Confusing "multi-Vendor" License - Reseller Program

Hi,



we asked CS-Cart team many times, why they don't offer the Multi-Vendor license as “Life time” license on their web site like to the resellers and on the other side the resellers are not allowed to re-sell the Multi-Vendor subscriptions.



It's very confusing for our end customers which would like to buy the license, but if they visit the CS-Cart site, there is NOT any word about a Life Time license. The we do get tons of messages, what is a Life Time license, WHY it's not offered on the CS-Cart site, and, and ,and…



Here is an example of a customer question:



“I am looking to buy a CS-CART license (multi-vendor) version. The one on your site is a one time fee, but one cs-cart website it's a yearly fee. What's the difference?..”



CS-Cart, why don't you make it clear on your website what kind of Multi-Vendor licenses are avaiable on the markt? What is the reason???



Thanks



P.S. A question to another resellers:



What are your thoughts about this? Should CS-Cart make clear for the customers on their web site, that there is an “ANOTHER” hidden way, how to buy Multi-Vendor license?



If we asked them, why they don't provide the information of a life time license on their sites, they answered:



“We do plan to revive Multi-Vendor Lifetime license sales on our site. The cost will be ~$1450.

I would like to note that we also plan to start selling CS-Cart on the annual basis, the same way as Multi-Vendor. The cost is going to be ~$200 for one year subscription.



I'm not sure that this is the right way for us, as long as we sell to end customers. The main idea for resellers is to find their own channel of sales.”



This answer seems to be very odd and the policy counterproductive for the resellers.

My guess is that it's an accounting issue in cs-cart related to how to pay-out for subscription licenses. they could make it simple by just having the 1/2 of the 1st year as the commission and then let everyone sell the same thing. All the recurring revenue (future years) would go to cs-cart, just like upgrade fees do now.



Personally, I would rather buy a fixed cost license and pay an annual upgrade fee until I don't want upgrades anymore rather than having a variable cost subscription.



I think they are referring to the SaaS environment for the $200/yr cart subscription.



Hope you're talking to Alex or someone else in the sales department versus someone on the helpdesk.

Dear Martfox,



Thank you for your message.



My name is Denis, I am a CS-Cart sales manager. I will be glad to answer your questions.



On a customer's request, we provide an opportunity to purchase a lifetime Multi-Vendor license which costs USD 1250 as of now. In this case, the purchase of a Multi-Vendor license is a one-time payment which gives you the right to run the software on your server for an unlimited amount of time. Also, on purchasing the license you will be given access to new Multi-Vendor versions and upgrades for a period of one year and the opportunity to get security patches free of charge.



It means that on purchasing the license on the 21st of May, 2014, for instance, you can upgrade your Multi-Vendor store to the next version of the software within a year for free, i.e. till the 21st of May, 2015.



After that, if you want to upgrade your Multi-Vendor web store to the latest version which can be released during this time, the maintenance plan is to be purchased. However, you will be able to continue using the existing version of the software without purchasing the maintenance plan if you do not need to upgrade your store to the next version of Multi-Vendor.



Subscription plans for Multi-Vendor are available at the following prices now:



USD 245–if the plan is purchased within one month after access to updates is closed;



USD 385–in case the plan is purchased after one month upon access termination.



Unfortunately, as a sales manager, I do not know why the lifetime license is indeed not mentioned on our website. I will talk to our management about this.



I hope this helps.



Feel free to ask further questions if any.



I will be glad to help.

[quote name='Denis Borisov' timestamp='1400658216' post='183949']



…I do not know why the lifetime license is indeed not mentioned on our website. I will talk to our management about this.





[/quote]



Thanks. This is main point of this thread because the customer has no idea what a “Multi-Vendor Life-Time” license is nor that such license exist…



Please mention it on your web site to avoid confusions in the future.

Hello martfox,



We also resell Multi-Vendor and when we are asked by customers why CS-Cart offers a subscription plan only, we reply that CS-Cart resellers are officially allowed to sell Life-time licenses and if a client asks CS-cart directly, they always confirm that. I can’t say that we have problems with CS-cart Multi-Vendor reselling.



If CS-Cart states officially at their website that they can sell for $1250, there will not be a reason for us to resell Multi-Vendor because the minimum retail price is $1250. Why should someone buy from a reseller if he can buy from an official company directly?



The good solution - Cs-cart offers a life-time license for a little bigger than $1250, Resellers for $1250, and everyone is happy and no confusion :)



Best regards, Alt-team

[quote name=‘Alt-team’ timestamp=‘1400744465’ post=‘184053’]

If CS-Cart states officially at their website that they can sell for $1250, there will not be a reason for us to resell Multi-Vendor because the minimum retail price is $1250. Why should someone buy from a reseller if he can buy from an official company directly?



The good solution - Cs-cart offers a life-time license for a little bigger than $1250, Resellers for $1250, and everyone is happy and no confusion :)



[/quote]



Why should the customer “ask” us, CS-Cart team or somebody else? How can they know, that a Life-Time license is “hidden”?

It’s really annoying to answer tickets for hours about something, what should be provided to the customer in the first instance - this is their web site




[quote]If CS-Cart states officially at their website that they can sell for $1250, there will not be a reason for us to resell Multi-Vendor because the minimum retail price is $1250. Why should someone buy from a reseller if he can buy from an official company directly?[/quote]



Ok, and that is the point - $1250 directly and $1250 from a reseller is counterproductive.