I get asked a lot about my preference for tracking orders and making sales of digital goods online. There are numerous options available so I thought I’d start a conversation on the topic.
Some other thoughts I left out & things I’m learning as a result of this article (help me add to this list and keep it current with your comments below):
- Clickbank & PayDotCom – you don’t need a merchant account. I have one now, so that’s a non-issue for me.
- If you want 2 tier tracking Nanacast offers it, but on orders placed using PayPal, they don’t allow it (PayPal’s rules are silly here)
- Other options that probably belong in this article: Click2Sell.com (help me complete this list)
Get access to my nanacast expert using this link. No links in this article are affiliate links. If you want to use my affiliate link to join any service listed drop a note in the comments and I’ll hook you up (and thank you!)
I’ll try to create a features/benefits grid over time as I gather information on this topic. I couldn’t’ find a good comparison online anywhere, so this is my attempt to start researching while while letting you know what I’ve learned so far.
Matt Eve says
March 6, 2014 at 7:44 amI’ve just started using Stripe.com and find them great -very easy to set up and use – gets my number one vote.
Marty Noel says
March 6, 2014 at 9:13 amThanks for the info Jim…very helpful. Wondering though which of the four vendors are best suited if (as a newbie just launching my first website) I want to attract affiliates to sell my digital products?
Jim Cockrum says
March 6, 2014 at 9:25 amGreat question Marty. My advice would be to start with Clickbank if you are merely looking for the largest potential pool of ready to go affiliates. They pay your affiliates for you which is nice as well.
That being said, the BEST affiliates you’ll ever have are the enthusiastic fans of your material who you turn into advocates.
Also, over time you may find yourself moving to another platform that allows better “cross-product” promotion where affiliates can easily get paid for your entire line of products regardless of which one they promoted. You may want to start using your own merchant account at some point as well (lower fees) which means moving away from clickbank (unless they change their features of course).
Chris Brown says
March 6, 2014 at 9:33 amWhat I don’t like about ClickBank – apart from the high commission per sale, (nearly 10% on subscriptions and 7.5%+$1 on normal sales) and $49 – $29 fee for every product you set up – is their “domant account” theft. If your sales drop off, they charge $1 per day until any cash in your account has been trasferred to theirs. (Once your account is empty, they won’t charge you any more fees!) And for Overseas customers, they will only issue checks… which cost a further £25 to convert from US Dollars to Sterling.
At present, I’m using Zaxaa. They have the lowest fees of 2.5% per sale … but recently, it got even better. if you joined their Lifetime plan, you paid a one off fee, and then paid nothing extra however many sales made. They also have easy teo set up OTO’s and sales funnels, upsales and downsales etc.They also pay afiliates via the PayPal Adaptive Payment system.
But there’s the rub: PAYPAL!! For four months, my customers have been unable to buy goods. If i get a response from PP, the answer is “It should work!” I’ve got to set up a new bank account / new PayPal account and hope that the new account works!
Like Matt Eve, I only heard about Stripe today, (Thurs 6th March) and it could be something to investigate further.
Jim Cockrum says
March 6, 2014 at 9:40 amI’m am entirely unfamiliar with Stripe, but I’d love to hear from someone who has done significant volume with them and get a report!
RE: Clickbank – I used them for YEARS, but have moved away from them now for some of the reasons mentioned. I will say this about them though…they are a simple solution for a newbie, and they take a lot of work out of launching your first product.