Day 772 - Platform risks everywhere - https://golifelog.com/posts/platform-risks-everywhere-1676106319991
Woke up this morning to news that [Flurly got shut down by Stripe](https://flurly.com/blog/flurly-stripe-shutdown) with zero notice. All my Carrd plugins are on Flurly, so that means no one can buy my products! Not the 5am morning I expected, but dived into crisis mode. Scrambled all day to move my Carrd plugins over to Lemon Squeezy.
Quickly researched the top payment providers I knew from previous conversations – Lemon Squeezy, Payhip, Thrivecart. In the end, decided on Lemon S because:
- The UX was more fresh and modern. Saw a [tweet](https://twitter.com/_insiteful/status/1617277307496050688) before that it converts better – 9.6% conversion rate vs Gumroad 2.8%.
- All the features I need for handling digital downloads, plus more. I like that I can define variants for 1 product for my single license and unlimited license versions.
- Merchant of Record, which in finance dummy speak, safer and more protection for sellers.
- Heard they have an affiliate program coming up... something which I want to explore this year.
- Sadly, fees are higher on Lemon S. Flurly is 1% + 3.7%, compared to Lemon S $0.50 + 5% of total, with extra +1.5% for international payments, extra +1% for PayPal transactions, and +0.5% if I have subscription payments. Napkin calculations shows I got to pay 6.5% at least, and 7.5% if customer pay through Paypal! Trade-offs I guess... hope the benefits outweigh the costs.
Thrivecart’s lifetime deal was tempting though... maybe I can consider that if sales figures and volume go up. Payhip has good community features where members can log in to view premium content, which I might explore for my communities (Lifelog, 5am club) in the future.
### Implications for indies
After all is said and done, can't help feeling worried for JR who made Flurly. I used Flurly all this while from the start, and if anything, not sure he deserves such a ban and a hefty, mysterious $425k fine, and with zero lead time for customers to react, when he had been transparent and trying hard to resolve it.
It's disconcerting to ponder the implications for the rest of us indies.
Reading the [Twitter discussion](https://twitter.com/FlurlyApp/status/1624177183626530816), I also realised a few things:
- Never crossed my mind there's platform risk on Stripe
- Clueless about US/international financial regulations
- Clueless about Stripe T&Cs to prevent getting deplatformed
It feels like the ground is shifting beneath our feet for us indies. Nothing feels safe these days... first an economic recession, then blatant copycatting in the indie scene, then Twitter platform risks, now Stripe.
How can an indie solopreneur prepare for all this?
Quickly researched the top payment providers I knew from previous conversations – Lemon Squeezy, Payhip, Thrivecart. In the end, decided on Lemon S because:
- The UX was more fresh and modern. Saw a [tweet](https://twitter.com/_insiteful/status/1617277307496050688) before that it converts better – 9.6% conversion rate vs Gumroad 2.8%.
- All the features I need for handling digital downloads, plus more. I like that I can define variants for 1 product for my single license and unlimited license versions.
- Merchant of Record, which in finance dummy speak, safer and more protection for sellers.
- Heard they have an affiliate program coming up... something which I want to explore this year.
- Sadly, fees are higher on Lemon S. Flurly is 1% + 3.7%, compared to Lemon S $0.50 + 5% of total, with extra +1.5% for international payments, extra +1% for PayPal transactions, and +0.5% if I have subscription payments. Napkin calculations shows I got to pay 6.5% at least, and 7.5% if customer pay through Paypal! Trade-offs I guess... hope the benefits outweigh the costs.
Thrivecart’s lifetime deal was tempting though... maybe I can consider that if sales figures and volume go up. Payhip has good community features where members can log in to view premium content, which I might explore for my communities (Lifelog, 5am club) in the future.
### Implications for indies
After all is said and done, can't help feeling worried for JR who made Flurly. I used Flurly all this while from the start, and if anything, not sure he deserves such a ban and a hefty, mysterious $425k fine, and with zero lead time for customers to react, when he had been transparent and trying hard to resolve it.
It's disconcerting to ponder the implications for the rest of us indies.
Reading the [Twitter discussion](https://twitter.com/FlurlyApp/status/1624177183626530816), I also realised a few things:
- Never crossed my mind there's platform risk on Stripe
- Clueless about US/international financial regulations
- Clueless about Stripe T&Cs to prevent getting deplatformed
It feels like the ground is shifting beneath our feet for us indies. Nothing feels safe these days... first an economic recession, then blatant copycatting in the indie scene, then Twitter platform risks, now Stripe.
How can an indie solopreneur prepare for all this?
The whole thing is brutal for everyone involved. But good to hear you were able to find a new place so quickly. Hopefully JR can get it sorted some how that is a heavy fine to have to pay.
Jason Leow
Author
@poppcalypse Yeah still on GR as an alt for customers, but always preferred other platforms as main.
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