Credit Where Credit Is Due

With file-sharing taking a big hit on music sales these days, it's a harsh reality that bands need to find other sources of income. I make easily half of my income based on merch sales alone.

Touring is, of course, a great part of that because you can go from city to city and sell merchandise. But what about all that time when you're not on tour? You can still make your merchandise available to your fans year round by setting up a store on your website and accepting credit cards. But how do you do that?

The solution I've been using for almost ten years now is a company called CCnow. For $9.95 a month (if you make more than $100 a month), plus a small percentage of each sale, they will generate links for having a shop complete with cart inside your own site, they'll handle all the credit card processing, they have extensive risk management to avoid fraudulent charges (in ten years, I've only had one bad charge get through, and I got the distinct impression that it wasn't a fraudulent charge, but an unscrupulous customer looking for a freebie), and excellent customer support. Your customers place orders on your site, and if the charges are accepted by the credit card company (or Paypal), the order is forwarded to your email box. After filling the order, you log in to their website indicate that it has shipped, the customer's card is charged, and every 2 weeks you get a direct deposit to your bank account for whatever you made in the previous pay period. They're adding new features all the time, too. For instance, not too long ago, they added a feature where the prices would all appear in the customer's native currency, which is great for interenational orders.

Anyway, if you're looking for a way to set-up merchandising on your website, I highly recommend this company. I don't work for them or receive any kind of compensation, I'm simply a happy customer. Give it a look!