11 ms·
Show HN: my weekend project, Gumroad
- ck2 16y agoJust a caution, if you are taking in money via paypal and then paying out via paypal, paypal will probably shut you down within a month. They don't like competition.
- sahillavingia 16y agoOver this past weekend I had the idea to build a sort of link shortener but with a payment system built-in. There have been many times in the past where I wanted to share a link - on Twitter or just through IM with a few friends - but did not want to go through the overhead of setting up a whole store. So I built Gumroad. I coded/designed from 12PM -> 11PM on Saturday and 8AM -> 11PM on Sunday. There are still tons of features missing (I'm working on AJAX file uploading next!) but I think it's reached that - buzzword alert! - MVP stage where I want to see if anyone's actually going to use the darn thing (I'm thinking about taking a 30% cut). Here's an example Gumroad link: http://www.gumroad.com/l/hjbaod http://www.gumroad.com/l/hjbaod - I use Stripe for payments. Here are some screenshots I took while making it: http://letscrate.com/gumroad/gumroad-progress http://letscrate.com/gumroad/gumroad-progress - I didn't use Photoshop so no crazy time-lapses! I think it has some potential. What do you guys think?
- duck 16y agoWhat does Stripe's fee structure look like?
- bmelton 16y agoStripe reps have stated repeatedly that whatever their fee structure looks like right now, it's not representative of what it will look like when they come out of beta. The only thing that I've seen that was commented on, but not objected to, is that it's 'similar to' PayPal fee structures. But even that's up to being refuted.
- phoboslab 16y agoI love the idea! This makes it really easy to sell scripts (e.g. your own jQuery plugins or whatever) for $5 where it would normally be too much work to set up some payment processing. The 30% cut is way too high though. Especially for higher priced links - I wouldn't want to sell my $99 game engine[1] through your service. I think something like "5%, but at least $0.30" would make more sense. But maybe having such "highly" priced links wasn't your intention in the first place? [1] http://impactjs.com/ http://impactjs.com/ (Can't mention it often enough :))
- JoachimSchipper 16y agoPaypal already takes $0.30 plus a small percentage. I think the service is a neat idea, but microtransactions are not a solved problem.
- phoboslab 16y agoThinking about it, Gumroad is the perfect application for Bitcoins: http://www.bitcoin.org/ http://www.bitcoin.org/
- JoachimSchipper 16y agoNo, it isn't. Bitcoins are clever and all, but how many people would be willing to set it up just to see a link?
- phoboslab 16y agoSure, at the moment only nerds use Bitcoins, but this _could_ become as universal as PayPal is today. But yes, it probably doesn't make much (commercial) sense right now.
- JoachimSchipper 16y ago> Bitcoins [...] _could_ become as universal as PayPal is today Putting aside numerous other issues, bitcoin.org states "The total eventual circulation will be 21 million bitcoins". [EDIT: DanI-S pointed out that bitcoins can already be subdivided. So this was switched from "there are too few bitcoins to support even American e-commerce" to "bitcoins are not valuable enough to support even American e-commerce". The number of fractional bitcoins is still an issue, but less immediately.] At the current ~$0.70 / bitcoin, this means that every American will be able to have ~$0.05 in his or her electronic wallet, once all bitcoins are generated. Assuming that the rest of the world does not participate at all and that bitcoins are evenly distributed. Sure, you could imagine an instant dollar-to-bitcoin-to-dollar conversion at the point of payment. Or you could imagine a bitcoin2.org that generates more coins. Or you could hope for a massive surge in the value of the bitcoin. I'd put my money on Paypal sticking around, though.
- slouch 16y agohow are you using stripe already?
- sahillavingia 16y agoI'm friends with one of the founders + I asked repeatedly.
- louismg 16y agoI've tried it and purchased on my own link. 1) How soon until the money reaches PayPal? 2) There are no assurances that the CC data is safe. It looks to be sent over HTTPS, but you're assumed to be trusted.
- sahillavingia 16y agoAwesome! I'm doing Net 60 as that's what Stripe does. The CC data is safe, but of course there's no reinforcement on-site. I'll add something.
- louismg 16y agoNet 60 days? I would assume that users expect near real-time if PayPal is the back end. 60 days sounds way too long.
- ericd 16y agoI'd assume it's at least partly to deal with fraud.
- louismg 16y agoPosted on it as well. http://blog.louisgray.com/2011/04/gumroad-launches-to-sell-digital-goods.html http://blog.louisgray.com/2011/04/gumroad-launches-to-sell-d...
- rexreed 16y agoWow - that's fast feedback! On a separate side-note would you be interested in early access to apps for similar sort of reviews / blog postings, or is that inappropriate to ask?
- louismg 16y agoThat's not inappropriate to ask at all. It's a fun hobby. Look through my site and you'll see I've done this a long time and have some big wins that launched first with me. (TweetDeck, Beluga two examples)
- golgo13 16y agoCool idea! One quick thing: I would change the "(Minus our cut)" wording to something a little more friendly. Maybe transaction fee or something along those lines.
- pageman 16y agowhere's the password recovery? logged in, posted a link, logged out - I can't log back again - emailed you at hi@gumroad.com
- InfinityX0 16y agoI would include a sample URL or two on the homepage - I was confused as to how I would get people to buy/what the sales page would look like - but thanks for clarifying with the attached URL.
- caffeine 16y agoSuggestion: you should now build a second app which generates a stream of single-use urls that are invalidated as soon as they are accessed, and which proxy through to an original base url. Then hook the two apps together and profit.
- thorax 16y agoLove the idea! I'd also love a thumbnail/pic for each link, though. Something that might give them a little more evidence of what they're getting into.
- brooksbp 16y agoThat's one hell of a cut.
- ElbertF 16y agoCould you add the option to let the payee set the price? That would be great for donations and pay-what-it's-worth-to-you transactions. :)
- lux 16y agoWhat are your fees? Didn't see that anywhere on the homepage.
- sahillavingia 16y agoHonestly, I'm not sure - hence them not being listed - but I think I'm going to go with 30%. And then for people making >$x a month dropping that in tiers. Thoughts?
- jbooth 16y ago30% kinda provokes sticker shock. What if you went with max (5%, 0.01/MB)? 30% of 0 is still 0, after all.
- cardmagic 16y ago30% commission is for when you are selling people's stuff for them. Unless you have a huge audience who can't wait to buy random stuff on the internet (like Apple does), 30% is outrageous. If Paypal started charging 30% commissions on money transfers people would drop it like a hot potato.
- srik1234 16y agoMy recommendation is to establish the %age markup based on file sizes, since that would be the basis for infrastructure costs such as storage and bandwidth. 30% is definitely high. I understand 30% has become a buzzword these days, but in reality it cuts a lot into merchants' margins. You may want to research on current digital goods market sites such as e-junkie, payloadz etc. Most seem to have a combination of monthly pricing and a "low" per transaction fee. Monthly fee certainly going to be a barrier for casual merchants.
- thedufer 16y agoAll he is serving is a redirect page. He's not offering a hosting package or anything like that. Charging per file size doesn't really make sense.
- 16y ago
- bhousel 16y agoClickable: https://gumroad.appspot.com/l/jxrvbk https://gumroad.appspot.com/l/jxrvbk
- sahillavingia 16y agoTrying to sell the link to Gumroad for $100?! Stop trying to profit off of my work! :D
- bhousel 16y agoIt's profit all the way down.
- Maro 16y ago"But I make a profit of three and a quarter cents an egg by selling them for four and a quarter cents an egg to the people in Malta I buy them from for seven cents an egg. Of course, I don't make the profit. The syndicate makes the profit. And everybody has a share." -- Milo Minderbinder, Catch 22
- MikeCampo 16y agoPlease let us know if someone pays for that :D
- ElbertF 16y agoMissed opportunity here, if you had set it $1 I'm sure some of us would have paid just for the hell of it. I know I would. :)
- jcapote 16y agoIf the payment fails, will you still redirect to the link? If you only redirected based on successful payments, you could use this as a simpler paypal for charging clients on your site using unique gumroaded links.
- sahillavingia 16y agoYou only get redirected if your payment goes through. Yes, that is a potential use-case.
- evoltix 16y agoSeriously? I'm not sure I could take anyone seriously that tried to sell me a link of "value." Why not just share the link for free like people have been doing since the beginning of time? Don't get me wrong. You did a great job getting this rolled out over a weekend and it looks nice. I must need some enlightening because I really don't get it.
- sahillavingia 16y agoI think there are some links that do have value. For example, if I wanted to release a new web app to my Twitter followers but wanted some sort of barrier (without having to set it all up myself) - I would use Gumroad. If I had a bunch of files laying around my FTP that I never sold and would like to sell off for $5 a pop without the overhead of creating a store - I would use Gumroad. Does that make it any better in your mind?
- evoltix 16y agoThis makes more sense to me now and I see the potential. Perhaps you should put this example on your website to make it a little more clear.
- sahillavingia 16y agoI definitely will. Thanks for bearing with my crappy copy. It'll get better :)
- jeffclark 16y agoImagine you have a Fireworks iPhone mockup template. Instead of setting up a store somewhere to list your ONE item, you put the template up on your website and link to it through gumroad. Then, you give out the Gumroad link on Twitter: "Need a sweet Fireworks iPhone UI template? Buy it for a buck: gumroad.url" Your twatting friends click it, give you a dollar, get redirected to your website. They download the template, you get a dollar - all in like 2 minutes while your oatmeal was cooking.
- 16y ago
- schwabacher 16y agoI really like you color pallette. How did you come up with it?
- sahillavingia 16y agoI took it from Colorlovers. Here's a link: http://www.colourlovers.com/palette/1473/Ocean_Five http://www.colourlovers.com/palette/1473/Ocean_Five
- mgeraci 16y agoI like the simplicity of the home page, but I would want to see what a user would see when supplied with a gumroad'd link before singing up.
- sahillavingia 16y agoAgreed. Added that to the to-do list.
- mgkimsal 16y agoAs with many ideas I see floated and mvp'd on HN, I'm jealous. Great idea, good execution. I'd agree with others that the 30% is too high. 5-10% would be acceptable.
- sahillavingia 16y agoI'm definitely seeing that. When I get that FAQ page up it'll definitely be much lower than 30%.
- cachemoney 16y agoWhy be jealous? He has no traction. Copy it and do it slightly better.
- sahillavingia 16y agoI have 50,000 page-views worth of traction and over 1,000 users - many of them making real money. :) Kidding aside, I dare you (not sarcastically, I would love to see another approach to the same problem).
- mgkimsal 16y agoI may do that, but perhaps focused on a particular niche. Thanks.
- mgkimsal 16y agoJealous of people being able to have good simple ideas, not specifically his particular implementation.
- fuscata 16y agoI get a broken lock icon, and "Connection partially encrypted" message. You need to make sure all externally linked resources on the page use SSL. Specifically: change http://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Cabin:regular,bold http://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Cabin:regular,bold to https://.. https://...
- sahillavingia 16y agoThanks for the notice, I'll do that.
- barredo 16y agoIs the redirect-link unique in any way? I mean. If anyone buys the access to a a non-unique-link (ie: http://mybook.com/book.pdf http://mybook.com/book.pdf), and then shares the redirected URL to a third person, this third person could load the link without paying, right?
- sahillavingia 16y agoYup. For now, there is no security built into the link once you get through that payment wall. I'm thinking about how to do that without hurting UX - though it's low on the priority list anyways.
- orky56 16y agoIf you potentially host the files/keep track of static/unique URLs on your site, you could keep track of who is the first owner to ensure that no future users also claim to be the owner and resend the file/link as their own. This doesn't take into account all cases but a good chunk to start with.
- suking 16y agoNice - how about this as a feature: # of downloads allowed. This would allow people to sell just 1 copy or set up something like a groupon-esque clone. First 50 people get 50% off. Then after 50 people say you're too late. Just an idea.
- jasongullickson 16y agoI really like this idea, especially for art. It solves the "what if someone just passes the final link around" problem because if you're getting 1 of 25 copies of something you're less likely to go out of your way to reduce the rarity of the item you bought.
- suking 16y agoExpanding on that if there is a limited # you could choose to list # left to create a sense of urgency or keep it hidden and mysterious. Good luck!
- retube 16y agoHow does this work for art though? I mean you want to see the icon/graphic/design/whatever before you pay for it. Also - once you've been redirected to the page, what's to stop you taking the link and sharing it yourself? Also also: if I've got something to sell, can't I just bung it on ebay?
- sahillavingia 16y agoI'd like to think that this has lower overhead than eBay. Nothing is there to stop you for now - I think this is more for casual use than building an entire business on top of. Yes, I'm thinking about adding in a preview option with cluttering up the experience.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- stef25 16y agoThought of this too, I guess you can watermark images. Not sure how you would sell JS scripts since showing a working demo would require the file to be accessible to the user.
- personalcompute 16y agoThat script you make is copyrighted, if they take it without paying you for it (if that is the deal), then they just broke the law.
- joshuacc 16y agoSure, but the question is how to make it more difficult.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- r00fus 16y agographics can be watermarked or provided low-res for review.
- rokhayakebe 16y agoThis may just be the simplest way to sell digital goods. I think all content should be uploaded to your servers otherwise if someone gets to the final link they can just send others to it.
- JoshTriplett 16y agoInteresting idea, but I see two main issues with this. First, anyone who pays and gets to the resulting link can trivially share that link; of course, you can always ask them nicely not to do so, and in some contexts that will work, but in general the security model just doesn't work unless you authenticate each paid user at the destination. You need to come up with an answer to this. Second, if you market this as a link shortener which requires payment, I think you'll get backlash from people who currently use link shorteners to share links on Twitter and similar; from that perspective it feels like the kind of thing you'd see used by Twitter spammers/scammers. Suggested fix: flip it around, and present it as an astonishingly simple payment system based on URLs, which happens to behave like a shortener.
- gavinballard 16y agoThat second formulation is how I thought of it in the first place. You could get around the link-sharing problem for those that wanted to avoid it by offering single-use URLs, and provide Gumroad either with a way of generating a new single-use URL for your resource, or a way to pull a new URL from your site. Both of these methods would require some degree of control over the resource, however (you wouldn't be able to do this for content hosted by third parties). For those who aren't fussed about security, you could offer it as a really easy way to optionally pay for content - eg a rapid "Donate" method.
- jarin 16y agoWe used something like this for our content at Naughty America. For each page request we'd generate a link to the file on BitGravity with a timestamp, expiration, and filename, and a hash generated from those concatenated with the requesting IP and a secret key. On BitGravity's end, they'd re-hash everything, and if it matched up they'd serve out the file.
- sahillavingia 16y agoInteresting, I didn't think about the implications of "donate." Kind of tangentially, I wonder if there's value in letting a user select a charity to donate all of their sales to (no pressure on the user, just an option)?
- tezza 16y agoSeems good. How long until exact clones appear? What makes GumRoad the micro-paywall of choice? How long until shortened<-->lengthened websites appear which reduces how many people pay up?
- petercooper 16y agoLoving the simplicity of the idea. The simplicity is worth a higher cut (though maybe not 30% ;-)) and makes it a lot more attractive to use in small situations. One thing you need to beware of, though, is the filing requirements.. you might have to start issuing tons of 1099s and that process will cost you.
- btmorex 16y agoWhat do you plan on doing about fraud? Seems like it would be way too easy to move money around with stolen credit cards.
- PanMan 16y agoThis. Some friends of mine ran a payment startup. However as soon as there is a money->thing->money option, you get a LOT of fraud, as they found out.
- sahillavingia 16y agoI haven't planned on anything yet. I'll take it as it comes, I guess.
- krakensden 16y agoHe's not doing the payment processing, Stripe is.
- btmorex 16y agoIn the world of payments, that doesn't really matter at all. Payment processors can't afford to have high fraud % customers, so if fraud becomes a problem they'll just drop him.
- cavilling_elite 16y agoThis looks like a really expensive way to get Rick Roll'd :)
- hugh3 16y agoYes, how do you deal with the (hundreds, thousands, millions) of annoyed customers per day who were promised one thing but wound up paying for another? This can't be a minor problem, either. At any given time the percentage of your users who are being ripped off by some nasty scam will be between 10% and 90%. You'll have to be very careful about policing things, otherwise the first mention of your business in the media will be "gumroad enables porn bait-and-switch scammers".
- nyellin 16y agoYou can tell clients to check the http referrer for your domain. That would (mostly) stop people from posting now-useless destination URLs online. http referrers are easily spoofed, of course, but it'll be enough to prevent most people from sharing secret urls on twitter. You could also pivot and allow people to upload files to your own server, but that's a different story.
- sahillavingia 16y agoThat would hurt the UX. For example if someone gets the link to a blog-post-in-the-making they shouldn't have to go through Gumroad to access it every time.
- JoshTriplett 16y agoNot bad to have the option, though.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- aquark 16y agoInteresting concept -- how do you deal with the legalities? If I buy something am I buying it from you or from the original owner? How long do you hold onto the funds to deal with any potential chargebacks?
- kloncks 16y agoIs this what you've been working on in SF, Sahil :) ?
- sahillavingia 16y agoAt least for the past two days, yup. Just a small part of the rest of my life though!
- kloncks 16y agoThe copy on the re-direct page is bothering me a bit. Anyone else? You're being shared Gumroad! With the "You're being shared". Sounds confusing.
- zach 16y ago"You got Gumroaded!" Wait, no. That sounds wrong for some reason.
- fizx 16y agoPlease put a video on the homepage. If I'm on the fence, I'd rather watch a video than create an account.
- clarkevans 16y agocan I quote you?
- bryanh 16y agoBrilliant little idea, I think the big selling point is speed and ease of use. I might create a similar product to this for BitBuffet.com (a similar file selling service I created), as I think the process can be further streamlined. Digital sale processes still need streamlining for everyday users (especially one-off users) and I can see a service like this taking off.
- jasonlotito 16y agoThings you have to look at fast. * Money laundering. Cap fees now. * You are using Stripe, but you're still collecting CC data. Are you PCI compliant? * Does Stripe allow you to do this? Really? Basically, you're acting as a third party processor, an IPSP. People can sell anything through your service (Think adult content) I'm really interested if Stripe is aware of what you are doing and fine with it.
- pixeloution 16y agoPCI compliance is only an issue if he's storing CC data.
- ojilles 16y agoI'm no expert, but I don't think this is true. I've witnessed a few payment systems being implemented, and just having this data pass through your system you need to adhere to some compliance rules (which are softer vs. actually storing the data though).
- train_robber 16y agoCorrect. We are doing a PCI compliance certification right now, for a service that does the same CC flow as this. We don't store, but just forward. But even that requires a PCI certification.
- jasonlotito 16y agoThat's not true. If CC data is passing through his system, their are things he needs to be aware of. You'd be surprised at the logs that are generated by people who don't store credit card information. Somehow, that unstored CC information winds up in a random logs directory, unencrypted and open for anyone to see.
- rprasad 16y agoTrue, but "storing" is very broadly defined. "Storing" CC data in logs or temporary folders is enough to fall under the purview of the PCI rules.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- livejamie 16y agoI like it, there's a lot of functionality missing, as you said but tons of possibilities. I'd like to see a "pay as much as you'd like" feature, where you can set a minimum amount (like radiohead and girl talk do) but still allow them to pay more.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- primigenus 16y agoThere's some potential for gamification here. Here's a Gumroad URL which, when paid for, unlocks some kind of challenge that you must solve in order to find a new Gumroad URL. Which unlocks another challenge that leads to another Gumroad URL, continuing for n steps until you unlock the final reward. Each step costs less than a dollar. How would this have played out if eg. Dropbox had run their challenge on top of Gumroad?
- eddieplan9 16y agoNice product! Feature request: use the top half of the screen to show a preview of the linked page rendered as a PNG. Use the other half of the screen for soliciting payment. I want to know what I would get with the payment. How much of the target page is shown should of course be configurable by the page owner.
- kqueue 16y agoTraceback (most recent call last): File "/base/python_runtime/python_lib/versions/1/google/appengine/ext/webapp/__init__.py", line 634, in __call__ handler.get(*groups) File "/base/data/home/apps/gumroad/1.349472656690944858/main.py", line 60, in get if is_logged_in(): File "/base/data/home/apps/gumroad/1.349472656690944858/main.py", line 110, in is_logged_in s = sessions.Session() File "/base/data/home/apps/gumroad/1.349472656690944858/appengine_utilities/sessions.py", line 562, in __init__ self.session = _AppEngineUtilities_Session.get_session(self) File "/base/data/home/apps/gumroad/1.349472656690944858/appengine_utilities/sessions.py", line 142, in get_session ds_session = db.get(str(session_key)) File "/base/python_runtime/python_lib/versions/1/google/appengine/ext/db/__init__.py", line 1422, in get keys, multiple = datastore.NormalizeAndTypeCheckKeys(keys) File "/base/python_runtime/python_lib/versions/1/google/appengine/api/datastore.py", line 180, in NormalizeAndTypeCheckKeys keys = [_GetCompleteKeyOrError(key) for key in keys] File "/base/python_runtime/python_lib/versions/1/google/appengine/api/datastore.py", line 2339, in _GetCompleteKeyOrError key = Key(arg) File "/base/python_runtime/python_lib/versions/1/google/appengine/api/datastore_types.py", line 364, in __init__ raise datastore_errors.BadKeyError('Invalid string key %s.' % encoded) BadKeyError: Invalid string key agdndW1yb2FkciMLEhtfQXBwRW5naW5lVXRpbGl0aWVzX1Nlc3Npb24Y.
- pbreit 16y agoI got an error like that also when trying to log in.
- icco 16y agoSeems cool. I wish you'd render the about text box for products with Markdown or something though so the links were clickable.
- ddkrone 16y agoThere is no way to stop re-selling of the content once somebody has bought it short of implementing some horrendous DRM system.
- tlrobinson 16y agoI already dislike URL shorteners, there's no way I'm going to give my credit card info to one.
- Xk 16y agoYou have an XSS on the login form. I create a page which posts to the login page with the name " onclick="alert('do evil here')" onfocus="alert('do evil here')" foo=" It errors out, and my javascript is now in the input box. They click the name and then it runs my javascript. It's great you've escaped < and >, but you need to do more.
- tadruj 16y agotry to go for even more simplicity. drop password and create SHA or MD5 admin links. So I would just start with URL and eMail address.
- DrOkter 16y agoWhy wouldn't stripe just implement this themselves? Since their payment processing service (and API?) is 99% of the project, seems like they'd make their own and cut you off if this gained any traction.
- sahillavingia 16y agoIt's not 99% of the project, it's one line of code (among over 2,000).
- JoshTriplett 16y agoOne? That sounds like a rather awesome API, unless you just redirect to a payment processing system over on their site. Mind sharing the one line of code? :)
- bauchidgw 16y agoplease tell us when the first (real) vc are knocking on your door ... this is just awesome and has more potential then the most startups covered by techcrunch and co
- donnyg107 16y agoIf this becomes a high traffic site, it could really help fight internet piracy. If I have a high demand, hard to find video, I'm far more likely to try to sell it than just give it away. And even if I can't because the site is closely watched by the actual copywriter holders, the idea that money can be made off any online property can give internet knowledge and assets the feeling of physical worth, to the degree that people may grow hesitant to just give away their video and music files. It also has potential to detract from the information free-for-all of the internet, as people may also grow hesitant to share in general, but that would only be for sellable things, so blogs and general information are basically out. If successful, this site could make major change in the attitude of the internet. In essence, conflict exists between copyright holding companies, who believe their intellectual property should be paid for, and the general population of the internet, who freely share information constantly. This conflict could seriously benefit from a general shift toward the resounding feeling that information and online assets are worth something and should be bought and sold. That could be of serious detriment to the culture of the internet, but the communities could also gradually adjust. After all, the feeling that assets have monetary value is the way we live in the real world, its only a matter of time before the internet starts to follow.
- mtw 16y agoAre you collecting taxes? if it's a company registered in the US Also how do you deal with chargebacks?
- huge_ness 16y agoSo it's funny that this happens today: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2407969 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2407969
- caioariede 16y agoIf the value is zero the user is being redirected to home, after accessing the link url.
- jimminy 16y agoFirst off, I like the idea, but there are some noticeable flaws, many which have been brought up. One interesting one for me, which is more an oversight, is that anyone can make money off of the sale of a link. There is no way to validate that the person posting the link, is the owner of the content. So someone could sell links to a page on HN, Reddit, Techcrunch, etc. at no expense to them. If this did occur, I think it would cause a quite negative view of Gumroad links, as being scammy. In which case, people would begin to avoid them, reducing their effectiveness as a possible sales medium. Without oversight, as to who is selling a link, this might end up smothering itself out.
- peteforde 16y agoWhile providing an authority model is often a great business, it's a fallacy to say that provenance is mandatory to be taken seriously. See: Twitter, eBay, 4chan, TechCrunch
- ojilles 16y agosahillavingia, your personal site looks awesome too! http://sahillavingia.com/ http://sahillavingia.com/
- hugh3 16y agoI'd work on the name. Gumroad? What does it mean? To me it brings up an image of a road, covered with gum. I'm trying to get where I want to go, but there's all this gum on the road slowing me down. It's a huge and annoying obstacle. And that is a bad mental image, given that what you're selling is a sort of obstacle. It's not too late for a different name.
- ryusage 16y agoHuh...I guess that makes more sense, but actually my first impression of the name was to think of Candyland. Like the Yellow Brick Road, but with gumdrops and such. Cheesy, but positive. I wonder which interpretation is more common?
- bourdine 16y agoWhy not have a list of people to walk my link? Wired.
- mizerydearia 16y agohttp://please.bitcoin.me/now/ http://please.bitcoin.me/now/
- suprafly 16y agoTraceback (most recent call last): File "/base/python_runtime/python_lib/versions/1/google/appengine/ext/webapp/__init__.py", line 634, in __call__ handler.get(*groups) File "/base/data/home/apps/gumroad/1.349472656690944858/main.py", line 60, in get if is_logged_in(): File "/base/data/home/apps/gumroad/1.349472656690944858/main.py", line 110, in is_logged_in s = sessions.Session() File "/base/data/home/apps/gumroad/1.349472656690944858/appengine_utilities/sessions.py", line 562, in __init__ self.session = _AppEngineUtilities_Session.get_session(self) File "/base/data/home/apps/gumroad/1.349472656690944858/appengine_utilities/sessions.py", line 142, in get_session ds_session = db.get(str(session_key)) File "/base/python_runtime/python_lib/versions/1/google/appengine/ext/db/__init__.py", line 1422, in get keys, multiple = datastore.NormalizeAndTypeCheckKeys(keys) File "/base/python_runtime/python_lib/versions/1/google/appengine/api/datastore.py", line 180, in NormalizeAndTypeCheckKeys keys = [_GetCompleteKeyOrError(key) for key in keys] File "/base/python_runtime/python_lib/versions/1/google/appengine/api/datastore.py", line 2339, in _GetCompleteKeyOrError key = Key(arg) File "/base/python_runtime/python_lib/versions/1/google/appengine/api/datastore_types.py", line 364, in __init__ raise datastore_errors.BadKeyError('Invalid string key %s.' % encoded) BadKeyError: Invalid string key agdndW1yb2FkciMLEhtfQXBwRW5naW5lVXRpbGl0aWVzX1Nlc3Npb24Y.
- yoshyosh 16y agoAm I missing something or could you just employ a download method rather than link? Maybe something like how istockphoto does it. Although the link leads to a purchase terminal, if they make the purchase it would prompt a download rather than a link they could share. Also link shorteners + asking for credit card information immediately can get iffy in terms of trust and fraud. I understand that it is an mvp though. Later you might be able to employ a buy credits system like istockphoto does.
- dools 16y agoI'm already giving this away for free with a PayPal donate link at http://pickdropapp.com/ http://pickdropapp.com/ but what the hell: http://gumroad.com/l/cvhhwi http://gumroad.com/l/cvhhwi
- jorangreef 16y agoWell done this is brilliant.
- tommoor 16y agoI think it's a great idea, and really well implemented so far. Best of luck with it!
- erikch 16y agoI've been thinking about this exact problem for a few weeks now. I have gone as far as buying a domain for it (epayfiles.com) and I just started coding. I think I'll continue on with my project I'll just focus on a different payment niche. After doing some quick research I found five or six sites with similar ideas. Most of them focus on selling digital files not links. The link idea sounds novel. The presentation is also very clean. Looks good.
- bokonon 16y agoI saw it mentioned here already, but the idea of a "Name your Price" option would be really cool. Just like how Bandcamp does it. I'm always more motivated to support artists that chose this option.
- Flam 16y agoHow do I know that, when I pay, I am actually getting what I am paying for? How do you handle chargebacks etc..
- woodall 16y agoReally neat way to sell vulnerabilities.
- dps 16y agoGreat idea. Your email address matching is case sensitive, you might want to fix that.
- franze 16y agoi love the idea, i hate the new "We have a tiered system for pricing:" basically it says: if you earn less, we will take even more. so basically if - lets say - earn 2 dollars (casual user who sold a psd template for 1$) this service now takes 2$ - 230c = 1.40$ - (1.40$ 0.3) = 98c this tool should encourage casual use and it makes a perfectly simple product complicated. please overthink your pricing-strategy. make it as simple as possible, iterate from there.
- potomak 16y agoThis is my daily fail: http://potomak.tumblr.com/post/4361901296/developer-businessman http://potomak.tumblr.com/post/4361901296/developer-business... Developer ≠ Businessman
- mekarpeles 16y agoTraceback (most recent call last): File "/base/python_runtime/python_lib/versions/1/google/appengine/ext/webapp/__init__.py", line 636, in __call__ handler.post(*groups) File "/base/data/home/apps/gumroad/1.349498677539326613/main.py", line 292, in post db.delete(link) File "/base/python_runtime/python_lib/versions/1/google/appengine/ext/db/__init__.py", line 1491, in delete datastore.Delete(keys, config=config) File "/base/python_runtime/python_lib/versions/1/google/appengine/api/datastore.py", line 516, in Delete keys, multiple = NormalizeAndTypeCheckKeys(keys) File "/base/python_runtime/python_lib/versions/1/google/appengine/api/datastore.py", line 178, in NormalizeAndTypeCheckKeys keys, multiple = NormalizeAndTypeCheck(keys, (basestring, Entity, Key)) File "/base/python_runtime/python_lib/versions/1/google/appengine/api/datastore.py", line 157, in NormalizeAndTypeCheck (types, val, typename(val))) BadArgumentError: Expected one of (<type 'basestring'>, <class 'google.appengine.api.datastore.Entity'>, <class 'google.appengine.api.datastore_types.Key'>); received None (a NoneType).
- Noleli 16y agoI saw this post the other day, then came across Pulley. Is there a difference? http://pulleyapp.com/ http://pulleyapp.com/