Amateur Seeking Advice after Almost 1 Year of Experimentation

[KevinG]

Originally Posted by Hammer

It looks like PayPal may be coming around and you might want to talk to them about your pay per download option instead of a membership based site. At this time they have stated that they will once again process for adult as long as it's a hard good, like sex toys. I don't think it's too much of a stretch to include downloadable clips in that category. They may not be ready to consider it just yet, but hopefully they'll keep coming back in our direction because PayPal rocks.

Sorry Hammer, but downloadable clips are definitely NOT hard goods.

My client found out the hard way when his merchant account got shut down.

He was selling adult DVDs and downloadable clips on the same site. He got shut down without warning because of the clips. So then he could sell anything for about a week. A weeks worth of sales for him is not insignificant and it could have been much worse if we didn't have the resources to scramble for a new merchant account with Net Billing's help.

[Hammer]

I suggested he talk to them to find out how they would classify downloadable clips, I did not suggest that he start using PayPal.

[EmporerEJ]

Originally Posted by Hammer

I suggested he talk to them to find out how they would classify downloadable clips, I did not suggest that he start using PayPal.

It's also of interest to note.....USA only.
And I'm STILL suspicious of them.

[MikeSouth]

I sell downloadable clips on one of my sites and it has worked well for me but...

it requires a merchant account which is actually easy to get or was for me ... got it through my bank for a grand total of 85 bucks...that done I set up netbilling and I use x-cart shopping cart software.

oddly enough I also have a clips4sale store and it works well on 2 levels...

first the c4s pricing actually forces me to charge a lot more than I do on my store so I make more money on c4s sales

since c4s allows my watermark on the clips it also helps to drive traffic and new customers

cant lose situation there

[erotola]

Originally Posted by MikeSouth

I sell downloadable clips on one of my sites and it has worked well for me but...

it requires a merchant account which is actually easy to get or was for me ... got it through my bank for a grand total of 85 bucks...that done I set up netbilling and I use x-cart shopping cart software.

oddly enough I also have a clips4sale store and it works well on 2 levels...

first the c4s pricing actually forces me to charge a lot more than I do on my store so I make more money on c4s sales

since c4s allows my watermark on the clips it also helps to drive traffic and new customers

cant lose situation there

Mike this is indeed a very interesting point of view. Thank you very much. You are saying that you make a lot more money on C4S sales because the price is much higher than on your site. Have you tried to sell on your site at the same price as on C4S? And did you see a significant drop in sales? I mean how did you set your price on your site?

[MRock]

Originally Posted by MikeSouth

I sell downloadable clips on one of my sites and it has worked well for me but...

it requires a merchant account which is actually easy to get or was for me ... got it through my bank for a grand total of 85 bucks...that done I set up netbilling and I use x-cart shopping cart software.

oddly enough I also have a clips4sale store and it works well on 2 levels...

first the c4s pricing actually forces me to charge a lot more than I do on my store so I make more money on c4s sales

since c4s allows my watermark on the clips it also helps to drive traffic and new customers

cant lose situation there

Well there you go ... Mike already has a workable solution it sounds like to me!

An interesting note on the c4s pricing structure. As the downloadable clip model has rolled out, I see more and more sites implementing it. I've seen these sites compete on split and pricing for the content producer and the consumer. I fell for the "lower prices will make more sales" pitch at one place for a short time. But I made so little money that I didn't feel it was worth the upload time. Instead of quitting, I raised the prices to match my c4s prices. Guess what!? My money went up to a level worth participating still. So ... don't fall for it producers! Value your unique, original material. Other "clip distributors" only want you to lower your prices so THEY can compete against c4s. That's my humble opinion.

[DannyCox]

We also use C4S and a few similar sites, but the videos we put up are all over a year old. We keep the new content on the sites, and then after a year, spread it around. We're also going to re-implement the clips sales model back on our own sites. We did that about 5 or 6 years ago, but it didn't work that well back then, but now with the popularity of the clip sites, we'll give it another try. We have the programming done already.

[gonzo]

Originally Posted by DannyCox

We also use C4S and a few similar sites, but the videos we put up are all over a year old. We keep the new content on the sites, and then after a year, spread it around. We're also going to re-implement the clips sales model back on our own sites. We did that about 5 or 6 years ago, but it didn't work that well back then, but now with the popularity of the clip sites, we'll give it another try. We have the programming done already.

Listen to Danny. Hes more qualified than all of us on am sites!

[erotola]

Originally Posted by DannyCox

We also use C4S and a few similar sites, but the videos we put up are all over a year old. We keep the new content on the sites, and then after a year, spread it around. We're also going to re-implement the clips sales model back on our own sites. We did that about 5 or 6 years ago, but it didn't work that well back then, but now with the popularity of the clip sites, we'll give it another try. We have the programming done already.

Thank you very much Danny for giving your advice. Your posts have always been very helpful. I have the same opinion about the opportunity to market the clips sales model. It seems to me that the popularity of porn is making it more like a commodity these days (for which single sales make sense) as opposed to an addictive behavior in the past (for which membership sales make sense).

[MRock]

Originally Posted by DannyCox

We also use C4S and a few similar sites, but the videos we put up are all over a year old. We keep the new content on the sites, and then after a year, spread it around. We're also going to re-implement the clips sales model back on our own sites. We did that about 5 or 6 years ago, but it didn't work that well back then, but now with the popularity of the clip sites, we'll give it another try. We have the programming done already.

Hey Danny, are you going to let amateurs like us sell through your clip stores too?? I'll be the first in line!

PS As far as good sales days ... our best are Sunday, Monday, Saturday, Friday and Thursday ... in that order ... just as a general rule. But damnit i work every day

[erotola]

Originally Posted by MRock

Well there you go ... Mike already has a workable solution it sounds like to me!

An interesting note on the c4s pricing structure. As the downloadable clip model has rolled out, I see more and more sites implementing it. I've seen these sites compete on split and pricing for the content producer and the consumer. I fell for the "lower prices will make more sales" pitch at one place for a short time. But I made so little money that I didn't feel it was worth the upload time. Instead of quitting, I raised the prices to match my c4s prices. Guess what!? My money went up to a level worth participating still. So ... don't fall for it producers! Value your unique, original material. Other "clip distributors" only want you to lower your prices so THEY can compete against c4s. That's my humble opinion.

Thank you MRock, this makes sense to me. But i did not have the possibility to experiment pricing yet. I remember reading a similar idea about webcams, 3$ per minute being the floor price for solo girls. Regarding C4S, i would like to have more flexibility to make special offers. For example, putting a bunch of clips together at a special price. Or trying to sell a specific clip at a discounted price. I do not know if special offers are really a worthy marketing practice in our field though. I remember reading that introductory specials for membership, for example 10$ for 3 days, do not really help overall sales.