Now I think it's happened. Something I was afraid of. I'm talking about the selling of mods. I for one am all for it. I felt the need to write about it because of what stijnj said :

He has a point. But advertising to sell mods in any of the cube cart forums seems weird. I am guilty of it myself. I didn't go as far as saying my mods are for sale. But I did post a link to the site I have, where you can buy them. Not get them for free.

For the people out there downloading freewarez and sharewarez. I for one am one. I'm sure you appreciate all the mods and work being done by other individuals to make the cube cart better. But those things take a lot of time. Sometimes I think it would be easier to sit down and write a whole new script, rather than alter these. I know personally, if it weren't the thought of people paying me for the work and time I spend. I wouldn't have done some of the mods I have done.

My first mod was the ship_price mod. I decided to do that because I was new to PHP, and it sounded like a good way to get some practice. That took me quite a while to do. I'm not talking hours, I'm talking days. I was pleased to see how many people downloaded it and loved it. It felt great to make something that so many people enjoyed and could use. I had plans to start on another project right away. Then I thought of the time I would have to spend on it, and what I was going to get out of it. I guess the good feelings and appreciation weren't enough. Except for small alterations to scripts here and there. That was the last mod I worked on. Until I thought I could make them to sell.

This is where the problems come in. It seems unfair to charge for mods created for this cart. If you don't pay, you don't get them. But the mods probably wouldn't be created, if the hopes of making something for your time didn't exist. After the ship_price mod I would receive emails all the time asking for help with it, or help modding something else. I enjoyed helping, but the thought of doing a mod for one person is not realistic. If I were to charge one person what I thought the mod and my time was worth. It probably wouldn't be worth it for them to buy.

So when you come asking in the forum or emails for a mod to make your cart better. You should expect to pay something for it. By placing a link to your mods in these forums, allows mod makers to sell multiple copies of their work at a small price, which adds up to a larger commission. I for one would love to be able to spend all my time helping people by making mods, but it just isn't realistic. When it comes to posting a link to sell a mod. I don't think what forum it's in matters. To have to suggest charging a fee sucks also. But as I stated earlier. These things take a lot of time and effort. If I can't see making any money doing this. My additions to the mods here, would probably be over.

This is just something I have felt uncomfortable with since I released the multi_admin mod and expected to get payed for it, instead of giving it away for free. I would love to put it on the download page and let everyone enjoy it. But who's going to pay for it when you can get it for free? I suppose if I were making them for my own store and had it anyway. Sharing them with others would be different. The truth is. I don't have a store. This kind of thing has always been a hobby for me. But these mods require more time than I have for a hobby. I would love to continue making cube cart mods. But I can't do it for nothing. I hate saying that. But it's the truth.

With that said. Anyone want to buy some of my mods? Just kidding =) This is a tough issue. I would love to hear how others feel about it.

Sincerely,

Michael

So much for open source, lol.

I don't mind paying for mods; you should get compensated for your time. I'm actually looking to pay someone to create some customs mods for me. If anyone is interested, or know someone that can do this, please let me know.

Hey

I did contact Brooky and asked him if i could sell the mods that i created

The knowlegde of php that i learned did not come easy. Many hours of coding!!!

I think 12.99 for a mod that will improve your customer reations for you to make more money is a very far price.

I will help anyone out with questions and customize these mods for them. But I feel my time is worth something.

Bill

You all make very interesting points about being reimbursed for your time. And no one can blame you for that.

In my opinion, in the spirit of open-source, sharing, etc. people should contribute for the sake of contributing, and not for profit. You all mention how many hours and days you spent learning PHP.... isn't there value in that? Now you have a new skill, and you didn't have to pay someone to teach it to you. Have you looked up how much it would cost to take a class in PHP to learn equivalent skills?

I appreciate other people's efforts as much as the next guy, but if your ulterior motive is to profit off helping others, then I don't need you around. That's not to say that you shouldn't make and sell your mods, just don't do it here. I wouldn't be surprised if any of you were freely using CubeCart, and trying to profit off Brooky's work in a manner of speaking. Without his cart, and his ability to interest people in the product, you would have no "customers".

Sadly, and you may not have thought of this, charging people for mods will just drive people to competitive products like osCommerce which has literally over a thousand FREE mods by people who don't whine about it, and do a much better job of it! If you drive away enough people, who will be left to pay you? Conversely, if you make mods that draw people to CubeCart, we are all better off. Maybe someone new will join who is better than you, and will make a mod you need or help you with PHP in making other mods. Maybe you will get a high paying PHP job somewhere because of your technical skills making mods, and your support skills helping out the technically challenged

Isn't it in everyone's best interest to share the mods if you want, and keep quiet if you don't? The spirit of the Community is to share and share alike...

Just my 2 cents... since you asked.

Ryan

Hi,

I don't mind paying for what works in relation to adding value to the Cart.

( However - Can anyone get PayPal to accept a Southern Hemisphere CreditCard ?)

regards

billmc

OOps , I did it ag....

...

Well I guess you all have a point here, one may believe in open-source, helping others out or one may [profit off helping others] etc...
I believe I was misunderstood when I replied to Wildbill ! Let me explain...

I do not care if someone will ask money in return for some work (even if that work is just an add-on to someone elses work) Point is, someone likes to open an online commerce, is goin' to get some money out of it, so if I or someone else helps him/her to improve that commerce so the owner can(maybe will ) sell more then I don't think there's any 'profit' involved.I myself contributed 9 or 10 mods that are 'freebies' , and desided to stop just sharing my mods for two reasons :

1 The mods i posted to the downloadarea were mods I needed for my wife's store
They are good front-end add-ons , not to hard to write

2 Writing mods is time consuming, (yes I did learned PHP lots faster then before ( I bought some books-didn't learned anything-I downloaded CubeCart-these days I even dream in PHP ) so if I spent time to requested add-ons I want a little something in return.


So Bill...



you have all reasons to do as you like ! you share or let donate, I don't care , do as you see fit!
The only thing that is bothering me is that you advertise in the forum that says

That forum is (from my point of view, though I could be wrong) ment to advertise free downloadable mods , not to advertise 'pay for mods'. and for that reason I trully understand Ryan's quote


(allas oscommerce will give you an unpersonel e-commerce site like there are 1000000 other sites on the internet and that's why I like CubeCart)

Only thing that I wanted to say is : Writing mods is ok ,sharing is ok,ask for a donation for your work is ok, advertising is not ok because that is what will drive people to other shopping carts.Posting a link to your site or posting a link in your signature, is a more friendly way to let people now you have created mods but only will share after donation.


I agree completely Michael!

Best regards,
Stijn

Hey All

I want to appalogize for the advertisement

I didnt think of it in the way you guys put it.

I will remove that post and leave the link in my siqnature.

I was just trying to awnser a lot of request for mods people want and they said that they will pay for them

As you I dream off coding php

Becasue i have come to understand it very well

My intentions are to make cube cart stand out from the rest and not to drive people away.

once again I appologize

Kind regards
wildbill

dont get me wrong on my last post, you guys that code have a telent, yes some pick it up faster than others, then there are some that cant pick it up at all, then there are some of us that can debug it, but wouldnt know were to start to write a full php script of any sort.

Appologies accepted Bill
I know , you know, we all just do or best to improve CubeCart, the slightest improvement is still an improvement and I know your and other mods are improvements to Cubecart, so to come to a conlusion : we 'modders' do a good thing for Cubecart, but in some cases (my advertising point)we need to behave like 'gentlemen'.


(and thx for removing our little hassle in the other forum, a topic like this needs to be in the general discussion forum)
Regards,
Stijn

Alrighty then!

I am glad to see the feedback from this post. I got a little worried about some of the responses. In this topic as well as others. I didn't want to create any problems for anyone. I am also glad to see that the temporary hostilities have been worked out.

I guess I wanted to let people know why I decided to start charging for my mods, instead of sending them to Brooky for free downloads. I couldn't think of a good way to say it, or how to get started. The incident in the other forum was the fuel I needed to let everyone know how I felt. Sure is nice to see something turn out well, that started with something that sent chills down my spine.

I'm still not sure what I want to do. I think I might just add options to the mods in my store, with a choice to add a donation to the price. Of course the price would equal $0.00, and the options would be different values. Allowing someone to donate what they feel. Or nothing at all.

Bottom line. I enjoy working with php. Especially this cart. It is challenging, and a lot of fun. I hope I didn't offend anyone by my original post. I wasn't trying to point any fingers, or criticize anyone for their actions. I just wanted to say what I said.

OH! P.S.
You got me! As I said before. I got this cart as a hobby. I suppose if I start making money with it. I could see paying for it. Actually I found it while looking for a cart for a someone else. They changed their mind, but I couldn't put it down. So as far as profit from it. I haven't made one red cent. But I feel I have contributed quite a bit.

Ok Wildbill! I can't handle it anymore! Something needs to be said!

Except:
TRANSITIVE VERB: To leave out; exclude:

Accept
TRANSITIVE VERB: To receive (something offered), especially with gladness or approval:

Hi all
I feel selling mods is cool I have a few shopping carts I have bought over the yrs and everyone has a item I wish I could find in one I find something I like if I cant make it work I look to hire someone most times I go to a php site to find someone that can do it
but I would rather have someone that has used the software and knows it b4 I get some guy or gal that has no idea what it is about. matbe the fourm should have a spot for members to offer there mods for sale then folks that don't want to pay don't have to go there that way no one gets offended from it being posted in the reg fourm thats my 2 cents worth


Bryan

hi nickknackgifts,

You have a point there
maybe it's time that someone could advise Brooky to read this topic,

what nickknackgifts is saying i agree completely

'the fourm should have a spot for members to offer there mods for sale'
then there would be less confusion

another idea and that's one where ryandelany must agree

why not
- making a contest "Mod of the Month"
where mods must be freebies and improvements for cubecart
the winner gets something in return (like 14 days Hawaii or so )

- make a developers team
they could work together to improve Cubecart, including new releases at least once a year etc...
I guess that last idea is the only that will give Cubecart a major injection



Stijn
(who at this point does not know wether to release his new mods as freebies or as pay for mods but likes the 14 days Hawaii idea)

Hey Guys

This Is turning in to be the topic of the week

I have spoken to brooky about this and hes thinking about adding a section for people to sell there mods.

And Just Like nickknackgifts said:


They dont have to go if they dont want to pay.

And I like the Idea Of What stijnj said about putting a team together to create Major mods

Im intrested in doing that.

We will fiqure this out soon.

I fiqured Brooky would have posted something about this by now

wildbill

Hello folks....

I have not looked at the forums for ages. This is for the simple reason that (I know many may laugh and not understand) but I have a 9-5 job on top of this which takes 7:20 - 8pm out of my day.

I can't develop sites at my other job without a good night sleep and as a result I have neglected you people far too much.

I am happy for people to make at cost modifications and provide services at cost as long as a complete download solution is not made for purchase/publically available and license fees come from https://secure.cubecart.com

I have been meaning to create a free advertising section for members to advertise their services. As I have little time to help I am more than happy to provide others with related benefits. At the end of the day I intend this product to be something everyone can benefit from in some way.

I just wish the $ vs. the £ for conversion would pick up a bit!! 1.6 to 1.8+ makes a big difference.

LOL Hopefully I can find time to build the related services bit soon.

Hope this post makes sense!!

Another point is that development of the next version is very slow right now and there is no date for a next release.

I have spent quite sometime developing a site for free/paid classified adverts which "may" become available in a few months.

Cube Cart Mod Stores


I have an opinion…….. Don’t say it I know everyone has one.

I am looking to develop several e-commerce stores this year. This seemed like a huge task until I found Cube Cart. I like the look and feel of this store/cart. I had no idea I would find not only a shopping cart solution, but also an entire store solution all in one clean neat package. I will purchase a license for each and every store I put up. Not so much as to remove the copyright, as to help support this product.

I plan on using Cube Cart, and I plan on making a profit doing it. While reading the forum it was great to see several people like qdpie.com, stijnj, wildbill, and others making Mods on request and sometimes the same day. I have peace of mind knowing a few people hang out in this forum that respond and build mods on a regular basis. I for one would like to see more people with programming skills hanging out in anticipation of any mod request that will come their way.

As far as charging for a modification, I have seen what you all charge for them. I personally would be embarrassed to complain about paying $10- $30 for something that improves my store. I don’t mind the fact that these programmers want to make a living, or at least a source of extra income. We require that they respond to our request, and put our mod in full production. We also want it yesterday, and complain when it does not work properly. Here is a way we can all possibly get what we want.

This is my suggestion:
Use the existing mod request forum – We post the Mods that we need, programmers reply. If it is a labor-intensive mod, the programmer can elect to make it as a Fee Mod. If another programmer wants to build it as a Free mod he/she can do it as well.
Have a place for two types of mods on this site – One for Free Mods, one for Fee Mods.
The one for Free can operate as it does now.
The one for a Fee should be set as a cube cart to collect the money – Ideally this should be a store connected to this website, or it should contain links to independent mod stores.

How to price Fee Mods
Mods should be priced to adequately compensate the programmer, but also fairly as to not gouge the recipient.
Add Mod to the store in the following manner: Take the price of the mod and divide it by 10, 20, 50, or 100 depending on the total mod cost. The final price should be no less then $5 and no more then $50. Insert the mod in the Mod store with the inventory set to whatever multiple was used. (Example - a programmer creates a mod whose value is $50.00. The total value is divided by 10 ($50/10=$5). The Mod is inserted into the store for $5 with the inventory set to 10.)
Once the mod sells out it can be added to the free Mods.

The programmer is fully compensated for their efforts. The Cube Cart users have access to Mods they otherwise may not be able to afford. Programmers will tackle larger projects that may literally require days or weeks to complete. Lets say for example someone needs or wants a mod that could take a programmer 40 hours to complete. If the programmer felt he should be compensated $20 Hr., That mod would cost $800. We cannot argue that the programmer is not worth that much, but we most likely would not purchase such a mod. With the mod store the $800 is divided by 40, and inserted into the store for $20.00. Once 40 sell the programmer has been fully compensated, and the requestor of the mod got what they wanted for the cost of taking a date to the movies.

Best of all, once the mod is sold out it becomes free to whomever wants it, or preferable if it is a good mod, added to the next version.


Thank you for listening (or reading),


Steve


That was my opinion.

Not a bad idea Steve; I like it...

I know Brooky is busy (totally understandable), but it would be nice if he ran the store and approved the mods before making them available. Who better than Brooky would know if the new mods would be compatable, or cause any problems. After the developer received his compensation and the mod proves to be useful for many people, Brooky can then incorporate it in the next release. Just a thought.

Mmmmm

should we rename this 'oh boy' topic to 'oh yeah' topic??

great idea qjs
i like it

Stijn

I like this guy already.

He has some good suggestions.

But I don't know if Brooky has the time or desire to manage a store of this sort.

hey

This Is A Great Idea!!!

wildbill

Mod Store(s)

I had considered the fact that Brooky may not have time to manage the store. That would be the Ideal way.

There are several alternatives to this. Here is a couple:

First

Brooky can set up the store
He enlists the help of one of his programmer friends to manage the store
The mods can be marked up slightly to compensate Brooky or his manager – Instead of selling that $50 mod for $5 10 times. Sell it 11 times.

Second

nickknackgifts suggested



This thing could easily be done as an honor system. Programmers make Mods. Post them on their own store; sell the desired quantity for compensation, then forward the sold out mod to Brooky to be added to the Mod list.

When the Mod is complete all we have to do to purchase it is to go to the Mod store list, select the programmer who made the mod. Then purchase it from the programmer’s store.


No matter how this is done I think we are all looking for the same results
CubeCart can become one of the best and most versatile e-commerce solutions on the Internet.

My Opinion;

Just think of all the neat things that can be done to CubeCart. I would like to see programmers inventing Mods as well as fulfilling requests. It is the best of both worlds. Those of us who don’t mind paying someone for work they have done can get Great Mods done without breaking our banks. We will share the cost among the ones of us that want the MOD and are willing to contribute. The ones that want it all free will also get the mod once it has sold out. If they are unwilling to wait they can talk another into making the Mod for free, program it themselves, or contribute and get it now.

Best of luck,

Steve