question for authors

LandonWilson said
They usually just wait until someone emails them going:

“WTF, WHY YOUR THEME NO WORK ? WP SAYS MISSING STYLE .CSS…....... HOW DO YOU EVEN SELL THIS ?”

And then they know someone bought it.

Sounds like you have already tried doing support eh?

@Chris: We authors can set up 3rd party apps to do this loud “ka-ching” sound for every new dollar in our balance. How cool is that?

freshface said

LandonWilson said
They usually just wait until someone emails them going:

“WTF, WHY YOUR THEME NO WORK ? WP SAYS MISSING STYLE .CSS…....... HOW DO YOU EVEN SELL THIS ?”

And then they know someone bought it.

Sounds like you have already tried doing support eh?

Yeah – I’ve done support for 2 top authors for a year. Some people are really nice, some are really rude, some are really stupid.

LandonWilson said
Yeah – I’ve done support for 2 top authors for a year. Some people are really nice, some are really rude, some are really stupid.

So true….......

LandonWilson said

freshface said

LandonWilson said
They usually just wait until someone emails them going:

“WTF, WHY YOUR THEME NO WORK ? WP SAYS MISSING STYLE .CSS…....... HOW DO YOU EVEN SELL THIS ?”

And then they know someone bought it.

Sounds like you have already tried doing support eh?

Yeah – I’ve done support for 2 top authors for a year. Some people are really nice, some are really rude, some are really stupid.

+1 Some people can be so rude and stupid …

duotive said
We will never ever get this…. customer privacy.

This makes no sense. Envato won’t explicitly inform authors which anonymous username purchased a file for the sake of privacy. However as soon as the buyer contacts the author via comment/DM the supposedly private information is given.

If I buy a car, Ford knows my name. If I buy a computer, Apple knows my name. Is there any legitimate privacy concern in withholding an anonymous username from ThemeForest authors? It’s not possible to spam buyers via the API with a username list. There is no DM API .

This policy creates cat/mouse games and increases buyer/author hostility.

GravityDept said

duotive said
We will never ever get this…. customer privacy.

This makes no sense. Envato won’t explicitly inform authors which anonymous username purchased a file for the sake of privacy. However as soon as the buyer contacts the author via comment/DM the supposedly private information is given.

If I buy a car, Ford knows my name. If I buy a computer, Apple knows my name. Is there any legitimate privacy concern in withholding an anonymous username from ThemeForest authors? It’s not possible to spam buyers via the API with a username list. There is no DM API .

This policy creates cat/mouse games and increases buyer/author hostility.

Good point. +1 on this one!

GravityDept said

duotive said
We will never ever get this…. customer privacy.

This makes no sense. Envato won’t explicitly inform authors which anonymous username purchased a file for the sake of privacy. However as soon as the buyer contacts the author via comment/DM the supposedly private information is given.

If I buy a car, Ford knows my name. If I buy a computer, Apple knows my name. Is there any legitimate privacy concern in withholding an anonymous username from ThemeForest authors? It’s not possible to spam buyers via the API with a username list. There is no DM API .

This policy creates cat/mouse games and increases buyer/author hostility.

Benefits:

- Customers won’t complain since there are no questions about privacy

- Authors don’t need it

- Envato has one thing less on their to-do-and-maintain-and-pay-and-fix-and-pay-and-support list

- Envato doesn’t have to worry about Authors cheating on them with their Customers (mass spam emails, anyone?)

- Customers will receive less or no spam at all

It’s just another thing less to worry about and to maintain silent control from Envato (which is probably necessary).

Rebuttals in bold.

freshface said
- Customers won’t complain since there are no questions about privacy

Customers already complain when authors invariably require extra steps for verification before support is given. Envato’s policy forces an unnecessary and uncomfortable exchange at the start of communication between authors/buyers.

- Authors don’t need it

See above. This happens daily.

- Envato has one thing less on their to-do-and-maintain-and-pay-and-fix-and-pay-and-support list

Fair point. However a “has user X purchased any of my items” query/function is dead simple to build/maintain, and it already exists. The email generated by a direct message includes an expiring verification code that does this lookup. Why not expose it full-time via a frontend?

Moreover Envato already shares the supposedly private username of referral buyers freely on the “Statement” tab.

Why can’t each sale line item list the username too?

- Envato doesn’t have to worry about Authors cheating on them with their Customers (mass spam emails, anyone?)

If you had a big list of Envato usernames there is still no way to mass message them. The API does not expose email addresses and cannot generate Direct Messages.

- Customers will receive less or no spam at all

See prior.

It’s just another thing less to worry about and to maintain silent control from Envato (which is probably necessary).

The flabbergasting part is this functionality already exists and the privacy standards are compromised by any interaction with authors to begin with. In the end the only thing this layer of control does is lower marketplace morale.

Just saying

GravityDept said

duotive said
We will never ever get this…. customer privacy.

This makes no sense. Envato won’t explicitly inform authors which anonymous username purchased a file for the sake of privacy. However as soon as the buyer contacts the author via comment/DM the supposedly private information is given.

If I buy a car, Ford knows my name. If I buy a computer, Apple knows my name. Is there any legitimate privacy concern in withholding an anonymous username from ThemeForest authors? It’s not possible to spam buyers via the API with a username list. There is no DM API .

This policy creates cat/mouse games and increases buyer/author hostility.

Yeah but a vehicle and an apple computer are in the thousands, while a theme is under $100.

LandonWilson said
Yeah but a vehicle and an apple computer are in the thousands, while a theme is under $100.

Price is irrelevant. If somebody asks for support, the builder needs to confirm the purchase. Cars, computers, and themes can be stolen. Buyers should not hide the fact that they are buyers.