Filesprout on HackerShow

Web and SaaS

digital goods sales

SHOW HN2015

Creators selling files from their own host, Dropbox etc.

Shown by latteperday on Sep 1, 2015. Click the card to turn it over.

63points

34comments

#443of 2,565 in 2015

Top 18%of 2015 by points

How HN took it

RoastedHalf or more of the comments are critical

2 positive, 6 neutral or asking, 0 mixed, 13 critical, out of 21 comments about the project. Thread score -0.44.

Pricing: 2 for, 7 againstPrivacy: 0 for, 5 againstDocs: 0 for, 1 against

Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.

positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker

Could work well for small vendors if VAT is handled
From 1 comment
- IF someone provides the service with the VAT support i think it could actually work quite well for a lot of small vendors.
  calgoo on HN

Does not handle EU VAT MOSS
From 2 comments
- > How does it handle VAT MOSS on digital goods in the EU? They don't. See: https://filesprout.com/support/what-do-i-need.html "If after talking with a professional you are…
  BrentOzar on HN
- How does it handle VAT MOSS on digital goods in the EU? The new rules state that sellers must charge VAT at the rate of the buyer's country and must record evidence of the…
  davb on HN
5% fee seems steep on top of payment processor fees
From 2 comments
- 5% seems a little steep on top of what Paypal or Stripe take.
  et2o on HN
- taking 5% for doing what exactly? I assume this does not include the paypal fee right? so those guys are basically charging at least 1,5% more than paypal for handling what a…
  ousta on HN
Hidden links are not secure; piracy not addressed
From 3 comments
- Hidden != Secure Punting on this is kinda ridiculous.
  sitkack on HN
- More importantly, how do they solve "upload the download up to my dropbox and share that"
  Vendan on HN
- How do I link to the file without it being public in the first place? I'd want it to not be publicly accessible, but only accessible through the purchase. If the link is just…
  izzydata on HN
Grey text on white background hard to read
From 1 comment
- Pretty sure that won't work. You need to add the VAT in the buyer's region, not the seller's. This is of course a nightmare to manage. See:…
  Coding_Cat on HN

Clarify whether 5% covers Stripe/PayPal fees
From 2 comments
- I initially assumed they were covering the Stripe/Payal fees, in which case 5% sounds like a very fair deal. Definitely needs to be clarified...
  ohitsdom on HN
- taking 5% for doing what exactly? I assume this does not include the paypal fee right? so those guys are basically charging at least 1,5% more than paypal for handling what a…
  ousta on HN
Make the file proxy info more prominent
From 1 comment
- They need to put that info in a more prominent location
  hasenj on HN

Gumroad
From 2 comments
- Sounds like what https://gumroad.com/ used to be when it started (am I remembering correctly?).
  nitrogen on HN
- So quickly checked out Gumroad's fees and it's 5% + 25 cents per transaction. This is a similar a similar service but you can just store the files locally, minus the 25 cents…
  an4rchy on HN
Memberful
From 1 comment
- Memberful already does this really well, and provides a number of other features. Memberful.com
  deedubaya on HN
Leanpub
From 2 comments
- leanpub does it for books
  adzicg on HN
- how are you handling redownloads later? I used to offer my books through my web site directly, but I moved everything to leanpub because I didn't want to respond to 'bought six…
  adzicg on HN
SnappyCheckout
From 1 comment
- SnappyCheckout has been rocking this functionality for several years now... and they're cheaper as well.
  mjnaus on HN