMF Group has been hosting Digital River GmbH virtually since long before these questionable activities surfaced. It’s unclear whether TMF Group is aware of any wrongdoing, but perhaps they should be notified—after all, they may not want to be associated with such activities.

Involving U.S. Authorities:
If John Murray’s actions do not involve U.S. vendors, it becomes more difficult to involve U.S. federal authorities like the FBI, as their jurisdiction typically covers crimes affecting U.S. entities or individuals. Without a connection to U.S. vendors or violations of U.S. law, this could be seen as a loophole. Now, consider the Know Your Customer (KYC) and Due Diligence processes that are supposed to identify U.S. citizens and ensure they're unaffected. A question arises: Are any U.S.-based vendors here who haven't been paid and have contracts with the German GmbH as their contractual partner?

Thanks to those who provided details about Digital River Holding GmbH. My guess is that if the operating GmbH holds our money until December 31st, it will flow away to that entity, and afterward, the operating GmbH could become insolvent by the next fiscal year.

[7tltd]

Howdy, I'm affected by this mess as well, albeit from what I read from others, I'm a small fish in this pond. Losing a quarter's income doesn’t get more enjoyable, but alas, you all have my deepest sympathies.

I have read what others have written and would like to add a few points I haven’t seen mentioned.

If we recall how Digital River GmbH, originally based in Cologne, Germany, came into being, we’ll see that they once were a fully legitimate German company called Element 5, which was bought for around $120M in 2004 by Digital River Inc. Element 5 had ShareIt as a product, and Digital River took over, operating the platform for some time before eventually transforming it into MyCommerce.

For us, I can confirm that the only contract or agreement we ever entered was the original ShareIt agreement, which is still visible in my account. It has an actual date and time when it was entered. We never signed any MyCommerce MSA, and the original ShareIt agreement includes no provisions for unilateral contract changes. Today, only the MSA 6.3 is in the account, but if I open that frame in a new tab, the "6.3" in the URL can be swapped for "6.2," "6.1," "6.0," and "5.0," and each version has a blue button at the bottom allowing me to enter into said agreements—though we never did. Moreover, since 2007, there has been no communication requesting us to sign these. This might be important regarding Digital River's right to change the agreement's terms.

Looking into the German Handelsregister (trade register) for this company, we see that they moved from Cologne to Frankfurt during the pandemic, specifically on December 7th, 2020, with another change in Frankfurt in February 2022. The Cologne company no longer exists and has been dissolved. The Frankfurt address currently listed in the Handelsregister (Wiesenhüttenstraße 11, 60329 Frankfurt am Main) belongs to TMF Group Germany, a provider of virtual offices, as seen in Google Street View.

Why is this significant?
1. The MSA 6.3 claims that the company is at the Cologne address, but how can we have a valid contract with a legal partner that no longer exists at that location?
2. It could mean we're witnessing the perfect crime, with no real accountability.

Potential Criminal Charges:
- Fraud (Betrug) - § 263 of the German Criminal Code (StGB): The intentional withholding of payments and charging fees for support services while failing to address the core issues could constitute fraud. If Digital River is intentionally deceiving partners and profiting from this situation, it may qualify as a fraudulent scheme.

- Insolvency Fraud (Insolvenzverschleppung) - § 15a of the Insolvency Code (InsO): If Digital River GmbH is insolvent and continues operating without filing for insolvency, they are in violation of insolvency law. Failure to declare insolvency promptly under German law is a criminal offense.

- Usury (Wucher) - § 291 of the German Criminal Code (StGB): The imposition of excessive fees, such as the $185/hour support fee, particularly when vendors are financially distressed, could fall under usury laws. By charging these fees while vendors seek payment, Digital River may be exploiting their vulnerable financial situation.

Enforcement Challenges:
As a GmbH, Digital River GmbH as a legal entity is protected from criminal prosecution under German law—only individuals, such as the company's management, can be held criminally accountable. According to the Handelsregister, on September 11th, 2024, the company’s Geschäftsführer (CEO) became John Murray, with an address in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Under U.S. law, extradition for financial crimes like fraud or insolvency fraud is uncommon, especially for non-violent financial offenses in foreign jurisdictions such as Germany. As a result, it’s unlikely that Murray or his management team will face criminal charges in Germany. At most, they may face travel restrictions in Europe, but they can likely continue operating from the U.S. without facing significant legal consequences from German authorities.

TMF Group’s Role:
TMF Group has been hosting Digital River GmbH virtually since long before these questionable activities surfaced. It’s unclear whether TMF Group is aware of any wrongdoing, but perhaps they should be notified—after all, they may not want to be associated with such activities.

Involving U.S. Authorities:
If John Murray’s actions do not involve U.S. vendors, it becomes more difficult to involve U.S. federal authorities like the FBI, as their jurisdiction typically covers crimes affecting U.S. entities or individuals. Without a connection to U.S. vendors or violations of U.S. law, this could be seen as a loophole. Now, consider the Know Your Customer (KYC) and Due Diligence processes that are supposed to identify U.S. citizens and ensure they're unaffected. A question arises: Are any U.S.-based vendors here who haven't been paid and have contracts with the German GmbH as their contractual partner?

Thanks to those who provided details about Digital River Holding GmbH. My guess is that if the operating GmbH holds our money until December 31st, it will flow away to that entity, and afterward, the operating GmbH could become insolvent by the next fiscal year.

Jumping in a triangle and crying "halted den Dieb" doesn't help. Look what kind of individual this Kasoff is and you can guess why and for what they need money at the moment so urgently. And then you can also understand why no authorities will do something until DR is completely cashed out.

[Syncsro]

I can confirm they are processing refunds

[grujicd]

But can you confirm that refunds reach customer’s bank accounts?

[Syncsro]

No, I have mailed all customers to inform us once it happens

[yps]

The Cologne company no longer exists and has been dissolved.

Actually not true. It does still exist - it's today's Digital River GmbH (HRB 56188).

It was founded in 2005 as "element 5 Informationstechnologien und
-dienstleistungen GmbH", and changed its name to the current Digital River GmbH in 2006. As you said, it moved its registered office to Frankfurt in 2020, but the Cologne office (likely only a mailbox) might still exist today.

Then there is Digital River Holding GmbH, which was founded as Digital River GmbH in 2005, and then renamed to Digital River Hoiding GmbH 2006 when they bought element 5.

My guess is that their original plan was to transfer all contracts from element 5 to their new Digital River GmbH, but it turned out to be too difficult, so they ended up turning their new GmbH into a holding, and made element 5 a subsidary of that holding, swapping the names.