Managing Plugin Licences

[TheWaveWarden]

So I am preparing for my first commercial release. I am wondering how plugin licencing is done best. I imagine a system where the user enters a serial number which checks with a server of mine to verify authentication. It is probably not the best idea to share my detailled plans for this in a public forum, so let’s leave it at that.

Now what I am wondering is how this works with plugin resellers. The user buys the plugin in some online-shop. Will they send a serial number to my server? Do I need to generate serial numbers and send them to the user?

I tried contacting a known plugin reseller but they basically said they would need to inspect the finished product before even considering to sell it. By then it is probably a bit late to start license management implementation.

[pflugshaupt]

There are usually two options for this:

1. They sell from a list of serials you provide to them before starting to sell. You’ll just get notifications about who bought which serial.
2. They do a serial generation handshake with your server, where they’ll send the order details and you have to answer with a serial number to send to the customer - this requires a reliable server (with https) and some web coding skills.

[gustav-scholda]

I can totally recommend Keyzy. Works great with a pregenerated list in conjunction with fastspring. No need for a reseller, unless you want to share your revenue with them just my 2 cents

[TheWaveWarden]

Thanks for your answers!

@pflugshaupt

There are usually two options for this:

1. They sell from a list of serials you provide to them before starting to sell. You’ll just get notifications about who bought which serial.
2. They do a serial generation handshake with your server, where they’ll send the order details and you have to answer with a serial number to send to the customer - this requires a reliable server (with https) and some web coding skills.

Great, pregenerating the serials seems like the way to go!

@gustav-scholda

I can totally recommend Keyzy. Works great with a pregenerated list in conjunction with fastspring. No need for a reseller, unless you want to share your revenue with them just my 2 cents

I’ll take a look at Keyzy, thanks.

Do you run your own online shop? I was under the impression that a reseller takes a lot of weight off your shoulders with regards to payment options and taxes as you’re selling worldwide.

[gustav-scholda]

@TheWaveWarden

Do you run your own online shop? I was under the impression that a reseller takes a lot of weight off your shoulders with regards to payment options and taxes as you’re selling worldwide.

Yes, I’m using fastspring but there are many options, most of them offer wordpress plugins too. They do all the invoicing and payment for you, you only need a website so users can access your store.

[hugoderwolf]

@TheWaveWarden

Do you run your own online shop? I was under the impression that a reseller takes a lot of weight off your shoulders with regards to payment options and taxes as you’re selling worldwide.

Payment, shop and taxes are quite easy to solve with something like Fastspring or 2checkout. Technically they are also resellers (that’s how they handle the taxes for you), but they don’t really care about your product or how much you make, so it’s your job to actually get customers to buy. You can also use a pure payment processor like Stripe, but then you have to take care of international VAT handling yourself.
A proper reseller or distributor specialized on audio software is interesting if they can reach customers that you can’t, for example via their own shop or by distributing to the likes of Sweetwater or Thomann. They will only take on products that they think will sell well to their existing customers, that’s why they want to see it. But you don’t necessarily need them if you just want some way for customers to conveniently buy your stuff.