Xref: utzoo comp.sys.mac:12847 comp.sys.ibm.pc:12053
Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!looking!brad
From: brad@looking.UUCP (Brad Templeton)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac,comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: A Solution to the Shareware Dilemma?
Message-ID: <1422@looking.UUCP>
Date: 21 Feb 88 20:48:31 GMT
References: <8502@sunybcs.UUCP> <6973@oberon.USC.EDU> <120@hodge.UUCP> <889@ima.ISC.COM>
Reply-To: brad@looking.UUCP (Brad Templeton)
Organization: Looking Glass Software Ltd.
Lines: 40

In article <889@ima.ISC.COM> johnl@ima.UUCP (John R. Levine) writes:
>There exist companies with 800 numbers, operators standing by, computer
>terminals at the ready, all prepared to take your name, address, order, and
>credit card number. They keep lists of common questions that the operators can
>answer, and can refer more technical calls elsewhere. Many of them will even
>electronically deposit the bank charges in your account. It seems to me that
>shareware authors would be smart to make an arrangement with such a company.
>Their charges are not bad, typically only a few dollars per order.

Well, I daresay I could be wrong, but none of the ones I have talked to will
charge the credit cards for you and forward you the money.  That's very
risky.

It's no accident that the credit card companies require that, in order
to take Visa or MC, you have a reputable business that has been in
operation with no credit problems for a full year.  99% of shareware
"suppliers" don't meet this qualification, and so can't charge on
credit cards.

Note also that if you take phone orders, without signatures, then the
customer is entitled to cancel any payment for any reason whatsoever.
Very few 800 number services (or Shareware consortiums) would be willing
to take on this risk without taking a juicy cut of the receipts.

Finally, most 800 number services, while quite reasonable at only a couple
of dollars per order, do demand a monthly minimum of a few hundred dollars.
(This varies.)  This minimum would eat all the profits of the typical
shareware "vendor."

Other than that, I think the idea of a shareware consortium would be
excellent, and would get more people to contribute.  Certainly, without
it, shareware is a big farce that doesn't work.

Too bad there isn't a way to make shareware programs have a limited usage
count.  That would be the proper solution.  Full usage, try-before-you-buy
for a month (or N times), and pay if you like the program enough to go
beyond that.  But there's no way to implement that until we get serial
numbers in the hardware or OS/2.
-- 
Brad Templeton, Looking Glass Software Ltd. - Waterloo, Ontario 519/884-7473