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Old 09-01-2010, 08:34 PM   #1
Steven Lake
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Question about selling ebooks via your website
Alright, I'm seriously considering offering ebooks for sale via my website to help with those who either can't go through my current vendors (ezbooks & smashwords) or who prefer to deal directly with me, the author. The problem is, I only take credit card payments online through paypal. So here's my questions.

1. Is there some kind of shopping cart system that will interface with paypal that you guys trust? (it needs to take payment via paypal, and then allow download of the ebook)

2. Is there a different payment system you guys recommend for online website transactions, or should I stick with paypal?

Currently the only way I can sell ebooks via my website is to A) have the user pay what they owe via my tip jar, then B) I email them the ebook once I have payment. I'd rather not do that if I can help it, but that's the only way I have available to me at present. Any suggestions would be welcome. Thanks.
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Old 09-01-2010, 09:58 PM   #2
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Google 'paypal shopping carts' and go to the link at PayPal. They have a lot of info.

(The link itself is miles long, or I'd just post it here.)
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Old 09-01-2010, 11:07 PM   #3
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Already did that, but I have no idea which is best. Yeah, I know, the tech guy doesn't know the answer to this. But yeah, this isn't an area I normally tinker in.
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Old 09-01-2010, 11:19 PM   #4
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I've got my hosting thru goDaddy and they seem to offer an SSL/e-store thingie through them. May want to look into that.

if I ever decide to do it myself, I won't just be selling the bottom barrel smashwords/amazon editions thru the webpage. I'd probably do an e-signing or throw in some sort of extra "bonus" content, to reward those that sought me out.
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Old 09-02-2010, 08:32 AM   #5
Steven Lyle Jordan
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There is a paypal-authorized program called Linklok that I've used on my site. (The site is presently down for restructuring, but when it is back up, I'll be using it again.)

You have to be able to work with some basic cgi scripts, mostly just entering data where it tells you, and storing that in your cgi-bin. The script allows you to set up sales on your site that click through to Paypal, accept payment in CC or Paypal account form. Once paid, Paypal authorizes the software to send an email to the recipient, with an encrypted link to the book on your server. (The link is encrypted... not the ebook.) You can set the parameters of cost, location of the download link, and how long it stays active for the user.

I recommend it for ease of use and effectiveness, and it's only $30.
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Old 09-02-2010, 09:11 AM   #6
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I found this website where you can do it with just you and paypal. Not sure if it will work, but it's worth checking out: http://www.potpiegirl.com/2009/06/ho...k-with-paypal/
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Old 09-02-2010, 09:29 AM   #7
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I use Payloadz.com for instant ebook delivery after the sale. The system integrates with Paypal and several other payment systems. I recommend it. I've used it for years and find it about 99 percent reliable. I think it still has a free basic account so you can get set up without paying, but it will only handle limited amounts. Then there are many tiers of paid service suitable for anyone from micro sellers to big guys.
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Old 09-02-2010, 10:26 AM   #8
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Valmore: So essentially what they're suggesting to do is to have a simple paypal button that takes the payment, and then drops them off back at your site where they can download the book, right?
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Old 09-02-2010, 12:33 PM   #9
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Quote:
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Valmore: So essentially what they're suggesting to do is to have a simple paypal button that takes the payment, and then drops them off back at your site where they can download the book, right?
This is what I did when building a web site for my mom's business. She accepts credit cards through PayPal, and all I did was create an onlineorder.html page with a table, and the right-most column contains a button that adds the item to the paypal shopping cart.
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Old 09-02-2010, 02:13 PM   #10
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Just my two cents: I had serious issues with Paypal a while back (they've taken hundreds of dollars of my money because of some fraud claim that was not related to me, I disputed the charge but they still went ahead and withdrew the money from my bank account). For this reason, my family and I will have nothing to do with them. This is unfortunate but necessary. If there is an issue, the customer is always at fault and there is no recourse (I am not going to sue them for a couple of hundred dollars).
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Old 09-02-2010, 03:10 PM   #11
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osnova, that's why these companies get away with this. They typically screw people for amounts too small to be worth bothering with. It's why you only hear of people suing for big bucks, because it's not worth it.
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Old 09-02-2010, 03:20 PM   #12
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Quote:
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Valmore: So essentially what they're suggesting to do is to have a simple paypal button that takes the payment, and then drops them off back at your site where they can download the book, right?
You would need to change the download page every few days, unless you're not bothered about people reading it for free.
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Old 09-02-2010, 03:46 PM   #13
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lol. Well, that's actually pretty easy. Once I understand Paypal's API, I can easily write a per user URL system to prevent them from snatching the file off my server without paying. The only thing I need to do now is figure out what paypal's return URL is and the rest is cake.
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Old 09-02-2010, 06:16 PM   #14
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I don't know if David Derrico posts here, he does at Kindleboards, but he has a nice website with ebook purchasing:

http://www.davidderrico.com/

Maybe ask him for some advice?
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Old 09-03-2010, 09:10 AM   #15
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Stephen, I haven't actually done this myself, but I was thinking about it, and stumbled on that page while doing research. It seems simple enough to get you going, and no extra costs other than the paypal fees. I opted to just put as many retailer links on my site as I could rather than hosting the files myself, but that's just me
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