Handango's "Software Distribution Agreement" Clarification

[Dan East]

It has been said in this forum in the past that if a product is sold through Handango, all demo versions of the product must direct people to Handango to purchase. After reading the license agreement I was concerned that was the case. Here is the portion in question:

"All trial versions of the Software provided by Software Owner pursuant to this Agreement must clearly direct the customer only to the Publisher to
register", where 'Software Owner' is the developer and 'Publisher' is Handango.

I sought clarification from Handango as to whether this referred only to demo versions distributed by Handango, or all demo versions of the product regardless of the distribution channel.

This was their response:

"We ask you to reference Handango only in the trial versions you distribute through us (not the trial versions you distribute through other sites). As you can understand, if the trial version distributed through us directs the customer to somewhere other than Handango, the customer may not return to Handango to purchase the full version."

So, you can have two versions of your Demo. One for Handango distribution that states something to the effect "Purchase at www.handango.com" in the About / splash screen, and the another that directs the customer to your own eStore if you have one (for example, via eSellerate). Of course the advantage of going to this extra minor effort is that eSellerate only keeps 10% commission, while Handango keeps at least 30%.

As I have said in the past, I do not have a problem with publishers keeping a portion of the sales. After all, that is what encourages them to promote your product. However, purchases that did not originate from the publisher should not be directed to them so that they collect a premium commission they did not earn.

Dan East

[Dave]

[helloworld]

[Dan East]

[randall]

[ChezDoodles]

About 70% of my sales go through the basic channel (www.handango.com). Unless you go for the "Gold" level agreement, Handango will keep a fixed 30% commision for all sales in the basic channel. The 40%, 50%, 60% commision ladder apply only to the rest of the sales - the extended channels. The nice thing about Handango's rates, is that they include everything. If Handango pays a commision to a website for the link, you're not charged like other stores do. Neither do they charge extra for credit card handling or other "extras", like PocketGear for instance.

HOWEVER, should you "upgrade" to Gold level (I've not), the commision increase to a minimum of 40% and the ladder system apply even to the basic channel. Sound like a bad deal to me when all you get in return is about $1500 worth of free banner ads, more search keywords and a high ranking on search results.

There are other ways to lower the commision from Handango, like let 'em handle your own website. This might chop off up to 10% commision of all sales going through your website.

[Hosed]

[brendan]

Unless you a "big" developer, you may not be able to have your own estore!, so having handango as one of the points of sale is ok, for me. However with them taking a large slice of the cake, and me having to point my website somewhere for sales I have opted for there estore backend for my site. They give you a higher percentage or return if a game is purchased through your site, but with there estore backend.... (worth thinking about if your a small developer). It does mean they get all the "sales", but gives you a higher return "per unit". unless anyone knows of another estore backend product that "takes less of the cake" etc....


for example, I'm on a gold plan, so normally they take 40%, if I was on a normal plan 30%, however if a purchase is made from my site, they take 25%... not as good as it used to me, but.... better than 40%, since they "always" class a sales under the "gold" agreement.... (well on my statements anyhow!)

-B

[Dan East]

You ought to try eSellerate for your website store backend. They only charge 10%.

Dan East