32 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}
32 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}

Paypal & selling digital goods

by justinknightley
27 replies
Hi,

I'm currently using Google Checkout for selling digital goods on my website, and finding the conversion lower than expected.

I suspect that PayPal might be better for my niche & would like to test it.

I would like to take people to my download page after the sales process (to trip GA goal), and also send people an email after the transaction is processed (with email link to download page).

Paypal doesn't seem to sell digital goods - can't believe they don't! Am I misunderstanding something?

QUESTION - what solution would people recommend? How about Mal's E Commerce?

NB I'd prefer not to pay for a download solution!

Many thanks in advance,
Justin
#digital #goods #paypal #selling
  • Profile picture of the author Neil Morgan
    Am I misunderstanding something?
    Yep

    For digital goods, the PayPal / DL Guard combo would do the trick.

    Cheers,

    Neil

    Edit: Just saw your comment about not wanting to pay so this advice may not be what you're looking for.
    Signature

    Easy email marketing automation without moving your lists.

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2824403].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author justinknightley
      Originally Posted by Neil Morgan View Post

      Yep

      For digital goods, the PayPal / DL Guard combo would do the trick.

      Cheers,

      Neil

      Edit: Just saw your comment about not wanting to pay so this advice may not be what you're looking for.
      Yes, DL Guard costs $147.00


      It also only sends the FILE to the user, I would like to direct the user to a download page on my site to trip GA goal.
      Signature

      Justin Knightley
      ISO 9001 Quality Manual

      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2824411].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author BacklinkExcellence
        I don't see the problem. After the customer has checked out with paypal, they will automatically be redirected to your download page (you can configure this when creating your paypal button).

        For sending an email, you could put an opt-in form on the download page but this doesn't sound like what you're looking for. Paypal sends an email, but only the transaction receipt, not a link to the download page.

        If you want that email sent, you really don't get around tools like DLGuard.
        Signature
        [ENDORSED BY LMC]
        Stop Building Backlinks The OLD Way, Use >THIS< Instead!


        >Let Me Build HIGH QUALITY Backlinks For You!<
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2824437].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Shaun OReilly
      Are you running a Business or a Joke Shop?

      You want value in return but you don't want to pay for it?

      Get real.

      Things that make you money and make your business life
      a whole lot easier are worth investing in.

      On your site, you're selling a £145/$239 product and you
      don't want to pay a one-time fee of just $147.00 for a
      download solution?

      As Neil suggested, DLGuard and PayPal will allow you to
      easily accomplish what you want.

      DLGuard - Download page protector, create expiring download links (no affil)

      DLGuard will send them the file and direct them to the
      download page too and you can place your Google
      Analytics code there to track goals, etc.

      Dedicated to your success,

      Shaun
      Signature

      .

      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2824433].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author justinknightley
        Originally Posted by Shaun OReilly View Post

        Are you running a Business or a Joke Shop?

        You want value in return but you don't want to pay for it?

        Get real.

        Things that make you money and make your business life
        a whole lot easier are worth investing in.

        On your site, you're selling a £145/$239 product and you
        don't want to pay a one-time fee of just $147.00 for a
        download solution?

        As Neil suggested, DLGuard and PayPal will allow you to
        easily accomplish what you want.

        DLGuard - Download page protector, create expiring download links (no affil)

        DLGuard will send them the file and direct them to the
        download page too and you can place your Google
        Analytics code there to track goals, etc.

        Dedicated to your success,

        Shaun
        lol, thanks Shaun but why pay for something if there's another free solution?

        Like any business - I'm trying to keep costs to a minimum!

        Paypal have released a PR that they're going to provide this service for free, but don't give a release date.
        Signature

        Justin Knightley
        ISO 9001 Quality Manual

        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2824486].message }}
        • Profile picture of the author Shaun OReilly
          Originally Posted by justinknightley View Post

          lol, thanks Shaun but why pay for something if there's another free solution?

          Like any business - I'm trying to keep costs to a minimum!

          Paypal have released a PR that they're going to provide this service for free, but don't give a release date.
          Because being cheap in business can be very expensive.

          Keep costs down - absolutely.

          But don't be allergic to investing in a proven solution that
          delivers exactly what you want an more.

          Like I said, if you're charging £145/$239 for the infoproduct
          then you'll get your money back rapidly with DLGuard in
          time and hassle saved.

          Sure, you can use a free, half-assed, duct-taped 'solution'
          but I guarantee you'll need to change systems in future as
          your business grows.

          Then you've got to invest more time to learn and change
          over to a new system when you could have got a proven
          one in the first place.

          Erm... we're talking $147, not $1,470 or more.

          DLGuard is download management solution that will also protect
          your infoproduct because each customer gets a unique and
          expiring download link.

          Dedicated to your success,

          Shaun
          Signature

          .

          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2824513].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Neil Morgan
    Without getting into the technical detail here, you can do that with PayPal on its own.

    It allows you to sell digital goods and you can set custom "thank you" pages where you can have your download link and use it to trigger GA.

    Cheers,

    Neil
    Signature

    Easy email marketing automation without moving your lists.

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2824438].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Shaun OReilly
      Originally Posted by Neil Morgan View Post

      Without getting into the technical detail here, you can do that with PayPal on its own.

      It allows you to sell digital goods and you can set custom "thank you" pages where you can have your download link and use it to trigger GA.
      The challenge with using PayPal alone is that the download
      page and link to the file is unprotected.

      If I were charging £145/$230 for an infoproduct, I'd make
      sure that it was located in a non-web accessible folder
      and use DLGuard to manage the payment, delivery and
      protection of the file too.

      Dedicated to your success,

      Shaun
      Signature

      .

      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2824457].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Sheryl Polomka
    You can also use 2checkout, which does have a $50 one time fee when you join. But you can put in your download page for the customer to be directed to and they still have the option to pay via Paypal.
    Signature
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2824456].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Neil Morgan
    Hey Shaun

    The challenge with using PayPal alone is that the download
    page and link to the file is unprotected.
    Indeed.

    Maybe I should have recommended something like DL Guard instead

    Cheers,

    Neil
    Signature

    Easy email marketing automation without moving your lists.

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2824482].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Andrea Wilson
    DLGuard is the best option you've got! Its a one-time fee and you will be using this forever. If your conversions increase you will be getting back the money you spent for DLGuard.

    I dont use Google checkout myself and as a customer myself, I usually pushes the back button after I see that a site doesn't accept paypal payments.

    Andrea
    Signature
    Virility Ex|Mobile Website Design|Yeast Infection Causes|Extenze Male Enhancement
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2824646].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Tyrus Antas
    Go with fastspring. They provide payment processing
    and download protection. Plus they're not Paypal

    FastSpring - Experience E-Commerce 2.0 - Payment and Merchandising Solutions for Downloadable Software and Services, Software Distribution and Marketing, Software E-Commerce and Payment Processing

    Tyrus
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2824686].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author cindybidar
    Originally Posted by justinknightley View Post

    Hi,

    I'm currently using Google Checkout for selling digital goods on my website, and finding the conversion lower than expected.

    I suspect that PayPal might be better for my niche & would like to test it.
    I'm not sure I would agree with that.

    In my real life I am responsible for setting up and maintaining the ISO certification for a small-ish factory. If I were to go shopping for a manual of the type you're selling, and my checkout option was PayPal, I'd look elsewhere.

    Call me a hypocrite, but I believe that to offline businesses of the type you are targeting, PayPal is going to appear unprofessional.

    A better solution would be a shopping cart that integrates with a payment processor like Authorize.net.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2824729].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author justinknightley
      Originally Posted by cindybidar View Post

      I'm not sure I would agree with that.

      In my real life I am responsible for setting up and maintaining the ISO certification for a small-ish factory. If I were to go shopping for a manual of the type you're selling, and my checkout option was PayPal, I'd look elsewhere.

      Call me a hypocrite, but I believe that to offline businesses of the type you are targeting, PayPal is going to appear unprofessional.

      A better solution would be a shopping cart that integrates with a payment processor like Authorize.net.
      Thanks for the feedback Cindy, very interesting. We originally went for Google Checkout on this site as we thought the brand/payment method was more suited to our target audience, but finding much better PayPal conversion on other sites (in the same niche).

      In 6-12months we plan to move to a completely integrated payment cart, in the meantime I would like to test if there is better conversion through PayPal. It will only take us a couple of weeks to know which is better.

      If anyone is interested in the results/findings, please PM me and I will share the results.

      Justin
      Signature

      Justin Knightley
      ISO 9001 Quality Manual

      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2824746].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author ncmedia
    [DELETED]
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2824750].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author justinknightley
      Originally Posted by ncmedia View Post

      Surprised nobody has mentioned clickbank?

      Digital products, you can pay with paypal or credit cards, you don't need your own paypal account, you pay 7.5% +$1 per transaction (please don't bitch/ask for justification as to why, they do a lot). This will also open you up to affiliates should you want them.

      Would still recommend you get DLguard too, and not to be cheap about your security there is no free solution short of renaming your folders and files and ty page daily. You'll make it back within 1 sale, you can integrate with aweb/email solutions, create members areas, do limits on download attempts/time allowed to download/handle some CRM through it if need be, and it's widely known in our world hence the strong reco's.
      Too expensive unfortunately.

      Download page is behind sign-in (details emailed to customer).
      Signature

      Justin Knightley
      ISO 9001 Quality Manual

      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2824765].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author CityTiger
    I use DL Guard and have it integrated with Clickbank, PayDot.com and PayPal on different sites and works like a charm on them all. I would highly recommend spending the cash to get the protection - it is far far too easy to access unprotected digital products.
    Signature
    Please stop making self-promotional posts in the main discussion forums.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2824867].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author pyles
    Check out e-junkie.com you can find a 90 day trial, can use Paypal, Google checkout and instant delivery... Pretty painless, I also just set it up using Clickbank which is pretty exciting for my first product.
    Signature
    --------------
    Click the link above for an amazing ebook writing service,trust me, I know!
    --------------
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2824882].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author I.M.Retired
    (Sent you a PM but decided to reply in this thread as well.)

    Have you considered Payloadz? It is owned by Paypal.

    PayPal Downloads | PayPal Download Delivery | PayPal Digital Goods

    DLGuard is the best, but I have used Payloadz in the past and it does an acceptable job for marketers on a budget, although they do charge a commission and commissions have a way of adding up if you sell a lot of products.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2825167].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author globalpro
    Here's one that didn't get a mention.

    Rapid Action Profits

    Will do everything you need/want and has a built in affiliate program. Also, the one time payment allows you to set up on any domain you own.

    Thanks,

    John
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2825272].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Shaun OReilly
      I use DLGuard or Rapid Action Profits depending upon
      the situation.

      As the OP did not mention a requirement for an affiliate
      program I didn't mention RAP.

      But RAP is another option for sure.

      Dedicated to your success,

      Shaun
      Signature

      .

      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2825290].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Zeus66
    Another vote for e-junkie if cost is a big concern. For $18/month you can use your own download page instead of the one they auto-generate when someone purchases. It's easy to integrate with Paypal, too. For as little as $5/month, you can use their download page, which is customizable to a certain extent. you can add HTML to the auto-generated download page your customer sees, so you can include any advertising messages you want on that page.

    John
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2825481].message }}

Trending Topics