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[Carefree games]

So what I'm seeing is that these e-commerce services take my IP and I get only a small percentage of what I sell my game for.

WTF.

Or am I just dumb and they're the ones who recieve the royalties?

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

wrong on both counts

[Carefree games]

It sounded too bad to be true. So what is the deal here?

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

i suggest you read the thread

it's basically what 99% of indies use to sell their games on their own sites

[Carefree games]

I still don't get it after reading through the thread. I'm slow on learning anything related to money.

Since you seem to know what you're talking about, could you please just explain this so I can move on?

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

i thought it was pretty clear in the thread, but basically an e-commerce service is a system that accepts payment for you, sends a person a download link, and sends the money to you. they take a tiny percent for themselves

some people use paypal for this purpose, but others prefer an e-commerce service because paypal doesn't automatically send someone the game when they buy it, and paypal doesn't do a few other things that e-commerce services do (like fraud protection, discount codes, affiliate sales, letting people buy the game on cd rather than just as a download, collecting VAT taxes from people in europe, etc.)

so basically the simplest way to think of it is as sort of a very fancy paypal, one with special features designed for people selling things on the internet. but that's not the best analogy because you can't *put money* in an e-commerce service, or pay for things using funds from it, it's not a "bank" the way paypal is. it's just a way for people to buy things from you online

[Carefree games]

That was my original impression of it. I got confused when looking into it more extensively. Anyhow, that's just what I want.

Thank you.

[Klaim]

FastSpring isn't in the first post. I think that might be misleading, making it maybe to be taken less seriously.

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

that's because fastspring *didn't exist* when the first post was made, in 2007

[increpare]

I woke up and asked myself this morning "I'm selling a game, how should I sell it?", and I found this thread.  After reading it, I didn't feel like I had anything like a good answer.  

Nonetheless thought I'd update the OP as well as I could, updating fields.


Updating this as best I can (leaving in facts I can't verify/not verify).  Lots of missing info, so if people have anything to share... .  

One thing of particular interest is customer support, which isn't mentioned too much below.  

I'm also aware that I'm picking on paypal for the VAT thing when it's true for other sellers as well I think (google checkout in particular, I think?).  

Google checkout doesn't seem to be america-only anymore, though I haven't seen anyone using it for selling games...

Some places I couldn't get any info about - Direct2Drive, GamersGate.  If anyone knows about those, would be good to know.


edit: added fast-spring, and alphabetized

edit: pixelprospector's list of payment processors is very good.

BMT Micro

Pros: Reliable service, quick response, good affiliate network
Cons: Payment delay to Eastern Europe and Asia

Pricing Page: https://vendors.bmtmicro.net/newdevelopers/service_tiers.html

Cheapest Plan: 9.5%, $1.25 minimum

Used by: Lexaloffle


Desura

Pros: [ any suggestions from people who've used it to sell? ]
Cons: Windows/Linux only right now, requires client.

Pricing Page: no idea.

Cheapest Plan: can't find info online

Used by: VVVVVV, all recent Humble Bundle games.


eSellerate

Pros: Good service and support; they send money to Eastern Europe / Asia with no problems
Cons: Small affiliate network

Pricing Page: http://www.esellerate.net/pricing.asp

Basic Plan: 5.9%

Used by: Tee Gee (MAGI)


FastSpring

Pros: [ haven't used, some positive comments in this thread ]
Cons: [haven't used, suggestions from sellers welcome?]

Pricing Page: http://www.fastspring.com/pricing.php

Cheapest Plan: 5.9% plus $.95 or 8.9% flat

Used by: Studio Eres


Google Checkout

Pros: [haven't used, suggestions from sellers welcome?]
Cons: [haven't used, suggestions from sellers welcome?]

Pricing Page: https://checkout.google.com/seller/fees.html?hl=en&gl=GB/url]

Cheapest Plan: £0.20, plus 3.4% -> 1.4%, depending on monthly sales

Used by: don't know


Impulse

Pros: [haven't used, suggestions from sellers welcome?]
Cons: [haven't used, suggestions from sellers welcome?]

Pricing Page: [https://developer.impulsedriven.com/]https://developer.impulsedriven.com/[/url]

Cheapest Plan: 30%

Used by: World of Goo


Kagi

Pros: Popular for Mac games

Pricing Page: https://kagi.com/kagisolutions/pricing.php

Cheapest Plan: 2.5% + $1

Used by: Ambrosia Software


Paypal

Pros: Easy to use, well recognised.
Cons: You have to do your own VAT calculations + payments.  People tell me this is very scary, and has to be done on a per-country-of-purchase basis.  Have a history of withholding money for spurious reasons.

Pricing Page: https://cms.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/?cmd=_render-content&content_ID=merchant/merchant_fees

Cheapest Plan: 2.9% + $0.30

Used by: minecraft, World of Goo.  Indirectly, many ecommerce sites support it as a payment method.


Plimus

Pros: Great affiliate network
Cons: Less reliable service, payment delay to Eastern Europe and Asia

Pricing Page: http://home.plimus.com/ecommerce/sellers/pricing

Average Plan: 15% for $5-$9, 10% for $9-$50

Used by: Grubby Games


RegNow

Pros: [haven't used, suggestions from sellers welcome?]
Cons: [haven't used, suggestions from sellers welcome?]

Pricing Page: http://www.regnow.com/static/features.html

Cheapest Plan: 6.9% + $1

Selling CDs: they take 80%?

Used by: Pom Pom


Steam

Pros: Cross platform, lots of people, main source of income for most PC developers who are on it.
Cons: Hard to get on to, slow to respond sometimes, DRM, need a client to install.

Pricing Page: all under NDA, but some info here

Cheapest Plan: Under NDA I think, but 30% according to wiki, unless I'm reading it wrong.

Used by: everyone who can, almost.


share*it

Pros: [haven't used, suggestions from sellers welcome?]
Cons: [haven't used, suggestions from sellers welcome?]

Pricing Page: http://www.shareit.com/onecommunity/index.html (link on sidebar)

Basic Plan: 4.9% + $1%

Used by: Oxeye Game Studio (Strategist)


SWReg

Pricing Page: http://www.swreg.org/pricing/comparison.htm

Cheapest Plan: $1.5 minimum.  plans: 6% + $1, $20 a month (+some other fees I think (bandwidth, at least)). 2.9% + $1[/b], $0 a month (+some other fees, no bandwidth). 0% + $.99 (+some other fees, no bandwidth fee, have to host download with them I think?)

Selling CDs: $8 ea.

Used by: Moonpod, Chronic Logic


Apple App Store

Pros: Preferred way of purchasing applications on OSX
Cons: A little bit at apple when it comes to promotions/&c., OSX-only.

Pricing Page: http://developer.apple.com/programs/mac/distribution.html

Cheapest Plan: 30%, plus $90 a year (separate fee for mac and iOS app stores)

Used by: most people with mac games (VVVVVV, Cogs, Charlie's Games, &c.)

[moi]

BMT micro is generally well regarded by indie devs, whereas plimus is to be avoided.
Check indiegamer.com for more infos.