As a maintainer of the popular open-source Lightroom Presets project, I've faced my fair share of platform restrictions. In 2023, the project had over 10,000 registered users, and we were making a significant income from selling presets on the website. However, our PayPal account was shut down multiple times due to "suspicious activity" which, upon investigation, turned out to be a result of our project being flagged as a "high-risk" seller.
## The Problem We Were Actually Solving
The real problem here was the lack of a reliable payment gateway that could handle our specific situation. We were selling digital products, which are supposed to be easy to sell online, but our customers were located in various countries, and most payment gateways had restrictions on what types of businesses they would support. PayPal, Stripe, Gumroad, and Payhip were all out of the question due to these restrictions.
## What We Tried First (And Why It Failed)
We tried using a cryptocurrency payment system, thinking that it would be the most decentralized and flexible solution. We set up a merchant account with Coinbase and began accepting Bitcoin payments. However, we quickly realized that this approach had its own set of problems. Firstly, the volatility of cryptocurrencies made it difficult to predict our revenue streams. Secondly, the fees associated with converting cryptocurrencies to usable fiat currency were exorbitant. Lastly, the lack of protection for customers who had their funds stolen or lost due to the inherent risks associated with cryptocurrencies made it a non-starter.
## The Architecture Decision
After a thorough investigation, we decided to go with the open-source payment processing solution, Mollie. They offered a flexible payment gateway that could handle our specific situation and didn't have the same restrictions as PayPal or Stripe. We also set up a local payment system, using PayU, which allowed us to accept payments from European customers directly. This approach required us to implement additional security measures to handle sensitive payment information, but it ultimately provided us with the flexibility we needed to continue selling our presets.
## What The Numbers Said After
The adoption of Mollie and PayU resulted in a significant increase in our conversion rates and revenue. We saw a 25% increase in sales within the first month of switching to the new payment system, and our average transaction value also increased by 15%. Furthermore, we were able to reduce our payment processing fees by 30%, which had a direct impact on our bottom line.
## What I Would Do Differently
Looking back, I would have chosen Mollie from the start. While cryptocurrencies seemed like an attractive solution, they proved to be too complex and high-risk for our business. I would also have considered implementing more robust security measures from the beginning to protect our customers and our business. Overall, our experience with platform restrictions taught us the importance of flexibility and adaptability in payment processing, and we will continue to evolve our payment system as our business grows.
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