I need to get my Marketplace in order...

09/28/2023 09:45:00 AM by Chris Toohey

Earlier this month I got an email that both delighted and embarrassed me: someone purchased a copy of one of my $5 apps.

I love that there is still a need out there for these solutions, and I of course appreciate the support... but I'm quite frankly embarrassed by the hack-job of a process that my "marketplace" is.

I'll explain...

When you buy one of my apps, you basically give me $5 through Paypal with the name of the "digital asset".

I then get an email, where I'll hop into my Stationary or Keep to grab the download URL, and send that to the lucky customer.

Half the time, Life allows me to do that before they wonder - in this day in age of understandable instant delivery of purchased digital goods - where the heck their $5 actually is and request a refund/issue a claim.

You'd think the number of times I've had to handle claims alone would have driven my hand...

If they filed a claim, I always issue a refund after sending them the purchased app. Not only was this never about money, but I consider it my "lazy coder" tax and the least I can do for such a bad experience.

It's not the horrific user experience or the number of claims I've had to handle over the years that kicked off this post, but a rather wonderful email I received earlier this week: a support question on one of those $5 apps which has been in production since 2010. At the time of this writing, that's 13 years. And these apps - and many more like them - are still useful.

I have to get my Marketplace in order.

I'm open to suggestions, and I have a few ideas in mind. Comment below or contact via the various methods at will.