All about PayLoadz Standard

We offer two versions of PayLoadz to meet your needs when it comes to selling virtual goods. PayLoadz Express is ideal for those interested in selling simple digital files in a matter of minutes and it is available in several languages like Arabic, German, French, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish so that non-English speaking people can also sell their digital goods. However, if your needs are a little more complex, PayLoadz Standard is the best option for you. With PayLoadz Standard, you can take advantage of more advanced services including software key registration delivery, our affiliate program, and multiple file delivery.

PayLoadz Standard is for just about anyone that wants or needs to sell a digital product. What’s ideal about our services is that you don’t even need to have a storefront or website of your own to take advantage of our innovative system. Additionally, there is no limit to the type of electronic files that you can sell through our platform. Any digital good that can be downloaded is fair game. So, go ahead and sell your videos, eBooks, software, and other files today.

We know that time and convenience is important to any digital sale. That’s why it is so easy with PayLoadz Standard. Customers will be able to download their files immediately after purchase is confirmed or they can come back to the same page and download files. The download links remain active for 30 days. If they are unable to download their purchase at that time, they will also be able to access the file location from our email confirmation or our tracking system.

Using our platform to sell your virtual goods can only help your business’ bottom line and expand your product’s reach. If you don’t already have your own website, use the PayLoadz Store in conjunction with PayLoadz Standard to make your sales. Doing so is the same idea as offering your products on sites such as eBay, Amazon, and other online auctions. If you do already have a website, offering your digital products in other venues will just increase the possibility of a sale conversion. Remember, the more options you afford customers, the greater the return.

It’s really easy to get started with PayLoadz Standard. The account requires you to sign up for a free PayLoadz account so that you may access the system. You can use the system for free if your monthly sales are below $50. The paid version starts at just $5 a month and there are absolutely no hidden costs, transaction fee and product limit.

You must also have either a PayPal or Google Checkout account. If you want to use both, that is fine. After you’ve done all that, the rest is a piece of cake! You’ll just need to add the products you wish to sell via the PayLoadz platform, add our special code to your website (if you have one), emails, and signatures, and then test out your setup to make sure everything works. Getting started with any other purchasing platform has never been easier.

To get started with PayLoadz Standard, you just need to follow a few simple steps, which we have outlined in great detail in our Getting Started section.

How Different Business Can Use PayLoadz to Strengthen the Bottom Line

When you’re in business, everything becomes about the bottom line. How can you reach customers? How can you increase sales? How do you expand your product’s reach? One way, regardless of the type of business you have or the products you offer, is to use the PayLoadz system. PayLoadz is an innovative and efficient payment gateway between virtual retailers and paying customers.

Basically, any company that has a digital product to sell can take advantage of the PayLoadz system. Though it is helpful to already have your own website or online store, it is not required, which makes PayLoadz a benefit to brand new and smaller businesses. As long as you offer digital goods for sale, PayLoadz can help.

Many of our merchants are individual sellers that often use eBay and other online auctions to sell their products. We offer unique ways to help these types of businesses with the sales of their virtual goods. Simply use the eBay auction, eBay store, PayLoadz Store, or PayLoadz GoLinks to spread the word about your products and increase your sales.

Affiliate marketers and sellers also take advantage of the benefits of using PayLoadz. Remember, affiliates are a business in their own right that often promotes other people’s products in exchange for a portion of their sales. Quite often, affiliates will use the PayLoadz Store to drive customers to their partners’ products. This has proven quite lucrative for many of our members.

It is important to note that almost any digital good can be sold via PayLoadz. This means that any electronic product that can be downloaded can be featured through the PayLoadz platform. Popular virtual goods include movies, video, eBooks, audio, and software programs. If you have more than one file type or product, not a problem! There is absolutely no limit to the number of products that you can sell or feature on PayLoadz. You can even modify the transaction limits allowed on your account.

Any business that signs up for PayLoadz must also have a Business or Premier PayPal account (or Google Checkout) and an email address to take advantage of what we offer. It’s really that simple. Once you join the program, you can feature your products on our platform, enjoy lucrative sales, and collect your payments via PayPal, directly from PayLoadz!

Because we are so versatile and accommodating to just about any business, customers enjoy great service and ease of access. Remember, there is no need for customers to actually have a PayLoadz account in order to purchase your products. PayLoadz is often just another option and platform for you to offer your product and thus strengthen your business’ bottom line.

How to Use PayLoadz without a Website

Chances are if you have digital goods that you would like to sell you probably have a website or online store. If you don’t already have your own website, how can you sell digital goods online? You may find the answer surprisingly simple – PayLoadz. PayLoadz can be used to sell digital goods without the seller having a site of their own. The PayLoadz Store makes this possible – and easy.

Using PayLoadz to sell digital goods is quite easy, even without a website. One way that many sellers take advantage of the system is to feature their products on eBay and other online auction sites. By far, eBay is the most popular among auction sites that are compatible with PayLoadz and it can also be considered quite a powerful marketing tool as well as a simple selling platform. You can use either an eBay auction or eBay store to feature your products sold through PayLoadz.

In addition to eBay, there are other ways to use PayLoadz without a website. The PayLoadz Store is probably the most direct way to achieve this. You can simply list your items in our store which allows customers to locate and purchase your products directly from our platform. This is simple, direct, and efficient. The PayLoadz store works just like any other shopping platform you’ve ever visited online.

If the PayLoadz Store and eBay isn’t your cup of tea, why not consider using affiliates to sell your products from their respective websites? Affiliate marketing is a truly invaluable tool, especially for companies selling digital goods and services. Affiliates feature your products on their sites, newsletters, and emails and drive traffic to your product. You simply pay them a percentage of your sales each time one is referred by your affiliate. Our most selling products have Affiliate Commission (% ) varying from 10 – 50%

When you use PayLoadz to sell virtual goods, we generate a unique URL, known as a GoLink, for your product. This link can be placed just about anywhere – on your digital signature, in emails, in forums, and even in chat rooms. This means you can place the link anywhere to expand your reach and generate sales.

We are so confident that even without a website PayLoadz can boost your revenue and increase sales that we will make you a guarantee. If the PayLoadz service doesn’t help sell more of your product, we will pay you 150% of the first month’s fee if you do not have any sales at all. How many online gateways and platforms can claim the same? If you’re interested in learning more about how to use PayLoadz without a website of your own, you can download and view the free demo.

PayLoadz offers plenty of opportunity to boost sales. Remember, in order to succeed in any type of business, the more options you provide your customers, the better. If you don’t already have your own website to feature your digital products, PayLoadz can help.

Tips for Buyers Using PayLoadz

Though we provide an invaluable service for merchants offering virtual goods including eBooks, software, music files, videos, and similar files, consumers also benefit. PayLoadz makes it easy for shoppers to find the digital materials they need and to make the purchase without any added hassle and headache. Though we don’t sell the products directly, we are an essential gateway between merchants and consumers. This article is intended to provide a few tips for buyers using the PayLoadz system.

As you already know, there is a wide selection of products offered through PayLoadz. All merchants that have listed products for sale, as well as our team, want to provide the most pleasant shopping experience possible. That’s why we, along with the merchants, have worked out different ways for consumers to gain access to merchants during and after the sale for help with the transaction itself as well as the final product. We want to make it easy for you to find your product, download your orders, and use the content you’ve purchased.

Getting Help from Sellers

Like many shoppers, you may have questions about a product before you make a purchase. This is expected, so PayLoadz offers an easy way to reach the seller – the “Contact Seller” option given along with each product’s description. If the seller also happens to have a website, that information will also be given. If you happen to have a question for the seller after you’ve made a purchase, you can take advantage of the suggestions above or you may look in a couple other places. Your PayPal transaction will show the seller’s email address and it will also be included in the download email that you receive right after making payment.

Locating Your Orders

There are a few different choices when it comes to finding your order after you’ve made the purchase. Once you finalize payment, PayLoadz will offer you a Payment Confirmation and Completion Page immediately. This page includes the total you’ve paid, the items you’ve ordered, and where you can download them. If you somehow miss this page or close it out, don’t worry; you’ll also get a download email that has all of that same information. If for any reason neither works for you, we do offer an Order Lookup System where you can search your order and locate the download link.

Other Tips

It is important to remember that PayLoadz is simply the gateway between the merchant and the consumer, so if you have specific product questions it is always best to reach out to the seller directly. This is especially true if you are having trouble downloading or using the virtual goods you have purchased. Additionally, if you have trouble with your PayPal or other payment method, contacting the payment gateway directly is also your best bet.

Finding Your Order and What to do With Your Download

Once you’ve placed your order on the PayLoadz system you will need to find your order and access the download. There are several different ways to find your order download page, which makes things easy on you! You’ll be able to access your order on the Payment Confirmation and Completion Page, the download email, and even within the Order Lookup System.

The Payment Confirmation and Completion Page is usually the easiest way to find your order, and it also happens to be the quickest way. Once you have made your purchase and made your payment, the PayLoadz site will present you with a confirmation screen. This screen will show you the details of your order as well as a link to access the download page. Using the Payment Confirmation and Completion Page offers a direct way of accessing your purchase immediately.

If you choose not to access your order through the Payment Confirmation and Completion Page the download email is the next best method. Remember, we send an email as soon as your order is placed. This instant email is sent to the email address you provide during the checkout process. The email will contain the same information as the Payment Confirmation and Completion Page including the details of your order and the download location.

We understand that emails get accidentally discarded and web browsers get closed, so we have developed our unique Order Lookup System. You can access the PayLoadz Order Lookup System at http://payloadz.com/d1/lookup.asp. This page allows you to fill out a short form with your PayPal email address, the Invoice ID number, and your last name. Just remember that the Invoice ID will be the same as the Auction ID.

Once you’ve found your order and the download information, you simply need to download the files to your computer. Downloading your order is really easy! If you’ve downloaded any file before, you’ll be fine. When you download your file, just be sure to remember where on your computer you’ve saved it for quick and easy access.

The way that you use your purchased content is really up to you and depends on what the files are that you bought. The merchants we feature on PayLoadz offer a wide variety of downloadable files ranging from video, software, eBooks, and audio. Once you have downloaded the files you’ll just need to open them up to ensure that they are in good working order. As long as you have the proper programs installed, your products should work without a problem.

If there is ever an issue using your purchased content, you’ll need to check out the seller’s instructions or even contact the seller for more assistance. Contacting the seller is actually quite easy – we don’t make things too difficult at PayLoadz! Simply click on the “Contact Seller” option on the PayLoadz system and send a message. You may also be able to find their information from their website or your PayPal history.

The Affiliate System

When you offer a product or service online, it is always a good idea to use an affiliate system. Affiliate marketing and relationships help not only spread the word about your own products and boost sales but can help you make a significant amount of extra money while you’re at it. We know the importance of an effective affiliate system which is why PayLoadz has implemented our own to help you become more successful.

The affiliate system that we offer at PayLoadz is designed to complement your efforts and expand your product reach. Remember, when you join an affiliate program, other people market your products to targeted audiences. This is an extremely effective way to get the word out about your product. The way it works is that these other parties, known as affiliates, market your product in exchange for a financial payout for any successful sale that is attributed to them. These sales are called conversions in many cases.

Our affiliate system is ideal for those of you just starting out with a new product, though it is also extremely beneficial to those whose products are already established. By working with affiliates you can generate leads and name branding even more quickly than if you were doing it on your own. Your customer base and profits will both increase simply by sharing a small portion of your sales. And remember, you can decide what payout scheme is right for you and you’re never locked in so you can modify your affiliate payouts as needed.

If you want to join the PayLoadz affiliate system, it’s really simple. However, you will be required to use the PayLoadz GoLink code on all of your sales pages to ensure that your affiliates are properly credited for their payment. The GoLink code allows for efficient tracking of your affiliates and all of their conversions.

Setting up your PayLoadz affiliate program is really quite easy. Simply go into your account and you’ll see the Affiliate Sales Information section near the bottom of the Product Setup page. It is here that you’ll fill in the rules of your affiliate commissions including the fee to be paid for each converted sale. At this time you’ll also be able to use the Affiliate Lister feature as well as the Affiliate URL which are both very useful tools to help generate additional affiliates for your product on PayLoadz.

Members of PayLoadz affiliate system are rewarded greatly – up to $175 per sale is possible, though it does vary from product to product. There are actually two different aspects to our system. If you’re selling digital goods on our site, you can list your product as a possible affiliate product and let others market it in exchange for a fee based on a per sale scale. However, you can also join the program and earn extra cash from PayLoadz directly when you place our ad syndication on your website and market our services.

Setting Up Product Keys and Registration

As a new member of PayLoadz you may be wondering a bit about setting up product keys and registration after you get started. Believe it or not, it won’t be as difficult as you think! Even novices to this industry will be able to handle it since it’s so simple, we assure you. In fact, you may already know a little bit about product keys and registration – ever heard of the software registration system? That’s just another phrase used to refer to this very topic.

You may have noticed that many merchants out there have a registration system in place which prevents it from being used until you’ve registered it. This is common on computer software, video games, and similar media. When you register such products, the specially generated registration code, known as the product key, must be entered at some point after purchase and downloaded (or installed) the product. With PayLoadz, you can implement a similar system for your own products!

If you are interested in setting up product keys and registration for anything you’ll be offering up on PayLoadz, it really is quite easy. To find the Product Key and Serial Delivery information for any item you simply go on the Product Detail page for any item or available download. That’s where you can read about existing registration systems and set up new ones. However, just remember that we can’t provide assistance for creating an actual registration system because we don’t endorse any particular vendor for software registration systems. But, we’re happy to help in enabling the delivery keys for your protection.

Remember, it is up to you to find a vendor for product keys and registration on your product downloads. Once you have a registration system in place, the PayLoadz system is available for you to send the product keys for registration to customers once they have made payment. There are a couple of options for the creation and delivery of your product keys.

The first option is Upload Keys. You’d choose this if you’ve already a variety of keys for your product since it allows you to take as many keys as you like and add them to the PayLoadz server. This allows the product key to be automatically sent once the customer makes the purchase and keeps that particular key associated with that single purchase for your records.

A Remote Key Script is another option. This is ideal for when you have a script that generates keys on a remote server. All you need to do is provide the location of the remote script. When this option is used, the customer gets the product key after purchase via a form. The script helps generate a specific key code for that purchase.

You can also choose just a single password which means it will be the same for all purchases. It is the simplest method and provides the least amount of protection. Usually, the first two options are ideal for PayLoadz users.

Using PayLoadz To Sell Digital Files On eBay

Even though eBay changed their policy on their Digital Goods listing flow, you can still use this popular site to sell your digital files. We offer you the option of listing your product through our PayLoadz eBay Store if you do not have your own eBay account.

How you list it is up to you as long as you use the normal auction listing process. We recommend that you simply list the order lookup URL from PayLoadz in your listing. The URL will look something like this: http://PayLoadz.com/d1/lookup.asp.

To sell your downloads on eBay:

1. Get the item name for the product you want to sell from your PayLoadz account to enter into the eBay auction. You must use the exact item name that is in the PayLoadz system as your auction name so we know how to track the item you sold.
2. Log into you eBay account – or in the PayLoadz eBay store following the appropriate directions – and select the selling tab in order to create a listing.
3. Choose the type of auction you wish – we suggest ‘Fixed Price Auction’ – and the category your product will go into. Do not use the Digital Item category.
4. Enter your item information and remember to use the name of your PayLoadz product as the auction name. For example, if you name the PayLoadz file ‘My Book’ then you need to name the eBay auction ‘My Book’. Make sure you include a copyright notice in your listing so your customers know that your digital file is authorized for sale.
5. Include the Order Lookup URL in your item description so that your customer knows where to go to get the download.
6. Enter the number of downloads available and the price per each. You should make the number you have available and the price of the item match what you have listed on your PayLoadz account.
7. Set your payment and file delivery options making sure that your payment e-mail and your PayLoadz e-mail match.
8. Confirm your listing and submit it.

As soon as we receive a confirmation that the file has been paid for we will release the download file to your customer.

The process listed above is also good for other auctions sites where you may wish to sell your digital files. The key to having a successful auction using PayLoadz is making sure that the auction name and URLs all match those in your PayLoadz account. If they do not, the system will not be able to allow your customer to download the file they have purchased. If you ensure that everything matches, you will find that this is an effective way of selling your digital files.

Set Up A Sample File

PayLoadz is your way of getting your digital files out to the world and it is a very easy program to use. In order to attract potential customers you can set up a sample file for them to review. You do not have to do this, but it is a way to get people to sit up and take notice of what you have to offer. This is one of the many services PayLoadz offers you.

After you have registered with PayLoadz and set your account you should fill out your profile so everyone knows who you are and what type of digital files you are selling. Setting up a sample file is an optional step, and you do not have to do it in order to just jump in and offering your files. But it is something to consider to help your online business.

To set up a sample file you should log into your account and select the ‘Selling’ tab. Click on the ‘Product summary’ area and take a look at the screen. Here is where you will add the product you are offering. It is a good idea to have a product loaded into the PayLoadz system so that you can add a sample file to it. Once you have picked the product you are adding the sample to, select the ‘details’ link. It will open up a page with all the product details listed on it.

In this product details section you will see a category that states ‘Sample file’. The default setting for this is ‘None. Click here to add sample file.’ The word ‘here’ is a clickable link. Select that link to add a sample file to the product you have selected. You will be presented with a few options here and you want to select option #3 ‘use existing file on PayLoadz secure server.’ Check the box for the sample file that you want to set and then click the ‘set sample file’ button at the bottom. Your sample is now set and your customers can download it for review.

If you have not loaded your sample file into the PayLoadz system you will need to do so before setting the file to the corresponding product. You can upload the file by using the ‘manage and upload files’ link in the ‘selling’ tab under your account.

PayLoadz is a unique system for selling your digital files and it offers you plenty of options. Setting up a sample file helps your customers make an informed decision about whether or not they want to purchase what you have. From eBooks to audio files, PayLoadz is ready to help you.

How You Can Get Started With PayLoadz

Have you been looking for a way to sell you digital files online but have not been happy with the current services on the Internet? Then you have not tried PayLoadz. Our unique system is very user–friendly and gives you an interface to use to get your digital products out into the market. Getting started with PayLoadz is easy and there are two ways you can get started.

PayLoadz Express is the quick and easy way of getting your files uploaded and for sale quickly. It gives you a three step process that puts your product out there without any advance features such as software registration keys, affiliate systems or multiple file delivery. If you need these features for your files, then we recommend you use our other service, PayLoadz Standard.

The standard process is just as easy as the express process but it offers you more options when it comes to listing your files. It takes five steps instead of three and it allows you to add your PayPal account or Google Checkout account to your profile for easy payment options. Additionally you can set up an API Callback URL if you want to receive additional notification that a purchase has been made. If you use Google Checkout you can setup purchase buttons, links or contact us information for your profile.

Once you have setup your payment options you can start putting together your product line. By selecting the ‘Selling’ tab at the top of your account you can open the screen that allows you to add your product. Each item you plan to add to your inventory must have a unique name and it must be created one at time so that the system can process it. PayLoadz will then provide you with HTML coding that you can place on your website for customers to use to order your product. It will even give you the HTML coding you need for button creation that will work with PayPal.

Copy and paste this code into the appropriate page on your website. Your customers will be able to click on the link and download your goods from the PayLoadz website after they have paid for it. Once you have pasted the code into your website test the links to make sure they work properly and make any adjustments necessary. If everything is working the way it should, you can make your website page live and then wait for the downloads to begin.

PayLoadz offers you a wide variety of features to use when selling your digital products including the option to set up a sample page your customers can download. Feel free to check out the entire system and have fun uploading your inventory and the freedom PayLoadz offers.

Pre-Paid Coupons - Credit Accounts

Payloadz Coupons has just gone live for testing. Coupons will be available to purchase by sellers and buyers. These coupons will allow buyers to purchase using the coupon. Coupons can be used as a convenience for buyers and as a promotional tool for sellers.

Coupon amounts will be set by the Seller. When the buyer uses the coupon to make a purchase, the purchase amount is deducted from the coupon amount. The buyer can then see the remaining balance of their coupon.

Users of the coupon can see at a glance what they’ve purchased with the coupon and the value amount still available on their coupon.

To access Coupon Management login to your account and click on the Account tab at the top of the screen. Next Click on Coupon Management. You will then be taken to the management area where you can purchase coupons and view the details of your purchases.

Sellers' Sales Increase 1,036%

Sellers Using Our Service See 1,036% Year Over Year Sales Growth. A pretty incredible number. It basically means a seller that was selling on our service a year ago, on average, has seen their sales increase by 10x. That is pretty impressive.

As an example, if the average seller on our service has sales of $1,000 today, a year from now based on the average growth, they will have sales of over $10,000 per month. I'm impressed! I knew there was accelerated growth in digital sales when using PayLoadz vs. tangible goods, but I never realized it was this significant.

Get growing!

Shannon

THE SIMPLE MATH OF IT ALL
------------------------------------
Fun with database queries on a Friday night. Let's look at the math...

First, we query our system to get a list of all the sellers who had sales this time last year. We also get a total of those sellers' sales for a 30 day period from one year ago. Fast forward to today, we generate a list of sellers and match them up with the list from a year ago and compare their sales for this past month. Now we have a BIG list of digital good sellers from last and this year. We do a simple percentage change calculation using:

(New Sales-Old Sales)/Old Sales = % Growth Year Over Year

Finally, we average the number above for all the sellers in our list and we come up with 1,036.23%, or a growth factor of 10!

Digital Rights Management (DRM) Decreases Sales and Increases Costs

(I've been meaning to write this post for some time, but there is just so much information to include to cover all the points. Therefore, I will begin this post and provide a basic framework for the reasons why DRM is wrong. This is a draft that will be added to as we go along. Feel free to play devil's advocate and bring up any issues I have missed.)

Digital Restrictions Management
DRM, or Digital Rights Management (Digital Restrictions Management for those in the know), is an attempt to limit the usage of a digitally delivered good to a single person- usually a person that has purchased a single copy of the item. Using these systems, the seller intends to prevent the item from being used by anyone other than the person that bought the item.

The fact is DRM systems are the furthest thing from being perfect. No system works on all computer platforms or all situations of the end-user. Whether it is attempting to secure a PDF eBook, a piece of software, or a pay-per-view movie file- no technology exists that will successfully allow a customer to view the file in all computer environments. What this means is that you are placing minimum technical requirements on your product as soon as you intend to use DRM. Even if it is something as simple as a password protected PDF, you have instantly reduced your potential sales market by excluding those end-users who do not have the minimum PDF viewer requirements that will allow the password to be entered properly. Only certain versions of PDF viewers like Adobe Acrobat will allow the use to enter a password to open a file. It gets even more restrictive across other product types like video files, especially those using a technology like Microsoft DRM. An unprotected PDF can be viewed by 100% of the Internet population using freely available software. When the seller puts DRM on the file, that number drops and no they have effectively eliminated a large portion of sales.

"They are Stealing from Me!"
That is the argument I hear most from small sellers. Most have never sold even one copy of their file, but they want to make absolutely sure that no one other than the customer can use their product. As we saw above, that is not possible as DRM systems are flawed fundamentally. A person who receives your file is not stealing from you. You may have not received compensation for your product, but since it is a digital good, available in infinite quantities without incurring additional overhead- it did not cost the seller any out of pocket expenses.

Limited File Sharing Increases Sales
If a customer who purchased a digital knitting pattern shares the file with their friend you now have the potential to gain a customer. The non-paying recipient never heard of the seller or their product and was likely never going to hear of them. By having the original customer send the file to the non-paying recipient, they can now determine the value of your product directly and are likely to do so because of the direct testimonial from the original paying customer who shared the file. Provided that the file has identifiable information as to where the item can be purchased in terms of either file properties (or in the case of this knitting pattern), a direct link to the seller's store with the ability to market similar products to the converted user.

Increased Support Costs
We sold DRM Windows Audio Files using MS DRM on our system a few years ago for a major recording artist. We sold the same exact song as an unprotected MP3 file on the same page. Not only did the MP3 file outsell the DRM file 15-1, but the costs incurred from providing end-user support for using the DRM file was extraordinary. Both files sold for $1.49. To this day, four years later, we get email requests from customers who purchased the DRM file asking to retrieve their DRM license for the file. That means we have to look up the order, generate a new license, deliver it, and troubleshoot any additional installation issues. That does not even cover the bulk of the support costs which occur immediately after the sale when trying to initialize the DRM on their computer. This again relates to the technological requirements or misconfiguration that occurs when dealing with the wilds of the Internet. Time spent supporting customers because of DRM is money lost. You are also likely to loose the endorsement of your product for every customer that has a problem with the file.

Nature of Digital Goods
This point has to be made as it may not be completely obvious to people unfamiliar with selling digital goods. It has to do with the impulse buy and the re-purchase behavior related to selling digital goods. The following describes the vast majority of downloadable good purchases. If a customer buys and item from a seller and they got value out of it and it was easy for them to use (no DRM), then that customer will likely go back to the seller's store and immediately purchase one or more related products they have for sale. In addition to this impulse buying behavior, the entire existing customer base of a digital good seller will be much more likely to buy any new product offerings from the seller in the future when compared with tangible items.

An Anonymous Coward writes:
"Actually, it did cost the seller; it cost the seller a potential sale."
Again, if you read above, it didn't cost the seller anything because the person was never going to pay you for the item anyway. If the person was not given the product by a friend, they were not actively pursuing the item. The exception is a person actively seeking the product on a warez site, in which case, no DRM would have worked since you see every piece of software ever made there. So again, it didn't cost a thing for not using DRM, however if you do use DRM, then it did cost you a potential sale.

Round Trip Product Import/Export

Previously, we announced some changes in the product import system our service has to allow sellers with large amounts of products to get their items into the system quickly in a single step process by uploading a spreadsheet of product information. This is a great feature and saves a lot of time, but often sellers need to make changes to many items at once. In this case, they can use the new Product Export system to have our site generate a spreadsheet of all of their available products. This gives them a backup source of product information and allows them to make global edits. Once done editing, they can use the import system to update their products in a single step.

Cheers,

Shannon

Registration Key Bug

We just finished working through a pretty pesky little bug that surfaced yesterday. We've been trying to consolidate code across application pages as much as possible and one of the commonly used systems is the Registration Key System. While a very small percentage of our overall users actually use the system, each one that does generates a sizeable amount of transactions per day, so it is important that it be running as well as it can be.

Three particular pages were affected by a bug we introduced into the system, the main order processing script for PayPal, the Add Download Email function, and the Bulk Add Download Email functions. The first two have been fixed as of 10:30AM EST. They are by far the two most commonly used. The Bulk Add Download Email function one is still persisting and we are working through it. Expect the Bulk Add Download system to be 100% again by tomorrow morning.

At least it's raining out today so we'd rather be inside coding anyway.

Shannon

Product Image Upload for Store Listing

Another small, but much needed enhancement, the ability to upload a product image during product setup for the PayLoadz Store and PayLoadz eBay Store listings has been added to the product setup page.


The previous version of the system required that the seller enter the web URL of an image file they would like to use to be displayed with their product. If the seller did not have a web site, then they couldn't display an image with their product. Sellers that have images with their products in the Store have a much higher sales rate. Using the sellers file storage that they use for their products was not an option as the FTP site is locked down from un-authenticated access.

The solution was to use a file upload component to let the seller select a file on their computer and upload it during the product creation process. Our system then optimizes the file for display in the store. This new system should dramatically increase the number of listings with images in the store and therefore increase the amount of sales for those products.

Shannon

Bulk Product Import Revisions

I see there being a few ways to make PayLoadz a success for our sellers. One of the major ways is to increase the sales of products being sold in our system. This topic actually has several different facets to it, but one of them is to make the system as easy as possible for sellers to get setup and running. I'd say the majority of our users only have one or two products to start, but some have large catalogs they are bringing over. The Bulk Product Import system enables them to import all of their product information in a single step for all of the items they are selling.


We have had a barebones Excel spreadsheet in place for some time now. It didn't provide any enhanced functionality, just basic product information. We have since revised this process to include the more advanced listing features including the store listing component into the spreadsheet itself. eBay listings will also be enabled by the revised file as well. The file contains column descriptions and data entry hints and rules so sellers will have an easier time of deciding what goes where in the spreadsheet. If a seller needs to make any changes in bulk, they can simply make changes in the spreadsheet while keeping the item numbers the same and have their existing product information updated with the new values in the revised spreadsheet. This feature in particular opens the door for product export and re-import with revisions.

Once the spreadsheet is uploaded into the system, the seller can then upload their files using the File Manager or an FTP client. Using the Code Generator, they can obtain all of the HTML needed to add the payment buttons to their web site.

Back to work,
Shannon

Features and Fixes: March 2007

Just thought I'd add a new blog series to keep everyone updated on our work over here.

PayLoadz Store
History Length Display - The PayLoadz Store allows for a user history (searches, products viewed, etc.) to be displayed on the right hand column. This would wrap to two lines and off-set the design in some cases. We have limited the length here for extra long values.

Category Preservation in Search - When a user is browsing a specific category and initiates a search with "search only this category" checked, then the search will keep the category values in the search results.

PayLoadz Site
Swapped Store and Affiliate Information in Product Setup - In the product creation process, we moved the store listing information just below the basic product information where the affiliate info used to be. We moved the affiliate info to the bottom. It seems like a more logical flow as people access the store information more often.

Affiliates Status Page Form Tags - During porting to the new site design, the affiliates status page where sellers approve and edit their affiliate information did not retain all of the form elements that were required to work. Simple fix.

Shopping Cart Price Bug - There was an annoying bug with prices over 1,000.00 that was causing the cart to error due to a FormatNumber issue. This has been fixed.

Keyword File in Product Setup - Sellers can enter their own product keywords for their products during listing. This will help our store search engine, the ad syndication system, and also for our paid placement listings like Google AdWords.

Buyer Purchase History Search - Added a better search capability to the customer purchase history page. Now they can search by several different types of values based on product, date, or seller.

Clickable Active Navigation Tabs - When a user is in a particular section of the site, the active tab is clickable and returns them back to the section homepage. Simple, but useful. PayPal does not have this and a user is forced to click a separate tab, then go back and click the original tab of they want to access the section start page.

PayLoadz Syndication
Pass JavaScript Values to Ad Code - The new PayLoadz Ad Syndication system allows for user defined design elements like font type, size, colors, etc. Users can now edit this information directly in the chunk of HTML we give them to customize the look of their ads. Several different ad formats will be out in a day or two.

PayLoadz eBay Store
Product Deletion, End Auction - When sellers who had a product listed in our store delete the product from our system, the eBay auction was orphaned. Using an eBay API call, the auction is now ended.

That's all for now. We have a lot of cool things in the works. Stay tuned....
Shannon

New PayLoadz Site Design Live

I think it is safe to say after a week of squishing bugs and tweaking that the new PayLoadz site design is officially "live". The feedback so far has been positive, so that is cool. The design is a lot better than the old one imho, but that is not a real reason to do a site overhaul.

The hairy part was that the new site now resides on a new server. The specs of the server are pretty hilarious in terms of overkill with loadbalancing and insane amounts of ram and 64-bit processors, etc. The server is now in the same rack as the database servers. That will help as they have a 1GB direct connection to one another. The speed of the site is much improved. I still have to work on the weight of the HTML, but for now, it cruises along.

The trouble with rolling out a new design is always a bit sketchy. However, when the site is staying on the same server, you can roll out in phases and manage the bugs as you go. When moving from a new server, you almost have to do an all or nothing type of switch. I made the change in the DNS admin to flick the switch. That first hour was a bit hectic, but a lot less issues than I had thought.


We've finally caught up on all of the fixes and are rolling out new features at a rate of one per day. The cumulative effect of the new features will be huge. Like a lot of people, we developer, roll out, bug fix, fine tune the interface, and revise. Then start again. Seems to work well for us.

We are focusing on providing sellers with tools to increase their sales. There is a decent amount of competition in our area now and customer acquisition is getting harder. Therefore, we are focusing on increasing revenues by increasing the revenues of our sellers. We can do this using the same techniques we use to promote our own site. It really helps those sellers who do not have the time or expertise in marketing on their own.

A new design for the PayLoadz Store will be rolled out. The Ad Syndication System is going to be upgraded in the next few days along with a ton of behind the scenes improvements.

Thank you all for the support you have shown us over the years, it is appreciated.

Shannon

Beta - Syndicated Affiliate Ads

Here is a pretty cool idea methinks. Apparently, anyone who sells anything should have affiliates accounting for %25 of their sales total. I personally have not seen this in practice, but that is the claim made by several marketing sources. The Affiliate System at PayLoadz is bare-bones to say the least- that could be a reason for the low affiliate sales. During the new site rollout, we are working to bring the entire section up to speed, but that is another matter.

This post is about a new feature I put out today for syndicated affiliate ads. You may be familiar with similar functionality in services like AdBrite and AdSense (I actually wrote one of these kinds of apps years ago). I had thought about doing something similar to this, but this is much more exciting imho. I decided that our affiliate system could leverage this type of ad syndication. It works off of simple cut-n-paste HTML/JavaScript code that an affiliate adds to their web page. Here is a first-draft version of what the ads look like: The system is very cool for both parties involved, the seller and the affiliate. the seller does not have to worry about marketing their affiliate program to try and get new affiliates and the affiliate does not have to tediously select individual products to market.

While it is fully functioning at the start (possible bugs aside), the revised versions will have ad customization in appearance and product types, categories based on the PayLoadz Store, as well as different ad formats. Oh, and a cooler name.

I'm pretty happy with it :)
Shannon

fyi- You can see the ads in action on the bottom right-hand column of this blog as well.