Selling desktop software, how to best manage payment?
I'm building a desktop software that belongs to DAM category (Digital Asset Management). I'm about to work on the payment system, but I don't know, from the user's point of view, what is best: pay directly in app or pay online through the official website?
Definitely use a reseller like Paddle or Fastspring. You don't want to handle all the VAT issues. I'd go for selling a license through your website. It's easier to integrate, you reduce complexity in your application and as a user I'd be more inclined to buy using my (up-to-date) browser where I see the connections are encrypted and the reseller is well-known. I won't buy within an application by someone I don't know and perhaps have never heard of.
The payment system you'd have to integrate is a feature that is error-prone, extremely sensible to security issues and would be used only once by every user.
How does the licensing system work when a customer pays through the website and downloads your app? I'm just finishing my desktop app and have been worried about the whole licensing issue (Paddle is high on my list).
I was thinking I'd try to figure out the in-app purchase thing but it sounds like it would be easier to sell the license via my website. Do you still need to add code in your app so when the customer opens your app the first time, it triggers the license popup?
I've just added a "Enter license ..." window to the menu of my application. Without license it's working in Viewer mode only. When the user wants to use a Pro feature, he or she is prompted to enter or buy a license.
I coded the license verification system myself, using a Partial Serial Number Verification System. But there should be several libraries which help with this task. Of course this license system will be broken, once your application is well-known. But there is no way to avoid this without using a system that will annoy your (privacy aware) users.
My guess is that an in-app payment will lead to a better UX and conversion rate. Payment is a really complex beast, especially when you sell from Europe, where you have to transfer the Value-Added-Tax (VAT) to the country of the user / buyer. I would recommend you to use a desktop app store or a reseller which both handle the complex tax stuff for you. The reseller Paddle also has a Windows SDK for in-app purchases: https://paddle.com/solutions/windows/
That's exactly the point of my problem, which solution will give me the best conversion rate. Sure Paddle.com is my first choice for the moment because they handle VAT and it supports windows application (as I understood they even provide a checkout UI).
But I also agree with @Stefan22, buying through the web browser is seems more trusty for the user.
How are users getting the software? Are they able to download and use it first before they buy? Is it free to use for a certain period of time and then they're prompted to pay?
The business model is to let the user download the application for free. Then they can use the application forever with a feature limitation. That's why I'm considering in-app purchase to unlock more advanced features. Once they are using the application, it seems more straightforward to buy in-app. But then comes the trust/security concern which is real !
Yeah, as I user I'd actually prefer a web purchase since that's how I do most of my purchases anyway. +1 to @Stefan22's comment.