SWREG dropped its fees to $1 + 2.9%

[Josiah Pisciotta - CL]

Has anyone noticed that swreg.org dropped its rates from $1 + 6% per order to $1 + 2.9%? They recently (in the last year or so) had raised their rates from $1 + 4% to $1 + 6%, but if you already had an account at the 4% rate you did not have to change. Anyone have any idea why all the changes or switched over to the new rate yet? I guess it probably has to do with swreg.org being purchased by digital river, but not sure why the rate would jump around so much, maybe in the new contract it says they can raise the rate whenever they like so they want everyone to switch to the seeming lower rate so they can raise it later :)

[Coyote]

Interestingly enough, Plimus advertises that they will match or beat any advertised rate less than theirs. So that's effectively.... what... 8% for a $20 game? I wonder if we could talk Plimus down, huh?

[Josiah Pisciotta - CL]

Yeah looks like that would be exactly 7.9% on a $20 game. That would be a nice drop from 10%

[Tertsi]

Even BMTMicro's 9.5% is lower than Plimus's 10%. Do note that SWREG won't return the fee on refund. Does Plimus? At least BMTMicro returns the fee partially.

[Coyote]

Not sure about refunds, but Plimus keeps it on a chargeback.

[Josiah Pisciotta - CL]

I think with the previous rate of $1 + 4% swreg would return the $1 on refunds but keep the 4%. It does look like they changed this though, but still it would still be worth it unless you get a LOT of refunds

[Sillysoft]

Interestingly enough, Plimus advertises that they will match or beat any advertised rate less than theirs.
Hmmm... I was not aware of this. Sure enough, it says so right here (http://plimus.com/fee_schedule_solutions.html). Has anybody ever tried contacting plimus about this?

[Jack Norton]

Not sure about refunds, but Plimus keeps it on a chargeback.

Well what sux is that they also issue you a -15$ chargeback fee, if your sales volume isn't high enough (don't remember the ratio). This effectively helps people who sell a lot and penalizes the ones just starting.
Also, I'm not aware of any other vendor that has this fee - a real pity because except for that Plimus has always been a good vendor.

[Nikster]

They keep it on refunds too, not a mistake i'll be making in a hurry again :)

[Polycount Productions]

SWREG pricing:
http://www.swreg.org/pricing.htm

Chargeback : We keep our commission plus $5 fee if not prior retrieval received

Chargeback on over-ridden order : $15 (By over-ridden we mean where our system has blocked an order but the vendor has specifically instructed us to complete it.)

File download bandwidth fee: 1 cent Per megabyte. (optional)

[Ryan Clark]

I talked to Plimus, and they said they're happy to match the SWREG terms, but we have to accept all of them. Including:

RBS/EDS. You will be required to offer SWREG's Registration Backup Service
(RBS) or Electronic Download Service (EDS) EDS to all End Users independent of
integration level. SWREG shall set and maintain all pricing for RBS and EDS.
We agree to pay You 20% of the sales price for each approved order of RBS or
EDS. These services provide storage of Your file or registration code on Our
server for the End User to re-download or re-register their purchase up to one
year, by providing the End User a download link or registration code. The use
of EDS or RBS is based upon whether Your product contains a download file
(EDS), key generator link, or list of keycodes (RBS). We If You fail to offer
RBS or EDS to all End Users, SWREG. Reserves the right to suspend Your account.
Yuck!

[Tertsi]

Heheh, they try to wriggle their way out of their claim.

[Ryan Clark]

Well, I don't blame them for requiring you to accept the entire terms of the SWREG agreement. The $1 + 2.9% sounds nice, but gotchas like this "Registration Backup Service" are what allow SWREG to make up the extra money they're giving away with the $1 + 2.9%.

There's always a catch!

[cliffski]

I don't think plimus are wriggling. regnow and swreg seem to have lower rates, but want you to jump through some evil hoops to get them.
I much prefer plimus' approach, they charge a reasonable(ish) rate, and let me sell to my customers the way I want to, without silly add ons.
Its amazing how many companies want to leap into your order page and peddle their wares. I notice even my poor innocent kudos buyers get the yahoo toolbar hard sell. grrrrrr.

[Pyabo]

I notice even my poor innocent kudos buyers get the yahoo toolbar hard sell. grrrrrr.

Really? That sucks... please tell me it's just an ad on the page and not part of the installer!?

[amaranth]

Really? That sucks... please tell me it's just an ad on the page and not part of the installer!?

It's part of the installer. The users can choose not to install it, but it's easy to accidentally not unmark that checkbox.

I like Plimus too. They are the easiest for me to deal with and they keep it simple. BMT Micro is fine, but I still prefer the simplicity of Plimus. I'm not going to talk about how I really feel about RegNow...

[Sillysoft]

I do think it's fair for plimus to require a full matching offer. I like plimus and am happy to use them, but if they offer to match any rate, might as well take them up on it.

I'm sure there's some other better advertised rates out there without nasty conditions. Like 2checkout.com (http://www.2checkout.com/home.html) has:
* $49 one time signup fee
* $0.45 per Sale
* 5.5% of Sale Amount

[Grey Alien]

I'm thinking of signing up with BMTMicro today providing they can handle VAT properly for U.K. Ltd. companies...I assume most people go for the "webseller standard" package with 9.5% fees?

[Tertsi]

At least BMT lets you handle VAT yourself so that they won't charge VAT. Just contact them.

[Fost]

'Buyer' beware. The new swreg contract requires you let them try to sell their key backup system. I particularly dislike this type of thing, since we already provide an equivalent system for free to our customers, and their system won't even work with what we are doing.

They also require you let them sell other products in the purchase complete page. They are a little vague on the details.

There's no way to opt out of this, and they aren't offering the old plan to new customers (although existing customers can stick with the old plan).

The vibe I'm getting off the swreg yahoo group is that DR are pushing this no matter what their users think (makes sense, they probably make a ton of extra revenue from selling those key backup services), and most of them think it's a pretty bad idea.

Right now I'm just monitoring it, and I've been looking into other services just in case.

[Josiah Pisciotta - CL]

Yeah I don't like this move my swreg at all. I am also looking into switching to another solution if necessary. I asked to have my account switched over to the new pricing and then they sent me a link to the new contract and switched my account at the same time. After reading the contract I told them I do not accept the new terms and requested my account to be switched back. SWREG asked why I did not want the new pricing and contract, so I explained why I don't want my customers to be sold stuff they didn't request to buy (the RBS/EDS). Now we will see if they are going to switch me back or if I am going to have to switch to a new company.

[mokkbs]

I'm thinking of signing up with BMTMicro today providing they can handle VAT properly for U.K. Ltd. companies...I assume most people go for the "webseller standard" package with 9.5% fees?

I highly recommend BMT. They were right for me. Used them for 3+ years.

Send me email at mok - at - killerbeesoftware.com if you have specific questions you'd like answered about them.

[ManuTOO]

Just a few notes on BMT, that I switched to 5 months ago.
Bad things:
- they have a 8% spread on euro/pound sales ! So basically, fee for euro/pound sales is not 9.5%, but 16.7% ... That applies when you have only a dollar balance. You can open an euro and a pound balance, but then, you'll have to face the massive 40€ fee for your payment by wire transfer, and you can't choose to get your euro payment by paypal...
For comparison, Paypal spread is 2.5%, and ShareIt is around 0% (they have a bit special system, not easy to be sure of their spread)
- they don't have multi-language order forms, you have to provide them by yourself if you want to (I did the standard one in french, so you may ask them to use it)
- they don't use mass payment for your monthly paypal payment, so by default, you're going to pay a ~4% fee, instead of a $1 fee :-S (Plimus uses mass payment and takes in charge the $1 fee !!) ; fortunately, you can ask to swap to e-Check paypal payment that is capped to $5 (and it gives a delay of 3 or 4 days to receive your payment)

Good things :
- they refund for free double orders !!
- they process other refund for 7%, not the initial fee of 9.5% (contrary to most other resellers)
- for charge-back, they also don't keep all the initial fee (not sure of the rate, I never had one with them so far :) )