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Chrome Web Store payments deprecation

developer.chrome.com

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Re: Chrome Web Store payments deprecation

#11

Post by Analemma_ »

mrkramer wrote: post #7

Who says Google is destroying competition, they encourage competition by closing down their own stuff people love and use.

That is destroying competition though. What Google does is enter a market which previously had a healthy economy of paid software, snuff out all the other players with a free version, and then abandon the space when they get bored. And the old economy can never come back, because there's hysteresis involved in the relative costs of starting from scratch versus keeping a functioning ecosystem alive, and because users now expect the software to be free and throw a fit if they're charged for it (especially if it's an ongoing cost, because god forbid developers can't live off a single payment for the rest of their lives)

It's only gradually becoming common knowledge, but eventually we're going to collectively realize that Google killed small ISVs, and at the time we all cheered them on.

Re: Chrome Web Store payments deprecation

#12

Post by sippingjippers »

Gehinnn wrote: post #2

This sucks. I paid $25 for my play console account to monetize my extension two days ago - just to find out they deprecate web store payments entirely.

Make up a support e-mail address at random, send refund request to it, wait 14 days, file chargeback, be sure to mention no response to refund request which is attached to the form. Don't worry, they probably don't pay attention to chargebacks either

Alternatively, simply wait 12-18 months and the same feature will be relaunched under a slightly different name by a different team

Re: Chrome Web Store payments deprecation

#13

Post by filoleg »

sippingjippers wrote: post #12
Gehinnn wrote: post #2

This sucks. I paid $25 for my play console account to monetize my extension two days ago - just to find out they deprecate web store payments entirely.

Make up a support e-mail address at random, send refund request to it, wait 14 days, file chargeback, be sure to mention no response to refund request which is attached to the form. Don't worry, they probably don't pay attention to chargebacks either Alternatively, simply wait 12-18 months and the same feature will be relaunched under a slightly different name by a different team

According to everything i read about chargebacks on Google services, they indeed don’t pay attention, they just automatically block access to any of your Google accounts and services shortly after you do a chargeback. And given the horror stories I’ve heard about trying to resolve or reverse any automated account bans by Google, I do not recommend following that route.

Re: Chrome Web Store payments deprecation

#14

Post by Axsuul »

gnicholas wrote: post #5

This is super annoying. I have two extensions, one which we've offered on Chrome and Firefox for years, and which uses Stripe for payments. The other we only offered on Chrome and was paid through the Chrome Store. Thinking of all the work we'll have to do to manage accounts/payments/etc on the PDF extension almost makes me want to scrap the whole thing. Most frustrating is the migration. We have been live in the Chr…

Are you able to query what they were paying? e.g. google.payments.inapp.getPurchases

Re: Chrome Web Store payments deprecation

#15

Post by gnicholas »

Axsuul wrote: post #14
gnicholas wrote: post #5

This is super annoying. I have two extensions, one which we've offered on Chrome and Firefox for years, and which uses Stripe for payments. The other we only offered on Chrome and was paid through the Chrome Store. Thinking of all the work we'll have to do to manage accounts/payments/etc on the PDF extension almost makes me want to scrap the whole thing. Most frustrating is the migration. We have been live in the Chr…

Are you able to query what they were paying? e.g. google.payments.inapp.getPurchases

Yeah, it looks like there is a way to do this. But this requires them to authenticate to allow it, and is a hassle on both ends. Seriously, what a huge pain for all involved. It is shocking they are giving such a short timeline for this transition, especially during COVID (they use COVID as an excuse for slow processing times, but clearly they don't care that devs would be similarly affected).

Re: Chrome Web Store payments deprecation

#16

Post by dewitt »

Gehinnn wrote: post #2

This sucks. I paid $25 for my play console account to monetize my extension two days ago - just to find out they deprecate web store payments entirely.

I have no connection to any of the teams involved, but if you have problems getting this resolved, please send me a mail (my HN name @google.com) and I'll make it right.

Re: Chrome Web Store payments deprecation

#17

Post by lukifer »

Analemma_ wrote: post #11
mrkramer wrote: post #7

Who says Google is destroying competition, they encourage competition by closing down their own stuff people love and use.

That is destroying competition though. What Google does is enter a market which previously had a healthy economy of paid software, snuff out all the other players with a free version, and then abandon the space when they get bored. And the old economy can never come back, because there's hysteresis involved in the relative costs of starting from scratch versus keeping a functioning ecosystem alive, and because users…

Reminds me of the Google Reader saga: it took over from dedicated RSS readers due to convenience and experience, but when it was killed, the RSS ecosystem never fully bounced back.

Re: Chrome Web Store payments deprecation

#18

Post by marcinzm »

filoleg wrote: post #13
sippingjippers wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Make up a support e-mail address at random, send refund request to it, wait 14 days, file chargeback, be sure to mention no response to refund request which is attached to the form. Don't worry, they probably don't pay attention to chargebacks either Alternatively, simply wait 12-18 months and the same feature will be relaunched under a slightly different name by a different team

According to everything i read about chargebacks on Google services, they indeed don’t pay attention, they just automatically block access to any of your Google accounts and services shortly after you do a chargeback. And given the horror stories I’ve heard about trying to resolve or reverse any automated account bans by Google, I do not recommend following that route.

Yup, companies dislike charge backs and many will block you from all their services for requesting one. So don't go that route unless you never wish to use services from that company again. My wife accidentally did one for a mmorpg she plays and after 6 weeks (and dealing with support, multiple banks, etc.) it was only social media shaming that got them to unban her.
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