PureBasic Forums - English

I'm interested in hearing from those who make a living programming in PB, or who perhaps know other people from other languages/fields that make a living program.

Are the days of the "Shareware P.O Box" business model pretty much dead? Do people even bother with that anymore, or do they consider it too much of a "hassle"?

I don't know that I would ever launch a "commercial" product, be it some kind of game or application or whatever. But I would like to release my software for free, and offer people the chance to Donate. However I cannot, and for the purpose of making a point personally, will not use Paypal. They will not unlock my account without me faxing them personal information, and I just do not have that much trust in a company who doesn't even believe I am who I say I am, nor make any attempt to verify who I am, via a more acceptable manner.

So that being said... I know it seems kind of silly in this day an age to be on the Internet saying "Well hey if you like this, send a check or money order for $5 to .... P.O Box" etc. Any chance people can still bring in money that way?

I've researched alternatives to Paypal, but they all seem to have have one issue or another that set off a red flag in my mind, or appear outright shady.

I already own a Domain and have web hosting, and access to shopping cart software, and I've thought about using card processing, but I wouldn't qualify officially as a "Non-Profit" entity, so I would be subject to processing fees, etc.. Might end up losing money in that situation, for inactivity/low-use fees or some other weird BS rules some of these payment processors seem to pull out of thin air.

Hmm.. I am however Considering Moneybookers, as it seems many people use the personal account to collect donations.

Perhaps it would be an option. But we'll see.. Does anybody use this service?

...They seem to have a lot of fees for this, that and the other. Typical of this service type - smoke-screen the costs by making it as complicated as possible.

I've been using PayPal for several years now and found them to be the best option available. I've looked at alternatives and couldn't find any service that was cheaper or more efficient. I even looked at setting up a merchant account with a local bank. That looked promising at first but there was a major drawback - the account would only accept payments in the local currency (Australian dollars) - not good for the internet age where customers are all over the world.

I have had two issues with PayPal: firstly someone purchased my product and then claimed via PayPal that the purchase was an unauthorised use of their credit card. I checked my web logs and database and I'm sure the purchase was not unauthorised because the emails containing the download link and authorisation string were sent to that person's own email address - the one they used in their complaint to PayPal. I supplied this info to PayPal but they upheld the 'right' of the customer and refunded the purchase out of my account. This, however, has only happened once over several thousand transactions.

The second issue I have is that sometimes response times are very slow and it can take up to an hour between payment notification and the email being sent following my system acknowledging the payment. This, however, is quite rare - usually transactions are fully processed in seconds.

I used to avoid using PayPal too, because I was scared of the account freezing and false refunds. But these days, everyone expects to pay with PayPal, so you have no choice. But your two concerns are easily fixed: (1) After payment into your PayPal account, transfer the money to a real bank account. That way, if PayPal freezes your PayPal account, they don't hold your money to ransom. (2) To stop false refunds, just make your app work for a month only, so if they get a refund from PayPal, then at least they only get to use it for 30 days and no longer. After 30 days, send a lifetime version to the honest users.

Problem is my account has been perma-locked for years.

I originally set it up when I was a minor (I think 15 or 16 years old) and like a dumb impatient kid, who didn't want to wait for a bank statement to come (no online banking at that time) I just tried to guess at the verify deposit amount screen.

That got it reduced to restricted, but eventually it became locked and years later I did the run around with people on the phone, who insisted I needed to fax them personal identification. My parents were victims of fraud because my dad bought a piece of business equipment by fax, and we had to deal with fraudelent charges for years (well into 2002).

I almost relented before my dad held me back, and I did a half-transmission. Stopped and emailed them again explaining why I stopped and asked if I could send via some kind of secure mail, etc. Never heard back. Been perma locked since.

They will want personal info. I'm not giving it to them by FAX, highly dubious about using mail, but I MIGHT be willing to email scans of documents. But you can't even find an email address to contact them anymore. Just some stupid help desk interface that directs you to call them.

I was a dumb kid. How hard is it for Paypal to just open the account restricted and allow to do the deposit verify, or mail the PIN number verification thing?

Idiots.

Paypal is dealing with real money, i don't think that's a shame for them to spend some time to verify your identity. We use paypal with no problem since a while.

Zach--get a private mailbox (Not a PO box). Their computer system won't know it is the same person as "kid zach", and set up a new account.

They will when I try to enter my bank account and/or debit card info.

All information associated with the account will be locked out and prevented from being used on any new accounts.


I did manage to find a contact form.. So I sent them an email and explained the situation and gave them 3 alternatives.

I can mail it certified.
I can e-mail it
or they can just unlock the account and do whatever tests they do.

If they want my business I guess I'll hear from them. They'll probably tell me to call them anyway like they did last time*rolls eye*

I definitely would recommend PayPal. Nothing beats their low fees and have had only the occasional minor hiccups (slow processing) here and there in the early years, but it's been all good for the last 2 years. I use PayPal for both donations on the freeware version of the product, and for users that want to purchase the "professional" version.

Interestingly, I do get the occasional person who does not want to use PayPal, and for those, I offer them to purchase via Share-It (although I lose a lot of money as their fees are significant). Nonetheless, during the year that I switched from Share-It to PayPal, I saw no reduction in overall sales.

PayPal forced me to write code for my web site to process orders and issue licenses automatically rather than using the integrated Share-It tool: a small price to pay.

I hope that helps. Good luck!