ABA IndieCommerce Updates & Reminders

Among recent IndieCommerce developments have been the introduction of a new customer service rep, the addition of Google eBooks™ published by Penguin, and an increase in the percentage of each Google eBooks sale going to member stores.

• In response to feedback from IndieCommerce stores, ABA has expanded its support team with the addition of a new IndieCommerce Customer Service Representative.

  Valerie Federici joins Member Relationship Manager for IndieCommerce Scott Nafz on the IndieCommerce customer service team. Prior to joining ABA, Federici worked at Polarn O. Pyret, where she helped maintain the company’s e-commerce site. Federici and Nafz are backed up by Technical Support Coordinator Chanthee Keokhaw and Member Relationship Managers Elizabeth Nichols and Kaitlin Pitcher.

• On March 30, Google eBooks published by Penguin became available through IndieCommerce websites. Penguin has an agency pricing model for e-books.
   
• Google eBooks is now the exclusive provider of e-books for ABA member IndieCommerce sites. One of the benefits of this arrangement is that booksellers started receiving an additional three percent of each e-book sale.
   
• Effective April 1, ABA began collecting 4.5 percent of all non-ebook credit card transactions for users of ABA’s shared Authorize.net account. Stores with their own Authorize.net account are not charged any per-transaction fees by ABA. (It is important to note that ABA takes absolutely nothing out of any sale of e-books by IndieCommerce stores.)

  An Authorize.net account, including Advanced Fraud Protection Suite and Customer Information add-ons, which are highly recommended by ABA, costs approximately $45 a month. Stores should consider not only the cost of the account (relative to 4.5 percent of their monthly credit sales) but also Authorize.net’s other advantages. A great deal of information on signing up for an Authorize.net account is available on IndieCommerce.com. ABA’s point person for questions about Authorize.net is Chanthee Keokhaw.
   

• In addition, for members interested in launching an IndieCommerce site, ABA is running a limited time-only, special offer. ABA members that sign an IndieCommerce contract between now and May 31, 2011, can use IndieCommerce for only $100 per month for the first three months. If a total of 300 IndieCommerce sites are live by October 1, 2011, the regular monthly cost of $225 per month will go down to $175 per month for all stores.

  To learn more about launching an IndieCommerce website, visit the new IndieCommerce.com support and resource site and then contact an ABA Membership Relationship Manager about getting online with IndieCommerce.