I've been processing payments through Clickbank for about 4 years for my own products I developed. For the most part I'm happy with them, but as of late I am starting to reconsider due to their "no contest" refund policy. The abuse is getting worse as time goes on. There are many people out there who know they can essentially get any Clickbank product for free. They'll order, get the product, then immediately request a refund citing some B.S. reason. These people are easy to spot because they'll never email me for support, or with a question. They take delivery and then head right to Clickbank, who is happy to oblige because they'll do anything to avoid chargebacks. Then there's the people who are just too lazy to read the help file (I developed a software product) and will request a refund because they won't take 60 seconds to look at the instruction for a particular function. We all know you can't avoid these types of customers, but Clickbank will simply hand them their money back, no questions asked. So I've been thinking about switching to my existing Google Checkout account. The benefit is that it's harder to get a refund. Getting one requires some effort on the part of the customer, which tends to weed out the refund scammers. They also do direct deposit via ECH, so your funds are available within a few days. Clickbank of course only issues checks twice a month. The reason I've never switched is because I've felt it would have a negative impact on sales. Clickbank is a quick and easy checkout. Google makes you create an account. It's almost just as fast, but I'm afraid the psychology behind the verbiage on the Google checkout page will result in an increased abandonment rate. "Create a Google account to complete this purchase." Whenever I am forced to create an account to buy something, there's a chance I'll bail. It's annoying. While the Google checkout is really just an extra step or two, again it's the psychology of it. Oh, and Google checkout doesn't automatically redirect to a URL you specify, so it's not ideal for digitally delivered products unless you integrate the API to your custom cart which is fine for me, but annoying if you're not experienced with those things. My question is: has anyone made this switch, and how has it impacted your sales? Any info appreciated.
Possibly. There is a case to be made for brand recognition. I guess I can just test it and see what happens. Worst case I just switch back. Oh and 2Checkout.....I'll pass. I've used them. Too many fraud alerts from valid customers outside the US.