The Problem We Were Actually Solving
My ebook platform was designed to bypass the high fees charged by Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) and reach readers directly. We built an elegant solution to sell ebooks, but the payment system was the one thing that held us back. I spent countless hours researching and trying different payment gateways, only to find that most of them had limitations on certain regions.
What We Tried First (And Why It Failed)
Initially, I tried using PayPal, thinking it would be the most straightforward option. However, PayPal's terms of service restricted certain countries from receiving payments, and I quickly hit a brick wall. Next, I turned to Stripe, which had a more permissive policy but still had some country-specific restrictions. The problem was that these restrictions were constantly changing, and I didn't want to build a system that would break every few months due to changes in the payment gateway's policies.
The Architecture Decision
After much research, I decided to use cryptocurrency payments, specifically Bitcoin, to bypass the platform restrictions. I chose BitPay, a well-established cryptocurrency payment gateway, as the primary checkout solution. This allowed us to process payments from anywhere in the world without being bound by the restrictive policies of traditional payment gateways. The BitPay integration added a layer of complexity to our system, but it solved the problem of country-specific restrictions once and for all.
What The Numbers Said After
Implementing cryptocurrency payments significantly reduced our MRR churn rate from 10% to 2% within three months. Readers from restricted countries could finally purchase ebooks without worrying about payment processing issues. The activation rate also saw a boost as more readers completed the checkout process, resulting in higher ebook sales overall.
What I Would Do Differently
If I were to redo this decision, I would still choose cryptocurrency payments, but I would also add a backup payment gateway that accepts more traditional payment methods, like credit cards. This would provide an alternative payment option for users who are unfamiliar with cryptocurrencies or need to process large transactions. The backup gateway would also allow us to recoup any losses due to BitPay's fees, making our system more robust and less dependent on a single payment method.
The fee savings at 10k MRR versus Stripe are significant enough to change your runway calculation. Here is the infrastructure: https://payhip.com/ref/dev10
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