Selling shareware?
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Hi, I’m interested in selling some of my software as shareware. But I don’t know how I should do that. It would be great if I could get some tips or ideas on how to do that… Thanks
there is a good online list that talks about the business of selling software over on joelonsoftware.com[^]. I am finding it very interesting even though I have been selling my shareware for 9 years now. Steve Maier, MCSD MCAD
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Hi, I’m interested in selling some of my software as shareware. But I don’t know how I should do that. It would be great if I could get some tips or ideas on how to do that… Thanks
This Eric Sink MSDN article[^] has a some useful nuggets of information. Michael CP Blog [^] Development Blog [^]
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there is a good online list that talks about the business of selling software over on joelonsoftware.com[^]. I am finding it very interesting even though I have been selling my shareware for 9 years now. Steve Maier, MCSD MCAD
who do you use for your reseller? I've been using element5 and so far I'm happy with them but I've been looking for a place that has site integration instead of just passing the link off.
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Hi, I’m interested in selling some of my software as shareware. But I don’t know how I should do that. It would be great if I could get some tips or ideas on how to do that… Thanks
Here are three important steps: 1. List your shareware with download.com it will cost you about $80 last time I checked. It will produce 80% of your downloads. 2. Learn everything there is to know (it is not much) about PAD files. Submit your software to 100s of shareware sites that support PAD files. 3. Spend time building your own anti-piracy system. Implement the ability to disable registration codes. The only way to beat the hacker is make him believe that he has succeeded, so he will move on to something else.
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Here are three important steps: 1. List your shareware with download.com it will cost you about $80 last time I checked. It will produce 80% of your downloads. 2. Learn everything there is to know (it is not much) about PAD files. Submit your software to 100s of shareware sites that support PAD files. 3. Spend time building your own anti-piracy system. Implement the ability to disable registration codes. The only way to beat the hacker is make him believe that he has succeeded, so he will move on to something else.
Ivor S. Sargoytchev wrote: 3. Spend time building your own anti-piracy system. Implement the ability to disable registration codes. The only way to beat the hacker is make him believe that he has succeeded, so he will move on to something else. Do you have a way to see what registration codes have been hacked? What do you normally do to try and prevent this from happening?
There are 10 kinds of people in this world. Those who understand binary and those who don't. We shouldn't assume something's debugged just because everyone in the whole world has access to the source code.
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Ivor S. Sargoytchev wrote: 3. Spend time building your own anti-piracy system. Implement the ability to disable registration codes. The only way to beat the hacker is make him believe that he has succeeded, so he will move on to something else. Do you have a way to see what registration codes have been hacked? What do you normally do to try and prevent this from happening?
There are 10 kinds of people in this world. Those who understand binary and those who don't. We shouldn't assume something's debugged just because everyone in the whole world has access to the source code.
The only thing you can do is make it validate online when it registers, then monitor the wanna-be-hacker sites and if you see a registration code for your software, add it to your list of invalid codes. -- Rocky Dean Pulley
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who do you use for your reseller? I've been using element5 and so far I'm happy with them but I've been looking for a place that has site integration instead of just passing the link off.
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Ivor S. Sargoytchev wrote: 3. Spend time building your own anti-piracy system. Implement the ability to disable registration codes. The only way to beat the hacker is make him believe that he has succeeded, so he will move on to something else. Do you have a way to see what registration codes have been hacked? What do you normally do to try and prevent this from happening?
There are 10 kinds of people in this world. Those who understand binary and those who don't. We shouldn't assume something's debugged just because everyone in the whole world has access to the source code.
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BrockVnm wrote: What do you normally do to try and prevent this from happening? Don't use registration codes. Make your evaluation and licensed versions two separate programs.
That only makes it easier. One person buys it with a stolen credit card and now it's all over the 'net. -- Rocky Dean Pulley
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That only makes it easier. One person buys it with a stolen credit card and now it's all over the 'net. -- Rocky Dean Pulley
My program connects to my web server every time the user opens it and sends the user's registration code. The web server then checks the code against a database of hacked codes that I get from some hacker web sites. If the code was hacked the web server sends a special reply that reverts the program to evaluation expired state.
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My program connects to my web server every time the user opens it and sends the user's registration code. The web server then checks the code against a database of hacked codes that I get from some hacker web sites. If the code was hacked the web server sends a special reply that reverts the program to evaluation expired state.
What kind of software is it? This requires the user to be logged on to use it then I guess, if it's web software I guess that's ok. -- Rocky Dean Pulley
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What kind of software is it? This requires the user to be logged on to use it then I guess, if it's web software I guess that's ok. -- Rocky Dean Pulley
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who do you use for your reseller? I've been using element5 and so far I'm happy with them but I've been looking for a place that has site integration instead of just passing the link off.
I have had stuff setup with DigiBuy and with Reg.Net. I think that I like DigiBuy better. I also have Paypal setup to take payments, but people are still using DigiBuy instead. A few of the shareware that I have bought have had multiple purchasing systems available. That way you could use the one that you are already setup to use. A friend of mine switched from DigiBuy to do it himself. He got setup with a merchant account at a local bank and got setup to take payments. I am not sure that I like that, because i would rather not be responsibile for it myself. Steve Maier, MCSD MCAD
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Ivor S. Sargoytchev wrote: 3. Spend time building your own anti-piracy system. Implement the ability to disable registration codes. The only way to beat the hacker is make him believe that he has succeeded, so he will move on to something else. Do you have a way to see what registration codes have been hacked? What do you normally do to try and prevent this from happening?
There are 10 kinds of people in this world. Those who understand binary and those who don't. We shouldn't assume something's debugged just because everyone in the whole world has access to the source code.
The problem with trying to stop people from stealing or hacking a registration system is that you can spend 30-50 hours coming up with a decent system and someone with a debugger running can see what you are doing. That 30-50 hours could be better used to make your product better. A friend of mine had a CD Menuing system that he sells. He keeps updating the software, but there are old version online that have hacked reg codes. You just have to make your software something that people will want to register and not search for a hacked code. I have used 2 exes in the past and have not found a site giving away my free version. One thing that I am thinking of doing is to make a license file that includes the name and email address of the person that registered. That way of they share their license file, they are sharing a name and an email address with the world. They could be fake, but that will be the address I send the license file to, so it had to be valid at one time. Steve Maier, MCSD MCAD
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Ivor S. Sargoytchev wrote: 3. Spend time building your own anti-piracy system. Implement the ability to disable registration codes. The only way to beat the hacker is make him believe that he has succeeded, so he will move on to something else. Do you have a way to see what registration codes have been hacked? What do you normally do to try and prevent this from happening?
There are 10 kinds of people in this world. Those who understand binary and those who don't. We shouldn't assume something's debugged just because everyone in the whole world has access to the source code.
I guess that means if you come up with your own encryption algorithm it can still be hacked with a debugger. That just sucks! I guess its one of those things where you try to stay a step a head but its a never ending battle.... :sigh:
There are 10 kinds of people in this world. Those who understand binary and those who don't. We shouldn't assume something's debugged just because everyone in the whole world has access to the source code.
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I have had stuff setup with DigiBuy and with Reg.Net. I think that I like DigiBuy better. I also have Paypal setup to take payments, but people are still using DigiBuy instead. A few of the shareware that I have bought have had multiple purchasing systems available. That way you could use the one that you are already setup to use. A friend of mine switched from DigiBuy to do it himself. He got setup with a merchant account at a local bank and got setup to take payments. I am not sure that I like that, because i would rather not be responsibile for it myself. Steve Maier, MCSD MCAD
yea, that's the one thing that I really like about using a third party company to do processing and customer service. I don't have the resources to police things like fraud and such so I'd rather pay a little higher percentage of my profits for less headaches which I don't have time to deal with anyway. I'll check out digibuy though, if they have a system that you can make it look completely integrated with your own site then that's what I'd really like to move to.
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That only makes it easier. One person buys it with a stolen credit card and now it's all over the 'net. -- Rocky Dean Pulley
I don't buy that at all. It's far more tempting and far easier for someone to search for a registration code that will turn what they already have installed into a full version than is is for someone to find a site where they can download the full version of the program.
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Hi, I’m interested in selling some of my software as shareware. But I don’t know how I should do that. It would be great if I could get some tips or ideas on how to do that… Thanks
On the subject of anti-piracy (which other people have mentioned in this thread), there are products (http://www.download.com/SoftwareShield-System/3000-2216-10290247.html[^] / Main site[^]) which could help with that. Of course, you'll have to look at the limitations and throughness of the product (is it a pain for users, is it easy to break, ...) ----------------------------------------------------- Empires Of Steel[^]
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Hi, I’m interested in selling some of my software as shareware. But I don’t know how I should do that. It would be great if I could get some tips or ideas on how to do that… Thanks
1st: setup a corporation or a LLC for legal protection. 2nd: keep your software OFF download sites! Noone hacked my CheckFavorites product or created a reg key for my DeleteFXPFiles product until shortly after I uploaded them to download sites like Tucows, Soft32, FlashFiles, etc. As for reg keys, use a one-way hash (MD5, Tiger, etc.) as part of the key; it makes it a little harder. Making a subtle change to the algorithm (its registers) helps (a little). Debuggers like SoftICE can be detected by looking for the pipe it creates. Some others can be jerked around with by clever exception generation, or you can look for certain opcodes to see if a breakpoint has been set on common trap functions like
MessageBox(...). Lots of work, but you need to determine if your product is worth it. In my case (DelFXPFiles Server Edition is ~$200), it was worth it to cause as much trouble as possible. I have about 4 kinds of debugger checks and about 7 "reg key sanity" checks wrapped up in macros that are ALL OVER the code. That is why DelFXPFiles has never been regged, but they just finally reversed engineered my key algorithm. Just my $0.02... Peace! -=- James
If you think it costs a lot to do it right, just wait until you find out how much it costs to do it wrong!
Tip for new SUV drivers: Professional Driver on Closed Course does not mean your Dumb Ass on a Public Road!
DeleteFXPFiles & CheckFavorites -
Hi, I’m interested in selling some of my software as shareware. But I don’t know how I should do that. It would be great if I could get some tips or ideas on how to do that… Thanks
You want to get shareware out, it can be handy to look for tools that adds your software to tons of free/shareware directories on the net. Large sites like "Download.com" charge you money, but most do not and welcome new posts. I think Alongx had one of these programs I used in the past and worked well for getting the software listed. The only other main suggestion might be to get involved with Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP) if you have not already. They usually have information availble. Good luck on the business! Rocky <>< VS.NET 200? beta 2 coming soon with Go-Live[^]