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Selling Digital Items

by Kalawan
8 replies
Hello people, im new here so be gentle please.

About a year ago i started a website that traded digital goods using PayPal as the payment method, it was going very well. However after a month i started getting lots of disputes....60% of the transactions were being disputed. The customers saying these were transactions that they had not authorized, if it had been 1 or 2 then i would let it slip. But for such a vast number i think it was people being greedy a-holes. But there was nothing i could do to stop the dispute going in their favour, i showed the e-mails that contained the items being ordered as well as all transaction details...nothing.

I have done alot of searching through google and many sites, without and avail to finding a definitive answer to said question. I am hoping that someone/s can put a plug in my already leaky brain and give me a simple answer.


Is there a way to sell digital goods through PayPal and win disputes like this, is there something else i could do to cover myself?

I thank you all for your patience and openly welcome all comments on this matter,

Kalawan,
#digital #items #selling
  • Profile picture of the author Daniel J
    Hi Kalawan,
    Welcome to the forum! I think you'll find people here to be both "gentle" and helpful for the most part. I work at home full time and use Paypal as a processor for a chunk of my business. Unfortunately, Paypal AND ebay favor the buyer nearly EVERY time. They treat their sellers like crooks and generally will not hear your case. If you call Paypal on the phone (rather than e-mail) you will have a bit better luck (I've found people on the phone to be more understanding) However, I'd highly encourage you to either find something else to sell or use other options (merchant account, google checkout, ejunkie shopping cart etc) Unfortunately, this seems to be the nature of Paypal. Hope this helps. Feel free to ask any further questions if you have them.
    Daniel J.
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  • Profile picture of the author alliance
    If you can show paypal proof that the digital product was delivered to the customer, that should help resolve the dispute.
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    • Profile picture of the author scrofford
      Originally Posted by alliance View Post

      If you can show paypal proof that the digital product was delivered to the customer, that should help resolve the dispute.
      But it doesn't...It should yes...but it doesn't...I have known people who have had this problem and have shown proof and PayPal just freezes their account and keeps their money. I won't use PayPal for anything...They are terrible and I don't understand how they are even able to stay in business.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kalawan
    Thanks for the replys,

    One thing i did see, was someone saying if i could also send out a physical copy through the post then this could solve the issue. The items i sell are codes and can just as easily be displayed on paper (however will be sent by e-mail as the items are always wanted instantly). If i was to send a posted item out as well could this solve the issue?
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  • Profile picture of the author MrBig
    If you can show paypal proof that the digital product was delivered to the customer, that should help resolve the dispute.
    Well Giving Them a proof can solve the problem ....
    Try to talk to the people about the Disputes .. maybe it can help
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  • Profile picture of the author RemingtonSteele
    There's a big discussion about this issue over here that might help you.

    An option that wasn't mentioned in that thread is to use Amazon Simple Pay, which is specifically for digital goods. One good thing about it is that, in order to make a payment, the customer must have an Amazon account. You might get fewer sales, but you might also see fewer disputes because Amazon only operates in a few First World countries, and to pay for anything through Amazon, you need a real credit card or debit card. Did you notice a trend in the locations of the customers who claimed that the transactions were unauthorized? Just curious.

    In answer to your question about sending your items through the mail, I think that would go a long way toward proving that the transaction was, in fact, authorized because if the item was shipped to the same address that is associated with the credit card or PayPal account, then that suggests that the buyer did order the product. There are legitimate reasons for having different shipping and billing addresses, but usually they're the same. If the shipping address is for another state or country, then that's a red flag.

    If you use the mail, though, I would definitely send all items with Delivery Confirmation. If PayPal can confirm that the item was delivered, then that should help your defense.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kalawan
    Thanks alot RemingtonSteele and others, i did not know anything about this simple pay on amazon i will look into it. If it occurs again i will try calling about the disputes rarther than e-mailing. Thanks alot people.

    in answer, no the locations where all over the place and nothing looked similar at all.
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    • Profile picture of the author RemingtonSteele
      Originally Posted by Kalawan View Post

      Thanks alot RemingtonSteele and others, i did not know anything about this simple pay on amazon i will look into it.
      One drawback to using Simple Pay is that there's no shopping cart feature, so that could complicate things if you want your customers to be able to buy multiple items and make just one payment. I believe that this can be overcome, but it would require custom coding. You'd have to have your own shopping cart and then have your site add up the total amount that would then get sent to Amazon for a one-shot payment. You'd also need a way to dynamically create the download page so that it has the links to all of the products that were purchased by that customer (unless you wanted to fulfill orders manually). So, it could be a major headache, but I just wanted to throw it out there as an option in case you don't find a better solution.

      Also, if you did decide that you want to ship the item in the mail, you could use "Checkout by Amazon" instead of Simple Pay. However, you'd then need to find a way to deliver the codes electronically as well, which would not be possible with Checkout by Amazon, unless you did it manually by email.
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