Putting Shopping Basket Functionality On My Website

[samran]

Hi everyone,

Apologies in advance if I haven't used the correct terminology, but I'm looking to find out about shopping baskets and payment gateways.

I'm in the position where I want to put a report on a website I run, and I want to charge people money to purchase it.

I'd also like to be able to somehow protect that report, so whoever downloads it and pays for it can use it, but not send it to others for free.

Is there anyway to acheive this? And what would be involved in setting up these facilities.

Many thanks in advance.

[TwoDogz]

I am doing a similar thing for a book.

Was told there is no hope in hell really of protecting it even if you lock it and use various tools, if they want to copy it they will and expect to see it available on torrent sites to download for free at sometime in the near future.

The cost for mine is incorporated into a website build, so no idea re just adding something like that.

[jaysun]

the best way is to learn to code it yourself, but if you are not interested in that, places like godaddy.com (not the only place to try) have apps you can auto-install, including shopping apps. so just find a webhost provider that has what you are looking for.

alternatively, try somewhere like ebay or amazon marketplace to host your digital item.

[SlideRiceFC]

Wordpress + WooCommerce should get you sorted. Both are free and will allow download after payment is processed. That would be your set it and forget it option.

You could always add a payment button and send the product via email after confirming purchase but customers generally don't like something that isn't instant and it's more work for you since the process isn't automated.

[WilliaminBKK]

I am not sure how to protect your report once it is out there I believe it can be copied or forwarded.

I've used issuuu in the past for a nice style report, I also know someone who uses e-junkie with a shopping cart for a report but no protection once purchased.

http://www.e-junkie.com/

Please post if you find anything that protects you.

[Sateev]

One idea: .pdf files can be password protected. It might be possible to password-protect it with the purchaser's credit card number, which is something he wouldn't want disseminated. In addition to using it as his password, you could print it as a footer on each page of the report, like, "This report specially prepared for John Doe, Visa # xxxx-yyyy-zzzz-000, exp. 12/2013" The .pdf can have printing restricted, too.

PayPal might present a problem, however, because they hide all the credit card details from you. And it's not all THAT hard to crack the password of a .pdf file.

If it's a business report, most people who pay good money for such a report are unlikely to give it away at all, much less make a torrent of it. It largely depends on your target customer. Obsolescence is another strategy, with the added benefit of encouraging return sales. Think of the guys doing investment newsletters.

In the end, there is really no way to prevent copying if you provide the info in human readable form, but by knowing your target audience, and making it inconvenient, you might be able to keep your losses in check.

Edited July 31, 2012 by Sateev

[TwoDogz]

One idea: .pdf files can be password protected. It might be possible to password-protect it with the purchaser's credit card number, which is something he wouldn't want disseminated. In addition to using it as his password, you could print it as a footer on each page of the report, like, "This report specially prepared for John Doe, Visa # xxxx-yyyy-zzzz-000, exp. 12/2013" The .pdf can have printing restricted, too.

Nice idea, I wonder if it is possible.

How would it be added to each page of an already prepared and locked PDF though ?

You could limit the info on it to just enough to scare the person and also make it obvious with there name on it and maybe card number but no expiry or other codes on it etc.

But then again, surely anyone in the know and still wants to do it could print or get into the pdf and delete it all.

But this makes it an obstacle and harder to do, an effort is required and most could not be screwed and if the pdf got out into the mainstream copy field for free, if a persons name was plastered across the bottom, you could hit them up for copyright infringement perhaps...just another thought for them not to do it and pass onto friends etc.

[Sateev]

Nice idea, I wonder if it is possible.

How would it be added to each page of an already prepared and locked PDF though ?

You could limit the info on it to just enough to scare the person and also make it obvious with there name on it and maybe card number but no expiry or other codes on it etc.

But then again, surely anyone in the know and still wants to do it could print or get into the pdf and delete it all.

But this makes it an obstacle and harder to do, an effort is required and most could not be screwed and if the pdf got out into the mainstream copy field for free, if a persons name was plastered across the bottom, you could hit them up for copyright infringement perhaps...just another thought for them not to do it and pass onto friends etc.

You could 'print' the .pdf on demand, and pass the footer info to it at that time, and then lock it. By 'you', I mean code could be written to do it as part of the ordering process.

I think the major weakness is having to give credit card info in the first place, however. PayPal and GoogleCheckout and similar services exist to allow customers to avoid the trust issues with online credit transactions.

Very interesting problem - and again, it depends largely on your target audience.

Edited July 31, 2012 by Sateev

[TwoDogz]

Agree about the credit cards, perhaps just the customers name and address then as you would need these for shipping etc and can be explained away on the bottom of the pages for the right reasons.

Anyone with the right intentions would/should not be bothered by it.

Are you saying that by writing the code for it, it can be automatically loaded onto the copy that the customer downloads and when he opens it, there it is, his unique copy with his name on it. He cannot send it electronically unless he does not care his name is on it, nor can he print a copy and send it for same reason.

This would stop the lazy person from doing it and anybody that does not know how to get into it and delete it. But not the serious chap and it only takes one, so would it be worthwhile percentage wise ?

[h90]

One idea: .pdf files can be password protected. It might be possible to password-protect it with the purchaser's credit card number, which is something he wouldn't want disseminated. In addition to using it as his password, you could print it as a footer on each page of the report, like, "This report specially prepared for John Doe, Visa # xxxx-yyyy-zzzz-000, exp. 12/2013" The .pdf can have printing restricted, too.

Nice idea, I wonder if it is possible.

How would it be added to each page of an already prepared and locked PDF though ?

You could limit the info on it to just enough to scare the person and also make it obvious with there name on it and maybe card number but no expiry or other codes on it etc.

But then again, surely anyone in the know and still wants to do it could print or get into the pdf and delete it all.

But this makes it an obstacle and harder to do, an effort is required and most could not be screwed and if the pdf got out into the mainstream copy field for free, if a persons name was plastered across the bottom, you could hit them up for copyright infringement perhaps...just another thought for them not to do it and pass onto friends etc.

I recently cracked a pdf password...it isn't hard at all.....

[kmj]

The short answer is you can't protect it and who are you going to employ to check all the selling sites (ebay etc) to search if your hard work is being sold by someone else?

[samran]

Thanks for in the input guys. Very useful.

A few of the issues raised in this thread are things I've somewhat considered, and there isn't any easy answer so it seems. The report I'm looking at selling won't be cheap, but also the clientel isn't one which necessarily shares things like this on an online board, and we are talking of price point here of perhaps $1000+ per report. In that case, two things will happen, either they will give it away, or ( given that most of the potential give-awayee's are competitors) they'll hold onto it cause they've paid quite a bit of it. I'm assuming the latter.

Edited August 1, 2012 by samran

[SimonMrPics]

Protecting the file-

Another solution, apart from password protecting a PDF file, is to deliver the information via a password protected members site. Ie they go to your website login to view the information - this is the most common solution in these situations.

Its not a physical file, but all the information can be there - its just hard/impossible to distribute in the same way a pdf is-

Hope that helps!

Simon

[Sandman77]

Are this programms free to use?

Or is there a yearly license price?

How much is the web space and traffic in Thailand unlimited?

How much a com domain?

Want also open a online shop this year!

eBay fees are to high now pay every month around 200€

And last question how I can I integrated veryfy by visa payment in the shop when I not want accept PayPal?

[MobileContent]

Are this programms free to use? Or is there a yearly license price? How much is the web space and traffic in Thailand unlimited? How much a com domain? Want also open a online shop this year! eBay fees are to high now pay every month around 200€ And last question how I can I integrated veryfy by visa payment in the shop when I not want accept PayPal?

We use Verified by Visa and our payment gateway is Krunsgri Bank which allows us to accept Visa, Master and JCB cards.

Magento is a nice E-Commerce shopping cart system which is free to use with a lot of plugin's.

[Fortunate]

Try paysbuy. Takes many credit card types and accepts lots of currencies. Good luck with your businesss.

https://www.paysbuy.com/paysbuy_direct.aspx

[scorecard]

Thanks for in the input guys. Very useful.

A few of the issues raised in this thread are things I've somewhat considered, and there isn't any easy answer so it seems. The report I'm looking at selling won't be cheap, but also the clientel isn't one which necessarily shares things like this on an online board, and we are talking of price point here of perhaps $1000+ per report. In that case, two things will happen, either they will give it away, or ( given that most of the potential give-awayee's are competitors) they'll hold onto it cause they've paid quite a bit of it. I'm assuming the latter.

Hi Samran, Sawasdee Songkran, would you care to share the subject / nature of the report(s) your selling, please?

Edited April 15, 2013 by scorecard

[wolf5370]

There is no way of really protecting it - at worst they can always screen print it page by page - just no way to stop that.

However, as it seemingly a business report of some kind, and an expensive one, it may be better to just do what the film industry does and watermark the report on each page with the name of the buyer (this can be done via a server side program before sending out) - I would think most companies would be reluctant to share a doc knowing their name is plastered all over it and they are in breach of contract in doing so. Screen prints could always be photoshopped, but this makes it hard (especially for long reports) and frankly, who would bother. Couple this with basic PDF locking to stop accidental breakage of the agreement (if it is not simple as SaveAs then user knows it is a protected document and he may be violating some agreement - if its unlocked, might not occur to them).

As to shopping basket, plenty of options. Three basic categories here I think: Write you own and incorporate your own site based merchant system (not advised); use a third party site and hand over (PayPal etc); Sell item through a third party and simply link to its sales page (Amazon etc).

Good luck.