Paypal to offer Secure Downloads? Possibly!
On my usual early morning hunt through my bookmarks I came across a thread in one of the forum which led me to the TechCrunch Blog and in particular an interesting thread about Paypal making some additions to their arsenal of products…
Paypal DropBox
No-one knows for sure exactly what the new offering is for, but it makes perfect sense that Paypal will start to run it's own Digital Download Service. This will stop fraudulent claims of "I didn't receive my download link" for example…
If Paypal do start to offer a download service, I think it could be a good move on their part - one which sounds the death knell for other download services and programs. As of right now I am using Dotwidget to handle my secure downloads which is OK, but not perfect for my needs. I have no doubt that a hosted solution provided by Paypal would be OK and not perfect, but it would give me an extra arrow for my bow…
Looking forward to Paypal rolling this baby out!
Comment by Oli Allen — September 25, 2006 @ 10:34 am
Something like this would be very welcome from me (up there with the Paypal Debit Card ;))
I've had a few Paypal disputes opened for digital products - and Paypal gave them their money back every time, despite me providing proof that they had downloaded their item.
I'm sure with a system like this, the odds would be much better in the seller's favour.
Comment by One Dollar A Day — September 25, 2006 @ 11:20 am
I too am still using dotwidget but agree this would be an excellent addition to PayPal's services.
If they included affiliate functions, it might provide a good alternative to Clickbank/Paydotcom
Comment by Chance — September 25, 2006 @ 3:10 pm
I think its for payment related data like transaction files and SSL logo hosting, something Paypal has been lacking for a long time.
It does not feel right for a secure download service- the interface is clunky, SFTP is "difficult" for windows users as it does not have a built in client, and they would alienate developer network partners.
I seriously doubt Paypal will stop giving refunds for digital products even with their own service- the consumer can always do a chargeback with their bank.
As far as that goes, I really can't imagine Paypal offering affiliate services- They are all about being a trusted, safe name for consumers and I don't think they would want to associate their name with the dregs of internet marketing they would get along with the (minority of) quality vendors.
Heck, even if they do I'm not too worried about it. My DSL subscription comes with free hosting, but I lease dedicated servers for expanded features and capabilities. There will always be people looking for something premium to give them an edge.
Comment by Google Success — October 2, 2006 @ 12:13 am
I feel Paypal's download service will receive a warm welcome by many internet marketers. I personally have suffered because of refunds claimed by customers though they had downloaded the digital products. Will the service be like another clickbank ?