Author Topic: Handango alternatives (Read 4472 times)

brownb2 · « **on:** July 02, 2004, 05:50:14 am »

Handango has recently lowered its royalty rate from 70% to 60%. With the UK exchange rate being so poor, added VAT and having to cost me a minimum Â£6 a throw on $ to Â£ conversion, I'm getting some 40-50% of the cost of the products back.

Can anybody suggest an alternative to Handango?

markw · « **Reply #1 on:** July 02, 2004, 06:21:19 pm »

You could make your own site and manually do it with paypal. I know of a guy who did it automatically actually with PHP, but that might be hard. If you sign up for a payapl account they will have some javascript you can post into your html page so you get a button that you click on to pay say $500 to you. You then receive an email stating that joe@schmoe.com sent you the $500 for such and such a thing, and instantly know it was super duper RSS feed reader, and email it (or a link) to him.

Zuber · « **Reply #2 on:** July 03, 2004, 06:26:07 am »

How about having an eBay Shop.

Not an auction (too costly repostin etc), just a shop.

You direct people there, they buy through paypal or whatever.

brownb2 · « **Reply #3 on:** July 05, 2004, 09:41:00 am »

I did hear of a site in Europe (German based I think) that was doing a similar service but can't remember its name - any ideas? With regards to PayPal, yes thats something I'd consider but is it tried and tested - have any other developers on ZUG gone down this route? I don't like the idea that the customer doesn't get the product on the spot. I have a few upcoming products that I will be selling ( I need to afford my new house somehow :/ ) and GPLing and I'd like some sort of site with counter.

Zuber · « **Reply #4 on:** July 05, 2004, 11:00:38 am »

What software is it that you are selling exactly ?

clivel · « **Reply #5 on:** July 05, 2004, 02:28:59 pm »

Quote

I did hear of a site in Europe (German based I think) that was doing a similar service but can't remember its name - any ideas?

Unfortunately it appears that Handango is where most people go to buy their Zaurus software, especially as the myzaurus.com site point directly to them. If Sharp was little bit more enthuisiastic about maintaining myzaurus.com, we could probably get them to have links to other sites, but then again pigs may fly.
You might want to try www.pdapointer.com, they have a category for Zaurus software. However I have only had one sale from them in the last year.
I found Handango's royalties were poor at the old rate, the new rate is closer to extortion. If this only applied to Zaurus software, I could understand it, as I doubt that the Zaurus softwares sales actually cover their costs. However, I believe that they have cut the royalties across the board. Perhaps it is time for someone else to start selling Zaurus software, but without the link from myzaurus.com, I don't think that they will have much success.

Regards,
Clive

brownb2 · « **Reply #6 on:** July 06, 2004, 02:09:19 pm »

Quote

What software is it that you are selling exactly ?

Currently just "Optimizer" (see killefiz) - very simple utility to track Zaurus file additions/deletions using profiles I wrote about a year ago in a few weekends. Useful for tracking internal storage memory usage, deleting changes and/or zipping changes. Very much hobbyist on the side work, but I've got a couple of bigger projects now mostly complete that I want to either GPL or charge (a small amount) for (I have a site redesign too). BTW how does anybody find the time for dev work outside of their paid job? Between my gf, socialising, travel and gaming time is very short....!
Looks like I'm stuck with Handango for the time being, I'll have a look into pdapal.

ev1l · « **Reply #7 on:** July 08, 2004, 02:52:54 am »

While I respect your right to sell your Z software, the whole point of buying an open-source based device kinda goes up in smoke if everyone releases what they do under proprietary licenses

Zuber · « **Reply #8 on:** July 08, 2004, 06:27:50 am »

I love the whole open source thing. Particularly where it leads to one person (or group of people) after another picking up the torch as others run into other comitments etc.

But I have no problem with people trying to make a living from their efforts.

As long as they are adding something, the quality of the work is good and the pricing is sensible. And of course they are not violating any open source licenses by charging for someone elses work.

ev1l · « **Reply #9 on:** July 08, 2004, 10:05:07 am »

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And of course they are not violating any open source licenses by charging for someone elses work.

That's a very broad statement to make. If you build upon GPL'ed source, nothing prevents you from charging for your app, but you *must* distribute the source along with your binaries, and anyone can redistribute the source and binaries for free.

tumnus · « **Reply #10 on:** July 08, 2004, 10:36:47 am »

Quote

Quote
And of course they are not violating any open source licenses by charging for someone elses work.
That's a very broad statement to make. If you build upon GPL'ed source, nothing prevents you from charging for your app, but you *must* distribute the source along with your binaries, and anyone can redistribute the source and binaries for free.

I don't think Zuber meant to put a full stop before the "And" and was referring to people writing closed-sourced apps with the commerical Qtopia SDK, while using GPL code, more than anything else.

Zuber · « **Reply #11 on:** July 08, 2004, 11:16:17 am »

Not trying to create any new legislation here

Just saying what I do and don't mind. I am aware you can charge as long as you include (or is that make available) the source etc.

brownb2 · « **Reply #12 on:** July 09, 2004, 10:44:47 am »

Quote

While I respect your right to sell your Z software, the whole point of buying an open-source based device kinda goes up in smoke if everyone releases what they do under proprietary licenses

I am actually a Linux evangelist. I could give away software and ask people to make a donation, if some 50% of the people did that I'd be happy. Uptake from reading other peoples views is that it is more commonly <2%. When people start donating money like they expect developers to give all of their source for free I'll switch. Realistically I need to make money (I'm just a lowly developer), and my end goal is to have a company in 10 years time and that will come with a cost. I use open source, and I give back (usually patches) and my next (a Black and White style - not like mozilla's) mouse gestures program for Windows) will be GPL.
As for my two existing projects, one is going to be open source and one closed, and both for Zaurus, ironically one is partly C# based...

ev1l · « **Reply #13 on:** July 12, 2004, 10:22:15 am »

C#? I wasn't aware mono was ported to the Z
In any case, good luck down the road

wavetossed · « **Reply #14 on:** July 12, 2004, 11:21:54 am »

If you do your own site, then don't use Paypal!!!

I say this as a potential customer. It is too much hassle to use Paypal to pay someone.

However, I did buy something from an online vendor who used NatWest Fastpay http://www.fastpay.com/ and it was more straightforward. Plus the fact that I trusted them to handle everything properly since they are a high street bank.

I wonder if there is something similar in America? On the other hand, people who are serious about online businesses seem to offer several payment mechanisms to give customers a choice.

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Author Topic: Handango alternatives (Read 4472 times)