Selling software online

The issue of selling online has been covered multiple times on the forum. Have you tried using the search facility: http://www.startups.co.uk/forums/search.asp Cheers, Phil www.openmindhosting.co.uk - Top quality hosting from just £4.99 per month www.openmindmedia.co.uk - Simple, effective and powerful design solutions www.youcangetit.co.uk - Do you get it? Call 0845 351 0413 today and find out how we can help your business succeed online.
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Cheers, Phil

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Hi, Sorry new to forum, I have done a search now using simply 'selling software online' and while it has provided some useful returns it throws up as many questions as answers and though my own situation is similar to other postings it is not identical I would think, I guess what I really was getting at was would I be better off just going ahead and launching a company, using worldpay or similar instead of doing what might just be a half-baked effort using paypal and nochex etc. I guess in a way I am just thinking out loud here as my thoughts all along have been about developing my product as the time approaches that my product is nearly ready I realise the actual practicalities of doing business online starting with a very limited budget need attending to, again any unbiased advice, hints etc. would be much appreciated and I will gladly give honest feedback of my experience over the coming months.

All I would say is it depends on your product and your potential marketplace. If your product would benefit from a professional approach, do not go down the paypal, NoChex. Whilst they both have uses, if I was buying your software, I'd expect CC clearance via an approved method (WorldPay etc.) Although I have a personal NoChex account I would not do business via NoChex. As I said, and these are only my thoughts (and as we are still a startup, cash is very tight, and I understand the costs involved, blah, blah, blah) but if you want to be seen as a professional outfit - act professional. Otherwise you might as well sell it on eBay etc?
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Kind Regards,

Martin @ LTA Leisure Ltd

enquiries@lta-leisure.co.uk

Sorry if I was a little blunt there! [] So many people ask that same question without looking first for the answer. As Martin has pointed out above, I too would probably not buy from a merchant who uses PayPal or Nochex and definately not if I could get the same thing elsewhere via a CC processor. Wihtout a dubt, using a professional system will not only increase your sales but will also increase your shopper confidence. I've quickly learnt from years of bitter experience if something is free there is always going to be a catch so it is worth every penny setting up a secure and professional system to take your payments. Cheers, Phil www.openmindhosting.co.uk - Top quality hosting from just £4.99 per month www.openmindmedia.co.uk - Simple, effective and powerful design solutions www.youcangetit.co.uk - Do you get it? Call 0845 351 0413 today and find out how we can help your business succeed online.
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Cheers, Phil

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Thanks for both the previous replies, your advice makes sense and I believe I will go along with it, I wanted to get others experience and I'd be a fool to ignore it so I won't, again thanks, now hopefully when I go about setting up a worldpay (or similar) type of account I will be able to get approval, otherwise I guess it will just have to be Paypal or NoChex. It probably wouldn't be too disastrous for my product though if I had to do this as my software is not for businesses, it's a tool to aid individuals who play poker online, still I do think your point is valid.

Hi Barry, Greetings and welcome to the forum. You're form Manchester - you are only 40 minutes away for us. I have sold software online since 1995, and have had mixed success. Most of my experience is with software for the Internet and related products. One application we produced was downloaded over 3 million times in a 3 month period and became so popular it was cracked! Many of the other applications we sell or provide as freeware are downloaded between 10 and 1000 times everyday. The best part of providing software online is the ease of sale and distribution. Some good sites to get your apps listed on are: http://www.hotscripts.com/ http://resourceindex.com/ http://www.webscriptsdirectory.com The bad side: - if you provide freeware then many of the users remove your copyright and any powered by links (very annoying, especially when you have provided the software for free) - any application that becomes popular will be cracked, and/or purchased from you using stolen credit cards (these losers know that they will not be traced, and even if you have all the real users details the police are NOT interested). If you do intend to sell online using WorldPay ensure you read the details here: http://oscart.seiretto.com/ WorldPay provide pre-authorisation accounts, which allows you to check out the buyer BEFORE completing the transaction, believe me you need to do this. Hope that helps.
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Dave Walker - Seiretto Ltd (est 1996)
UK website hosting | PHP hosting | UK Linux Managed Servers | UK Windows Managed Servers

Considering the nature of the software you may need to be careful when describing the product to WorldPay as they have strict rules regarding gambling. I don't think you'll have a problem, just be aware... Cheers, Phil www.openmindhosting.co.uk - Top quality hosting from just £4.99 per month www.openmindmedia.co.uk - Simple, effective and powerful design solutions www.youcangetit.co.uk - Do you get it? Call 0845 351 0413 today and find out how we can help your business succeed online.
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Cheers, Phil

www.openmindhosting.co.uk - Top quality hosting from just £4.99 per month
www.openmindmedia.co.uk - Simple, effective and powerful design solutions
www.openminddomains.co.uk - Domain registrations from £7.77 + vat pa

Sorry for asking what might seem to be another silly question but in regards to whether I should actually go ahead and form a limited company or not I'd appreciate any advice, I am reasonably confident in my software application but not sure if i should be over committing myself and steaming ahead forming a limited company, getting an accountant etc etc. again though counter to this if I don't do this am I just doing things by half and should I just go ahead and form a company, the one thing I cannot afford to do unfortunately is pack in my day job and totally commit all my time (I am going to be reducing my hours), I guess what I'd prefer to do is get a feeling for how my product is doing and then if things are good get everything set up properly. Is this a reasoanble approach? Any thoughts and advice greatly appreciated and again I will endeavour to relay my experience to others benefit who follow.