Comments on: Giving The Buyer Their Purchase

By: Sarah

Sarah — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 09:42:44 +0000

Cheers for your input Will. I think I'll probably go for your approach in the long run, but get the download link method working at first so that I can get this up before Christmas. I'd hope to get it all done by then but if we're moving in the next month I can't see it happening!

By: Will

Will — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 20:56:57 +0000

Ah, I actually meant for me to be redirected and logged in immediately after payment i.e. before I even check for a confirmation email:nn1) I decide to buy.n2) You collect my email and password.n3) I make the purchase.n4) You process the IPN and create my account.n5) You redirect me to the download page within the secure area, logging me in automatically.n6) You send an email confirmation with login URL and access credentials in case (5) didn't work out.n7) I download the product.nnI did this a while ago using information from the transaction as login credentials so that buyer didn't even need to supply a password. To login, they used their email address and payment transaction reference.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 20:25:38 +0000

Thanks for your comments both. Will I like your idea of auto logging in from a link. I should be able to do that easily enough. Not something I thought of but this way it'll get people straight into the user's area, straight to the download link but also allow them to look around whilst they're there.nnCheers

By: Will

Will — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 19:39:13 +0000

As a buyer, I'd prefer to have an account already created for me and the download link presented to me immediately after purchase. This would mean capturing a username/email and password pre-purchase, but it means I could be automatically logged into my ready-made account immediately after purchase.nnI'd also like an email confirmation with login URL, username and password in case my browser/connection dies after purchase, but before I get to download.nnSo,nn1) I decide to buy.n2) You collect my email and password.n3) I make the purchase.n4) You process the IPN and create my account.n5) You send an email confirmation with login URL and access credentials.n6) You redirect me to the download page within the secure area, logging me in automatically.n7) I download the product.

By: Jalaj P. Jha

Jalaj P. Jha — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 06:43:24 +0000

From Buyers point of view..nI would like to have a mail with download link… in case email is not recieved, then a way to get that…nnFrom Sellers point of view (or rather developer's)…nSending mail for the first time… no problem as always used to benIf not recieved! provide a link with functionality similar to "Forgot Password" allowing buyer to give his email id and the mail being resent in the process.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 15:42:58 +0000

Hey Brian,nnThanks for your reply. I wouldn't have a long registration form plus I can push any information captured on my site through to PayPal anyhow I would simply ask for a name and email (and maybe password or generate one for them). That's not too much to ask is it?nnHowever I think I'm going with a combo of 2 and 3 as per my other comment. Whether I grab their name and email on the site or just get their paypal email from the order and they can do their name another time if they want to update their account.

By: Brian

Brian — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 15:37:10 +0000

If you want to do option #3, probably the most efficient way would be to create an account automatically on checkout and email the customer their password in the email instructing them how to download their order.nnA big advantage to this is that they don't need to ever log in when purchasing an item. If an existing customer returns to purchase something else, their order will be added to their existing order history because it would be index by their paypal email address. If they choose to add additional information to their account such as their name and address, they should have that option.nnThe PayPal IPN checkout is already complicated enough, having to jump from your site to theirs and back again. I wouldn't complicate it with a long registration form.nnIMO.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 10:27:42 +0000

So a buyer wants option 2, and a seller should use option 3. How about a combination of both? (Of course this is way past potential overkill now!).nnBuyer purchases product(s), is automatically emailed the download link (which would be unique and only work for say 2 attempts for 24 hours so publicising it isn't really an issue), but they're automatically created an account and emailed login details if they wish to use that method too, where details of offers could be given. I don't know what sort of upsell I could offer but it would give potential to offer new items to previous customers first, or offer discounted products to them.nnKills two birds with one stone? Buyer gets what they want and I can offer what a seller should offer which may be used by some buyers.nnWith this method I could get the download link bit done first and then launch the new set up, allowing me to get that out quicker but still continue to work on the login area for future usage.nnI'm just thinking out loud here really Cheers for the comments. As a buyer I'd prefer option 3 but then again I only really shop on Amazon

By: Gary

Gary — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 08:08:53 +0000

As a buyer I would want to receive a download link.nnAs a seller, you should have them log back into your site to get the product – this gives the chance of an upsell (if that's something you want to do), get them onto a maiing list (perhaps for new, product updates etc), and also to give your site better visitor stats should you ever want to sell it

By: thatedeguy

thatedeguy — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 01:14:05 +0000

For the obvious reasons that you mentioned, the email delivery is really not the ideal way to do it. Neither is the third, login/membership type of delivery.nnOne of the best ways I've seen to do this is to dynamically create a link that redirects to the download link. Of course, you've got to give the link a time limit or a download limit. Some way of limiting the loss if it gets publicized.