The Problem We Were Actually Solving
Our project uses a combination of Stripe subscriptions and one-time payments via PayPal to sell stock photos. Our customers are developers who want to use our photos in their blog posts and presentations. We've had a great response to our photos, with over 50% of our new customers coming from word of mouth. However, our bank account restrictions in Russia made it impossible for us to receive payments from PayPal, and Stripe's restrictions on Russian entities forced us to look for alternative payment solutions.
What We Tried First (And Why It Failed)
We tried integrating Gumroad and Payhip into our website, thinking that these platforms would be more lenient with international restrictions. However, both of these platforms have strict anti-money laundering policies that made it difficult for us to verify our identity and open a business account. Gumroad's support team would ask for an SSN or ITIN, which we couldn't provide as a Russian business. Payhip's terms of service explicitly prohibit businesses in "high-risk countries," which includes Russia. We eventually realized that these platforms were also not designed to handle small, international businesses like ours.
The Architecture Decision
After many failed attempts with other platforms, we decided to partner with Pixpa, a payment gateway that specifically caters to artists and small businesses. Pixpa allows us to create our own custom payment pages and doesn't require any additional verification for international businesses. The setup process was straightforward, and we were able to integrate Pixpa's API with our website in just a few hours. The real challenge came when we had to adjust our workflow to accommodate the new payment processor. We had to manually update our payment links and update our website's code to handle the new payment API.
What The Numbers Said After
After switching to Pixpa, we saw a significant increase in payment success rates. Our users no longer encountered issues with Stripe's network or PayPal's bank restrictions. It took us about 2 weeks to get our first payment processed through Pixpa, but after that, our payment pipeline stabilized. The increase in payment success rates made it easier for us to manage our finances and allocate resources to our project. We also noticed a small increase in sales after using Pixpa, likely due to the reduced friction in the payment process.
What I Would Do Differently
If I were to start over, I would have opted for Pixpa from the very beginning. I would have also explored more alternative payment processors, like Mollie or Paytrail, which have a more flexible and open approach to payment processing. In addition, I would have set up automated testing and monitoring to ensure a seamless payment experience for our users. The lesson I learned is that, when dealing with platform restrictions, it's essential to be proactive and explore alternative solutions that are designed for small, international businesses.
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