IndieCommunication: Fall Show Education, Commission Charges, Credit Card Merchants, and More

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Here's the latest news from the IndieCommunication e-newsletter from the IndieCommerce team:

Join the IndieCommerce Team for a Virtual Education Session at the Fall Regional Shows

The American Booksellers Association is inviting booksellers to sign up to join an education session with IndieCommerce team members during the fall regional trade shows to learn about new features on the IndieCommerce and IndieLite ecommerce platforms.

With the dramatic increase in online sales during the COVID-19 pandemic, bookstores have turned to the IndieCommerce team for assistance processing huge volumes of online orders. To help stores manage their online sales, the team developed several new features and upgrades. In preparation for the upcoming holiday shopping season, the IndieCommerce team will provide an overview of the new features, including Bulk Order Processing, Credit Card Processing, Custom Reports, POS integration, Sidelines, Wish Lists/Gift Registry, and more.

The education session will be held as follows:

Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance and New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association:

New England Independent Booksellers Association

  • Thursday, September 24, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET
  • Sign up through the regional association.

California Independent Booksellers Alliance

Mountains and Plains Independent Booksellers Association

  • Saturday, October 10, from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. MT
  • Sign up through the regional association.

Please note that NO sessions will be held during the Heartland or Pacific Northwest bookseller association meetings.

REMINDER: 1 Percent Commission Charge Starts With August Sales

As detailed in this June 16 email update, the new IndieCommerce fee structure started on August 1 and will be charged for the first time during this first week of September. The monthly fee includes the following changes: 

  • Baseline IndieCommerce and IndieLite monthly dues will remain the same — $175 per month for IndieCommerce, $50 per month for IndieLite.
     
  • All IndieCommerce and IndieLite stores will also pay a service fee/commission of 1 percent on all of their own e-commerce sales, with a $500 monthly cap on this amount.

To view the service fee for your IndieCommerce/IndieLite website for last month, got to: Store -> Reports -> Online Commission -> View All Statements

IF YOUR REPORT SHOWS A FEE TOTAL GREATER THAN $500, THE ACTUAL CHARGE TO YOUR ACCOUNT WILL BE NO MORE THAN $500.

If you have questions regarding the new IndieCommerce and IndieLite monthly fee structure, please email [email protected].

Credit Card Merchant Account for IndieCommerce Stores

If your bookstore is currently on IndieCommerce (not IndieLite) and you use the ABA’s shared account for processing online credit card orders, the shared account is going to be shut down in the near future. In its place, we would like to help you set up your own credit card merchant account for your website as soon as possible.

ABA CFO PK Sindwani has negotiated discounted credit card processing rates for ABA members with Gravitypayments.com. The rate for Visa/MC/Amex/Disc is 2.4 percent plus a transfer fee of $0.23. There is no monthly Authorize.net payment gateway fee with this offer from Gravity. The chargeback fee is $25 if it is not settled in your favor. For more information on this offer, see this online form.

Changes at Hummingbird / My Must Reads

For IndieCommerce and IndieLite stores that sell digital content via Hummingbird/My Must Reads, they are transitioning their ebooks and audiobooks to a new platform.

What does this mean for you?

  • Your white-label Hummingbird website URL will change from YourBookstoreName.papertrell.com to
    YourBookstoreName.MyMustReads.com
  • Your old URL will still work because automatic redirects are in place. This means that any links you have set up for Hummingbird ebooks and audiobooks will simply lead to your new URL. There is no action required on your part for this.
  • If you have the old URL in your own online content, promotional materials, or other locations, we would recommend updating to the new URL.
Categories: 
IndieCommerce
E-commerce
Independent Bookstore Day
Credit cards