Re: TipJar? PayPal? Suggestions?

[Andre LaFosse <altruist@altruistmusic.com>]

> At 10:15 AM -0700 4/21/01, Stephen P. Goodman wrote:
> >    Hi Everybody,   As you can tell from the subject this is another
> >"funny  question" but nonetheless important.  Obviously it becomes
> >necessary at  some point to process some sort of e-commerce via ones web
> >site, in our cases  mostly to sell CDs.  Two methods I've come up with
> >have been PayPal (http://www.paypal.com) and TipJar
> >(http://www.tipjar.com).  As many  previously-unknown operators for 
>credit
> >card processing want as much as 30c per  transaction I'd like to know 
>what
> >sort of satisfaction you all have had with  either of these firms, if 
>not
> >others you're happy with.  Frankly, I haven't  the resources to get a
> >merchant account, so these must then be the options in  front.  Your
> >assistance, is as usual, appreciated.   Stephen Goodman

I don't know anything about Tipjar, but I would suggest that if people
don't need to pay for something, then they probably won't.  I would set
up a strict system: you want the CD, you pay X amount for it.

I'd also strongly recommend having at least two or three seperate ways
of ordering the music, and would further recommend a site like
cdbaby.com or cdstreet.com to carry the items.  Yes, they do take a
percentage of sales, but a lot of customers are more comfortable
ordering through established retail outlets than directly from someone
they've never met.

Aside from that, you never know when something might happen to one
particular outlet.  About two weeks after I released my CD, the sole
e-commerce provider I was using at the time went through a bug-ridden
server upgrade that left me without any online ordering capabilities for
over a month.  Not good!

I know of some artists who have set up ordering through both paypal and
cdbaby, and they get purchases through both outlets.  If you're selling
a CD, I would definitely say you should have it stocked in at least one
or two indie sites.

Anyway,

--Andre LaFosse
http://www.altruistmusic.com