7 ms·
Show HN: Creators selling files from their own host, Dropbox etc.
- ousta 11y agotaking 5% for doing what exactly? I assume this does not include the paypal fee right? so those guys are basically charging at least 1,5% more than paypal for handling what a wordpress+paypal does? what about the analytics of the sale? do they even provide some service around that?
- matt_morgan 11y agoIf there are thousands of people for whom it would make more sense to set up Wordpress to do this, there are millions for whom it wouldn't.
- ohitsdom 11y agoI initially assumed they were covering the Stripe/Payal fees, in which case 5% sounds like a very fair deal. Definitely needs to be clarified...
- snehesht 11y agoHow do they solve the problem of "sharing dropbox links after purchase" ?
- flabbyrabbit 11y ago"the purchaser can then download the file from your storage via our website, so the file's location is never exposed." It looks like their site acts as a proxy to the dropbox link which only allows those who have paid to access the file
- hasenj 11y agoThey need to put that info in a more prominent location
- Vendan 11y agoMore importantly, how do they solve "upload the download up to my dropbox and share that"
- OJFord 11y agoI suppose they'd say that this problem exists however you get the file to the consumer; their business is being the way you get it to them [legitimate users], not piracy-prevention.
- Vendan 11y agoBut realistically, the 2 are intrinsically linked. I'd be interested in something like this that actually did something about piracy. I've built the systems myself, so I know it can be done, but it's annoying to maintain.
- amalag 11y agoS3 and Dropbox let you create signed links which expire.
- davb 11y agoHow does it handle VAT MOSS on digital goods in the EU? The new rules state that sellers must charge VAT at the rate of the buyer's country and must record evidence of the buyer's location. Even businesses under the VAT threshold must register for VAT just to comply, unless you're selling through a third party who handles it for you - like Google Play.
- BrentOzar 11y ago> How does it handle VAT MOSS on digital goods in the EU? They don't. See: https://filesprout.com/support/what-do-i-need.html https://filesprout.com/support/what-do-i-need.html "If after talking with a professional you are responsible for paying sales tax for your items, you'll have to add this into your pricing manually."
- dave_sullivan 11y agoYeah, actually, if you're going to be a third party selling user generated content directly (and paying those users) over the internet, what are your responsibilities as the distributor? Can you really just say "Ask your accountant, not our problem..."? Seems like that's the best one can do as a startup though. Incorporate elsewhere?
- Coding_Cat 11y ago> Incorporate elsewhere? Doesn't matter, to a degree, the rules apply to anyone selling to Europeans regardless of where they are based. How and if non-compliance will be prosecuted is a more complicated matter.
- dave_sullivan 11y ago>> How and if non-compliance will be prosecuted is a more complicated matter. Indeed. As far as I can tell, it's only been tested in a limited sense when there are relatively clear violations, such as drug markets, blatant piracy, or gambling. But extend that a bit further, and you get into the sort of murky territory where you're forced to blacklist entire countries because they have crazy people running them.
- adzicg 11y agohow are you handling redownloads later? I used to offer my books through my web site directly, but I moved everything to leanpub because I didn't want to respond to 'bought six months ago, want to download again' emails any more.
- asadlionpk 11y agothis is probably one reason why gumroad switched to hosting files themselves.
- deedubaya 11y agoMemberful already does this really well, and provides a number of other features. Memberful.com
- ddoscampaign 11y agoMaybe they focus on different niches?
- izzydata 11y agoHow do I link to the file without it being public in the first place? I'd want it to not be publicly accessible, but only accessible through the purchase. If the link is just hidden that doesn't really solve the security risk of someone downloading the file from the public dropbox url or wherever else. Perhaps they store the file on their server and you can unlink the file from your own server? I doubt that is the case though.
- amelius 11y agoInteresting. Can I also sell access to my blog? Or do I have to write my blog in a different format first?
- giancarlostoro 11y agoThis is likely not the problem they're trying to solve. This is more of a solution for selling files / access to files, and they provide (assuming) a proxy to that file so people don't just paste the link to the file everywhere on the internet. What you're looking for is to make your blog accessible only by certain registered users, and sell access for accounts. Unless you sell PDF files of the things you blog, then you could use this service that way.
- nitrogen 11y agoSounds like what https://gumroad.com/ https://gumroad.com/ used to be when it started (am I remembering correctly?).
- gavreh 11y agoStill is - you upload your files to Gumroad though - not a big difference.
- et2o 11y ago5% seems a little steep on top of what Paypal or Stripe take.
- an4rchy 11y agoSo quickly checked out Gumroad's fees and it's 5% + 25 cents per transaction. This is a similar a similar service but you can just store the files locally, minus the 25 cents transaction fee. Does it matter if files are hosted on their server or yours(3rd party) if they can access them via links anyway?
- mjnaus 11y agoSnappyCheckout has been rocking this functionality for several years now... and they're cheaper as well.
- sitkack 11y agoHidden != Secure Punting on this is kinda ridiculous.