We're removing Envato Credits from Market

Why don’t we cut the prices for -$2 (to cover handling fees) and everything will stay as it should be?

We can cut price but can’t prevent the surprise which buyer gets when reaching to the checkout page and see $2 additional charge. Rather you mention it on your item details page that we are covering the transaction fees for you and that too I am not sure about if people read it or not

As @Enabled has pointed out on several replies, cutting our prices by $2 on our items will not work as authors we lose out on revenue. The issue is per transaction regardless of the number of items at the checkout - it is still $2 which should be made visible earlier in the payment processing chain - maybe shown on the landing page.

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@jamesgiroux

This was a big mistake on Envato’s side…lately you guys are announcing things with no margin for discussion. You should have know better than announcing such a big change with no margin for feedback from the community, because while you are deliberating, every day that passes lots of buyers get frustrated about not finding the credits option and start buying somewhere else, like all the buyers that posted in this topic said.

The feedback has been pretty straight forward, every single buyer said that with this change will take their business somewhere else, NOT even ONE in 514 replies said that this change encouraged them to buy even more items…SHOCKING! In fact, according to all the feedback, this goes further that just the fee, buyers said that when working on teams, a system like the credits one allowed them to use those credits freely for all the team, so please, have also this in mind. The sad thing is that we are already feeling a really big drop in our sales, almost 30/40%!! We’re hoping that you can turn things around quickly for all our sake…

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Doesn’t really work when an Author has items (like sound effects) that cost $2-3… It’s the surprise part of the fee that customers aren’t going to like. Also why waste time going back and updating every single one of my items with this info so I can take a revenue cut? no thanks.

Envato needs to fix the problem if they want to keep what seems like a large segment of the community happy.

The overall price could be anything. Customers don’t like seeing surprise fees later, it feels like a cash grab. Especially when they used to have an option to avoid them and now no longer can. Even if it was a $ .5 dollar fee… it’d be annoying and have the same negative impression.

Thank you everyone who has contributed to this conversation. In particular, for sharing your experiences, frustrations and ideas on how to make the purchasing experience better on Market. We’re really grateful for the time and effort you’ve put into articulating your points of view. As a company we value your input. I’ve personally read through every comment and email on this topic, as have many others.

Internally, we’ve been discussing your feedback, considering our approach, and reviewing the purchase experience to see what we might do differently.

First and foremost, it’s clear that we haven’t communicated this change well. Looking back there are a number of things we would do differently and for the confusion and frustration our approach has caused, we are sorry. Thank you for sticking with us. Let’s do a hard reset on this and start from the beginning.

Why are we removing Credits in the first place?

Almost ten years ago we introduced the option for people to ‘Buy Now’. It was a more streamlined experience for customers, allowing them to purchase items without first adding credit to their account. Since then, we have seen more and more customers actively choose the ‘Buy Now’ option. The vast majority of customers now use ‘Buy Now’ instead of purchasing and using Credits.

The Credits system also has a lot of operational complexity and expense that might not seem obvious at first glance. With that ongoing cost and the clear decline in use of the Credits system, we’ve made the decision to move away from Credits.

We made this decision knowing that there would be some pain for those customers who preferred the Credits system, and for authors who might have a greater number of Credit-based purchases. We know that any change we make will have an impact on real people, so we’re very careful, working hard to minimize that impact whenever possible.

We also believe the removal of Credits will help us improve other aspects of the purchase experience for customers much sooner.

What about the concerns raised?

We won’t be reversing our decision to remove Credits. However, the feedback from customers and authors alike has helped shine a light on some parts of the overall purchasing experience that could be made simpler or clearer as we phase out Credits (item pages, checkout, invoices, etc).

Thank You

Again, thank you for your participation in this conversation. We’ve valued your input and have read through every post here carefully, taking on board your feedback and suggestions. We’re sorry that our first crack at communicating this change didn’t go as well as we’d hoped and we thank you for sticking with us as we discussed things internally.

Thanks.

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I’m writing to you as a loyal customer. I feel very sorry to say, that this change in payment policy looks like a clandestine price increasement. I really hope you don’t charge this fee - it would be very disappointing for all those loyal customers.

This is it? You have spent a week coming up with no solutions whatsoever? That you have read all the feedback is well and good, but what is the point if the feedback just bounces off the leadership?

You are not reversing the credit system. Then at the very least come up with alternative solutions for all the problems that you have created.

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I appreciate this response. From our perspective, sure maybe we cannot see all of the data to make a completely informed judgement call… I’m willing to give Envato the benefit of the doubt and observe what happens in time in regards to the removal of the credit system itself.

I have to ask though… what about the handling fees? this is what a large portion of people are upset over. The convenience of the credit system being removed is one thing but this knock-on issue of fees has been created. Sure they’ve always existed but this key portion of the equation is what may ultimately turn people away who were used to credits.

They have been tweaked in the past and I feel it’s right for me to advocate that they be observed for elimination or adjustment under the current circumstances.

A $1 handling fee for a $1 item does not look good at all. Conversely a $2 fee for a $30 item, may be more likely to get shrugged off. It’s almost like the shopping cart is being gamified. In theory, you could find 30 $1 sound effects you might need and purchase them all together but in reality you never know what you’re going to need. The fees feel more like penalties or punishments with the new system.

Regardless of the reasoning for them existing, it appears greedy to customers and at the very least unnecessary to the Authors. I truly hope there are being considerations made to this issue, as it has not been specifically addressed in your response.

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ha-ha-ha ) 13 days to answer about anything? I expected it

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Well worth the wait! Bravo sir!

Did you copy paste from your previous post? How is this post different? If indeed you guys “haven’t communicated this change well” (and I concur), then why keep the same communication?

There is no point in a hard reset if you’re going to do the exact same communication afterwards.

… and eventually decided not to do anything about it.

What about the additional $2 per transaction? Are you seriously not seeing the issue that would come with being the only major company in the world with a surcharge on every payment?!

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I first shopped at Envato (well, Themeforest) over ten years ago. I was learning web design and Wordpress and it was an exciting time. I made quite a few purchases, and also bought some books written by Collis Ta’ eed.
It was really inspiring at that time to hear how he and Cyan had started the company.
I returned today to buy a “$27” plugin…the prices are in USD even though they are based in Australia, as I am. I was horrified to see that every payment option had a $2 surcharge. So, the price, is never the price.
Its just completely unethical. If you want to charge more, add it to the cost.
It seems Envato has gone from an exciting creative community of designers to a faceless corporate monopoly.
I am just really surprised that they have so very little regard for their customers that they are prepared to be so blatant about overcharging.
How disappointing.

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@jamesgiroux Some good examples of customers affected that might have drowned in all the 514 posts.

These customers needs to be answered and presented with an alternative solution. Their problems are not small. The numbers using credits from Audiojungle (as an example) are not small either, it´s been reported up to 30-41 % of the customer base. So this is the “tip of the iceberg” experiences for customers after the credits removal.

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HI there!
I cannot add credit anymore !! Is it correct?

I can only add monthly payouts… or pay one at a time +1

Can I ask you why ?!

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If majority buy items instead of credits then i agree.

Started to feel scared of new “We are doing XXX” topics in the Announcements section. What sudden change comes next? :slight_smile:

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Yea I think the same as well, we’ll see how it goes next 2-3 months or is definitely time to leave here as exclusive authors.

I think they’re trying to push Elements and just let the markets die slowly filled of their own garbage, also Envato is pushing other websites recently not part of the ENvato circle, so maybe they have been bought by a bigger Company.

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+1. What is beneficial to Envato and at the same time to rescue (in this market) dissatisfied customers (make such an offer so that all dissatisfied customers would didn’t run away from here). Are you considering an alternative? This question is addressed to @jamesgiroux . I think an alternative is needed in this case. :thinking: (for those customers who used the credits) .

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@jamesgiroux

Envato should strongly consider rolling the transaction fee into the buyer’s fee, inasmuch as the transaction fee itself seems to run afoul of the law in many or all EU countries.

Does anyone know if PayPal can accommodate buyers who would like to deposit (or leave) a sum of money in their PayPal accounts, thereby creating a sort of virtual third-party Credits mechanism? And if so, would that be an attractive (or slightly less offensive) alternative to buyers?

No, It is Impossible. But it doesn’t matter, because Envato just makes money on a transaction, PayPal doesn’t have such a commission.