Web shop question

Dusan Jelesijevic
Dusan Jelesijevic Posts: 66
edited November 2022 in Type Business
We started working on our web shop, so I found a couple of things during the process that I haven't thought about previously that are actually important.

When visitor makes payment, he gets download link for the styles he selected etc.

My questions are:
– does the download link expire after some time or it is praxis to keep download link for unlimited time?
– how many times can files be downloaded from the link?

I guess it all depends from case to case (from shop to shop), but what would be usual setup in those cases? What would you suggest?

Thanks,
Dusan
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Comments

  • JoyceKetterer
    JoyceKetterer Posts: 812
    We set ours to expire after 24 hours but it can be refreshed by our office an unlimited number of times upon request.  We don't monitor the number of downloads. 
  • Miles Newlyn
    Miles Newlyn Posts: 251
    edited November 2022
    On our site a licensee can visit their account and download any of the fonts they've licensed at any time. I would expect this to be usual practice, the same for any software.
  • Dusan Jelesijevic
    Dusan Jelesijevic Posts: 66
    Thanks for the answers.
    I'll set as unlimited period with download link that's always available.
  • JoyceKetterer
    JoyceKetterer Posts: 812
    @Miles Newlyn the difference between fonts and other software is, as always no DRM.  This is why I have the link expire but it can be refreshed.  It's not a big deal to ask, they can just reply to the receipt containing the download link.  
  • KP Mawhood
    KP Mawhood Posts: 296
    edited November 2022
    An unlimited download period respects time imperative design needs. Not all licensors have the resource to be watching email 24/7.

    IMHO, many designers already have enough on their plate logistically speaking. Every little helps to reduce workload.
  • Ariq Syauqi
    Ariq Syauqi Posts: 13
    IMHO, if the customers want to break the rule, stealing fonts (downloading them illegally) is relatively easy, even from the websites of top foundries. They can just steal them without having to pay first. The only protection for fonts is the EULA, IMHO.
  • JoyceKetterer
    JoyceKetterer Posts: 812
    @KP Mawhood I think if I was doing this from scratch I'd agree with you.  However, this has been our system since before I started (now 16 years ago) and we get almost no emails from people who didn't download the font before the link expired.  I'd have probably changed it if I thought it annoyed customers.  In practice it's fine.
  • Johannes Neumeier
    Johannes Neumeier Posts: 377
    edited November 2022
    IMO something like 1 month and 10 download times is a permissive baseline. Personally I prefer to get informed myself if either is exceeded, rather than blocking the download for the user. That way, the stray download a year later, or someone having the download restart whenever they open their browser with the old download tab does not cause a negative interaction for the user. If, however, the download link is shared to piracy sites or you notice more than a natural amount of downloads with respect to the license volume you can put on the breaks pretty quickly and check back with the customer.

    The advantage of this is that you can use this interaction as a chance to update the customer license volume or send a font update their way, instead of just bluntly blocking their download.

    I've implemented this differently for various foundry shops and find that rarely is there any misuse with a permissive approach, but the 1‰ that goes off the rails you want to shut down. Equally, the majority or customers will download exactly once and do so right away. Also, account logins to re-download purchased fonts: Totally not worth the implementation cost and commitment to keep that account system up to date and working throughout the years.
  • JoyceKetterer
    JoyceKetterer Posts: 812
    @Johannes Neumeier Maybe the reason you're saying it's not worth implementation costs is because you try to keep the same font version as they purchased?  We don't do that.  Almost no one notices and those who do are glad we send an updated version.  
  • Thierry Blancpain
    Thierry Blancpain Posts: 210
    We do not have a limit or number of downloads or based on time. People can always log in and download the most up-to-date version of their font purchase, i.e. the files themselves aren’t linked to the order, the style/package is (and is packaged on download request).

    As a general rule you should try to make things as easy as possible for your customers. If implementation cost is too high to do so, or you have other reasons not to, sure—but as a rule of thumb, putting your customer first is always a good one to go with.

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