The Problem We Were Actually Solving
We wanted to create a reliable e-commerce system for selling Notion templates without relying on services that were inaccessible in our region. The primary goal was to ensure that customers could purchase templates securely and that we could receive payments without navigating a labyrinth of workarounds. At the heart of this challenge lay the delicate balance between system reliability and platform restrictions.
What We Tried First (And Why It Failed)
Initially, we attempted to sidestep the issue by using a proxy service that allowed us to bypass the geo-restrictions on Payhip and Gumroad. However, this solution proved to be unreliable and often resulted in failed transactions or lost customer payments. The proxy servers were frequently down, and the additional complexity introduced a new layer of vulnerability. Moreover, we couldn't guarantee that the proxy would work for all customers, leading to a frustrating experience for buyers and sellers alike.
The Architecture Decision
After these initial attempts, we decided to take a step back and reassess our approach. We chose to integrate a local payment gateway service, which was available in our region, into our Notion template sales system. This move required us to rewrite the payment processing code and implement a custom payment flow. Although it was a more complicated solution than we initially anticipated, it ultimately provided us with the reliability and security we needed.
What The Numbers Said After
Our decision to use a local payment gateway led to a significant reduction in failed transactions, from 15% to less than 1%. The average payment processing time decreased from 3 minutes to under 30 seconds. While these numbers may not be breathtaking, they represented a substantial improvement over our previous solution and provided us with a stable foundation for e-commerce.
What I Would Do Differently
In hindsight, I would have explored alternative e-commerce platforms that cater to regional restrictions from the outset. Services like Shopify or BigCommerce often have a more extensive reach and better support for regional payments. This would have saved us time and resources, and we could have avoided the headache of navigating proxy services and custom payment gateways.
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