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
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[^]
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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.
You should also have a look at eSellerate. I'm using them for Surfulater (see sig) and am very happy with all aspects of there product. I especially like the ability for customers to purchase directly from within Surfulater, without having to go to a Web site etc. although they can still do that if they want. Neville Franks, Author of ED for Windows www.getsoft.com and Surfulater www.surfulater.com "Save what you Surf"
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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
Time limited activation keys are a good solution to this. It doesn't matter if a key gets posted on a warez site then. Internet based activation like in XP is also effective. Neville Franks, Author of ED for Windows www.getsoft.com and Surfulater www.surfulater.com "Save what you Surf"
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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
For ED (see sig) I use a system where the reg code only works for 14 days from the date of issue. Simple and very effective. Downside is you need to re-issue keys from time to time. For Surfulater I've moved to Net based product activation, like XP uses. Neville Franks, Author of ED for Windows www.getsoft.com and Surfulater www.surfulater.com "Save what you Surf"
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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.
You should also have a look at Regnow, I'm using them for CaptureSaver.
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