From past experience with 2checkout.com i would advise anyone to double-check in advance whether they really want to sell software with 2checkout.com. First of all the no no-refund policy attracts scammers and fraud like bees to a honeypot, and with this policy people can download the software and just demand a refund. Contrary to belief posted here, a chargeback on the other hand cannot be based on a “product was not satisfying”, at least not if the dispute is escalated properly. 2checkout.com basically puts all the risk to the vendor concerning this – this may work if the risk is factored into the product price. I assume this policy is a must for 2checkout.com because it is a reseller, but at the end of the day it is not competitive to payment providers.
We integrated complicated licensing schemes to work around this (timed licenses), just to find out that 2checkout.com did not want to resell our software. Our software was not on the prohibited list, however it was told to me by the risk department that our software was to risky anyways, because of “possible” legal problems. This “possible” risk, as explained to me really applies to pretty much all software that interfaces with another product, because by interfacing IP “maybe” be involved. At the end of the day 2checkout.com will not sell any software product that even has a remotely risk involved. This is probably also due to their status as a reseller.
I do understand their stance on this as a reseller, but one has to ask whether that model is suitable for any but the most mundane and simple software products. So my advice is before you get an account and start making a site that is suitable for 2checkout.com, triple check first whether it won’t be rejected out of the blue and ask yourself whether a regular payment provider does the job just fine.
Another issue probably is the lack of resilience against baseless complaints. A company that does not list software products with a residual risk, probably won’t keep it either when any complaint (whatsoever baseless) comes in.
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“Baseless complaints” are directly linked to savvy online consumers.
Unfortunately, almost all retail regulations favor the experience of the customer. Contrary to your belief, we do not issue refunds simply because the customer says so. We almost always try to involve the vendor (you) unless the customer is threatening a chargeback. A chargeback for service-related issues is much, much more expensive to both you and 2Checkout.
Additionally, 2CO can and will work with vendors to customize the layers of customer service as much as possible. I highly recommend that vendors work with representative at 2CO to post alerts and notice regarding features you’ve incorporated (such as timed licenses). Having this information available enables our staff to remind the consumer that their access will terminate if a refund is enacted — thus eliminating the “free” product model.
I’m sorry our Risk Group decided we couldn’t support your software. We’ve recently revised our Prohibited Products List so if 2CO was a good fit for you otherwise you may want to discuss your product with Risk again.
This was great input and shows a solid understanding of the differences between a reselling relationship with 2CO and other products.
Thank you.
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For the record, 2CO has been a great solution for my software. I am disheartened by the refunds sometimes, but I’ve had regular merchant accounts and the same thing occurs. It’s not specific to 2CO. Besides, they are essentially taking the risks, you just collect a paycheck. Is it perfect? Probably not, but what is? I think generally 2CO are good folks and offer a nice solution. It has worked great for me.