Fraser
Neilson
Hi
everyone
I've been meaning to post here for ages so maybe this will be the
start of some regular appearances!
With a few new products I have coming up and the need for a two tier
affiliate program, it's time for me to move to an all in one affiliate
/ digi product delivery / responder system.
It seems that most people I deal with are using either 1shoppingcart
or quick pay pro (or else the private label versions such as profitautomation.com
or easy auto pro etc).
I've been researching this a bit but would appreciate any advice from
users of either system as to why one is better than the other and
if there are any negatives I should be aware of that aren't obvious
until you use the systems.
Among the features I would like are the easy split page testing option
which I know 1shoppingcart has and the ability to pay affiliates with
paypal automatically that quick pay pro has. But it seems like I can't
have them both in one system.
Considerations :
1 - I'm not much of a techy so must be simple / quick to set up
2 - Will be used with paysystems as the processor
Any thoughts much appreciated.
cheers
Fraser Neilson
Louis
Originally
posted by Fraser Neilson
Hi everyone
I've been meaning to post here for ages so maybe this will be the
start of some regular appearances!
Hi Fraser
Great to have you here! :)
With a few new products I have coming up and the need for a two tier
affiliate program, it's time for me to move to an all in one affiliate
/ digi product delivery / responder system.
It seems that most people I deal with are using either 1shoppingcart
or quick pay pro (or else the private label versions such as profitautomation.com
or easy auto pro etc).
I've been researching this a bit but would appreciate any advice from
users of either system as to why one is better than the other and
if there are any negatives I should be aware of that aren't obvious
until you use the systems.
I personally couldn't recommend one over the other since I've only
used 1ShoppingCart.
(Actually, since Willie Crawford is a regular poster here I'll use
Profit Automation (http://www.profitautomation.com) to answer this
as it's his site, and to say thanks for all his insights at this forum.)
It worked well. There's some things I like about it and some I don't.
What's nice is that everything's integrated, and they keep updating
it with new features.
As an example - they finally added a "double opt in" feature,
which is vital now with the spam laws...etc.
You have one "master database" of all your contacts and
customers, and you can get a lot of information by running reports
on that. This is very useful.
What I didn't like about their click-tracking is it only measured
raw clicks - rather than raw clicks AND unique clicks. However, perhaps
they've updated this now.
However, I don't use it anymore since I prefer scripts over services
since you have more control over them, aren't depending on someone
else's servers being up, and don't have to pay a recurring fee.
Plus scripts can allow for more flexibility if you have custom coding
done. The danger though of course is with custom coding it's not always
fully tested - whereas a service like Profit Automation is very thoroughly
tested before it goes live.
Of course with a service you often have a monthly cost. With a script
you often pay more up front, but they don't have the same running
costs after that.
Among the features I would like are the easy split page testing option
which I know 1shoppingcart has and the ability to pay affiliates with
paypal automatically that quick pay pro has. But it seems like I can't
have them both in one system.
At this time, I don't believe UK merchants can automatically send
PayPal payments.
I know US merchants have the "Mass Pay" feature, but I don't
believe any other countries do yet.
I don't believe Profit Automation could automate this - however, someone
please tell me if this is incorrect!
This said - MoneyBookers.com do offer a masspay feature for UK merchants.
The problem with MoneyBookers is that it's especially great within
the EU - PLUS - it works in *every* country (unlike PayPal), but some
countries have a high money withdrawal fee.
For your US affiliates to take money out of their MoneyBookers account,
at the moment it costs around 3.5 Euros which is probably around $5.
This fact could well put US affiliates off using your program!
And I make a point of only sending commissions to *verified* accounts,
be they MoneyBookers or PayPal accounts.
This is to avoid any potential affiliate fraud issues (which do occur
unfortunately).
Therefore to check each account I need to send payments manually.
It's a bit of a pain and takes me several hours every month. But that's
just part of the business for me.
Considerations :
1 - I'm not much of a techy so must be simple / quick to set up
2 - Will be used with paysystems as the processor
Profit Automation would definitely fit the first criteria. Their system
can be a little overwhelming initially since there's so much there,
but it's not really technical stuff you need to learn, just lots of
features and how to use it as you require.
At the time I found integrating their forms into your website confusing
but I got there in the end.
And I guess they support PaySystems since most companies do but I'm
not 100% sure on that one though.
This is more of a "feeling" issue rather than hard facts,
but the company behind Profit Automation have been around longer,
and that to me is a very positive sign - especially if your business
will depend on them.
For a purely online company they're very established, plus you can
even get support on the phone - but only during the week.
Their email support is good too (during the week).
When I was using them I did have to wait the whole weekend for a question
to be answered, which was frustrating. However, perhaps now they have
weekend support too. I don't know.
Well I guess - unless you're going to go the script route, I would
choose Profit Automation for those reasons.
However, hopefully someone here who uses QuickPayPro will be able
to offer more information about experiences with their service.
And I believe some of the monthly pricing options Profit Automation
offers vs. QuickPayPro are slightly more expensive.
Hope this helps?
Sincerely,
Louis
Fraser
Neilson
Thanks
for the detailed reply.
I really appreciate the time you've taken to answer.
Regards
Fraser
jason_ga
I
was using a private label version of QuickPayPro for a while (UltimateMerchant),
so I can offer some thoughts on them. But I did stop using them almost
a year ago, so things may have changed a bit.
On the plus side, their system was very easy to set up and use. I
didn't have any problems with it.
There were two big downsides though (one which I found while there,
and one I didn't discover until afterwards).
The first was that while I was there, they had some big problems with
their servers. This went on for over a week (they'd work for a little
while, then 'die' for a while). Len Thurmond, who used QuickPayPro,
left at that stage (with the comment that those problems seemed to
happen every few months, and he was sick of it).
Also, tying into Louis comment about the code being more tested -
I'm not so sure. They introduced a few changes while I was there that
didn't seem fully tested, and had a few problems. To their credit
they did fix those problems quickly though.
The second problem (and the more serious one IMHO), I didn't find
until after I left. Ultimate Merchant wasn't doing any sort of list
cleaning, so there were a lot of bad addresses on my list when I finally
left. Needless to say, sending out email to bad addresses (and continuing
to send email to bad addresses) isn't a good thing - it can get you
marked as a spammer.
Hopefully this problem has been fixed now, but its something you need
to be aware of.
Hope my comments help.
Cheers,
Jason
williec
This
is a very good question. Both systems are actually fairly good. When
I decided to host my first internet marketing workshop in April 2003
I had an account with Autopilotriches.com which is a private label
version of 1shoppingcart, like my profitautomation.com
I actually still have that account because I didn't want to force
the affiliates who had active links they are promoting to have to
change all of their links. I always hated when a merchant forced me
to do that.
One of the speakers at that workshop encourged me to try a private
label version of QuickPayPro. I did. During the 2 weeks leading up
to my workshop the system was down for hours on end. I actually had
several people who wanted to sign up for the workshop call or email
me for payment alternatives. I had them just use Paypal and one just
paid cash when he arrived.
When I thought of all of the sales I was losing , and more importantly,
the sales my hard working affiliates were losing, I
decided to change in mid-stream to autopilotriches (1shoppingcart).
I actually kept both accounts open so that if someone followed a link
from QPP they could still order. I did send every affiliate an email
asking them to change over.
I fell in love with 1shoppingcart and decided to private label the
system. This was no minor decision since it costs $10,000 to private
label the system. The private labeler who pays the $10,000 get to
put his own name on the system and earns 50% commission instead of
the 20-30% offered by the various private labelers of the system.
He has to pay his affiliates out of that 50% :-)
I haven't tried Quick Pay Pro recently so they may be better now.
They are a little cheaper than my profitautomation. Their system seems
less mature.
A plus with my system is that in addition to the 1shoppingcart tech
support team, you get me. Any of my clients are free to call or email
me regarding any problems they have with the system and I'll check
into it.
Regarding the learning curve, there is a lot of functionality and
it could seem overwhelming to some. Alex Mandossian made an execellent
series of audio tutorials (complete with screen shots) that teach
every aspect of the system.
Profit automation is compatible with over 50 payment gateways
to include:
2CheckOut.com*
Authorize.net
Bank of America
BluePay
Cybercash
DPI Merchant Services
ECX QuickCommerce 3.0
Epoch Systems
Echo Inc.
e-Commerce Exchange
ePoint
eProcessing Network
EWAY (Australia) FastTransact
Firepay
GoRealTime/EPP
GoRealTime
IAuthorizer
iBill
IONGate (Costco)
iTransact
IntelliPay ExpertLink
iTransact RediCharge
Linkpoint (Card Services
International)
LinkPoint Secure
MCPS WebLink
Merchant Commerce and
Payment Services (MCPS)
MerchantPartners
Moneris
NETbilling
Network Merchants
Paradata
PayPal*
PayReady
PaySystems (RevEcom)* Planet Payment
PRIGate
PSiGate
PayCom Processing
Paymentech
PayReady Link
Planet Payment
ProcessingNet
RightConnext
RTWare WebLink
SkipJack
Shift4
Surepay
TrustCommerce
USAEpay
VeriPayment
VeriSign PayFlow Pro
Verisign Pro
ViaKlix (Nova Systems)
WorldPay*
YourPay
It doesn't integrate with the recurring payment feature
of 2checkout, but does with that feature on most of
the others.
A good place to take you cue from though is to look at
who is using each system. Visit Alex Mandossian,
Marlon Sanders, Jim Daniels, or any of the big name
marketers and you'll see that most are using the
1shoppingcart system. A few other marketers spent
tens of thousands of dollars on a custom solution.
Hopefully this anwered some of your questions without
sounding too much like a sale pitch :-)
Willie Crawford
Fraser
Neilson
Thanks
Jason and Willie
Your feedback is exactly what I was looking for - much appreciated.
Fraser Neilson
John
Glube
Fraser,
I have been away from the forum for a while and was going through
the posted messages.
You were seeking a comparison between Quikpay Pro and 1 Shopping Cart.
In looking for an "all in one solution," you may also wish
to check out Ultimate Marketers Resource (http://www.learnsteps4profit.com/marketers.html).
At this time, you can get a 30 day free look see, to check out all
the tools before spending any funds.
(You will be asked to give your credit card upon signing up, but your
account will not be debited until the expiry of the 30 day trial period,
should you decide to continue with the service.)
I could go a through long list of benefits, but rather than do that,
you may want to check out the service and make your own decision.
Kind regards,
John
P.S. The link is an affiliate link to a special promotion.
John Glube
Toronto, Canada