How to Set Up Contracts

Contract Settings Part 1:

The first in this group of three videos covering Contracts shows you how easy it is to set up your Contract.
View this Flash Video [4' 29]

Contract Settings Part 2:

This second lesson concentrates on the important "Marketing" section of the Contract settings page, which lets you to make your Contract ready for Affiliates and Partners to sell, include your product in XML feeds to trusted directory sites, Froogle, and the Plimus Product Catalog.
You'll also find out how you cover all VAT issues in just two mouse clicks!
View this Flash Video [3' 26]

Contract Settings Part 3:

The third lesson covers Instant Notifications, Download Warranty, CD on Demand, File Uploads options, Product License and Description texts.
View this Flash Video [4' 54]

Step-by-Step Tutorial:

1. Contracts

Contracts define the terms on which you customers purchase your offerings. They are akin to the price sticker on the car in the sales lot.
You can have many contracts for one Product, for instance, home, office and educational. lite and full versions.
There has to be at least one contract for each Product as customers buy Contracts not Products.

2. Each Product generates one Default Contract

An initial Contract is automatically generated when a Product is created.
Open the relevant Product and then click on the relevant Full Version contract link.

Note: If required you can create a new contract by pressing the "New BuyNow Contract" button.

3. Contract Set Up Page

This brings up the Contract page -- a long detailed page with a number of different sections that affect the way you manage your sales on Plimus.

4. General Information

1. You can change the Name but not the BuyNow url which is the link from which your clients buy your Contract using the Plimus system.
2. Press the Test BuyNow button or copy and paste the address in the BuyNow link to view your Order page.
3. BuyNow parameters are covered in a separate lesson and are additional phrases which are added to the BuyNow URL to change its behavior.
4. A related image can be uploaded if required.
5. Use the pull down menus to define the Categories and Operating System of the item being sold. This information is important if you wish others to locate and sell your products as Affiliates through Plimus.

5. Pricing

1. Set the relevant Price. You also have an opportunity to set fixed prices in other currencies rather than relying on dynamic price conversion. Setting fixed prices may require ongoing monitoring as rates change.
2. Allow Override Price generally relates only to auction and charity contracts, while Authorize Only affects subscription contracts. (As these settings are not relevant for this tutorial leave as 'No').
3. You can choose to allow and then set up Coupons to activate a discount when the correct discount code is entered.

6. Quantity

1. You can set a Minimun Order Quantity which might be relevant for instant for corporate purchases. Default value is 1 which is appropriate for most contracts.
2. Keep 'Allow Quantity Change' checked to let customers select the quantity.
3. Set up a Volume Discount if required. You will need to create a Volume Discount Setup.

7. Marketing

1. Make contract Available to Partners to that it can be sold by Affiliates.
2. Set Default Commission - you can always override this for specific partners.
3. Select 'Yes' to Auto Approve Partner requests to sell as affiliates or 'No' to approve each manually.
4. We recommend Publish in Plimus Catalog so the contract can be included and seen by potential Partners.
5. Allow Cross Vendor Sales to let other Plimus Vendors market your products with their own by selecting 'Yes.'
6. Check Plimus Marketing Channels to include item in XML Feeds to Plimus-approved directory sites, and set relevant commission.
7. Promotions Only - tick this if the contract is only to be sold as an add-on to another contract and not on its own. (Advanced setting - covered in separate tutorial).
8. Check to display contract in Plimus Store & Froogle.
9. Set Email address from which sale confirmation will be sent to Customer. Choose an address you want to disclose to your customers.

8. Miscellaneous

1. Use this dialog to set the the dates for this Contract to start and expire.
2. If you are supplying ONLY by Electronic Delivery then you need to check this box.
3. Check box if you want to bear the VAT instead of your customers
4. If you are shipping a physical product checking this box will allow your customer to provide a different address for shipping than the billing address.

9. Notifications

1. If you are able to accept Instant Notification posts just insert the relevant http address here, and Plimus will deliver notifications directly.
2. Click the link to access the latest Notification attributes and parameters.
3. You may cite an additional Email address for receipt of transaction notifications by Email.

10. Extended Download Warranty

The Extended Download Warranty ensures that your customers can download a copy of their software in the future. You have the option to offer this for this contract and as a default for all your products.
There is a minimum fee of $3.95 charged by Plimus to the customer.
You may add a Surcharge for yourself or alternatively elect to absorb the base cost yourself and so offer the facility as a free extra for your customer.

11. Customer Login Credentials

This advance facility is particularly useful for Subscription contracts as it offers a customer the ability to create a login account where they can manage their subscription account and future purchases.
You can also set up an automatic notification process to be alerted to changes in their details if you are able to accept notification posts.

12. Optional Descriptions & Upload Customer File

Complete the Optional Descriptions box to communicate additional information to customers.
1. Paste in the text of your License Agreement here so that it is delivered to your customer as part of the transacation.
Use the Special Instructions box to notify Plimus of any additonal matters we should be aware of.
2. Make sure you SAVE all your changes by pressing the Submit button.
3. Next if you need to deliver a software, game or digital Customer file at the end of the sales process, click the end of page link to upload the file to the Plimus servers.

13. Add a Backup CD Offer for Your Customers

After saving your Contract Settings and uploading a Customer download file, go to the top of the page and click the CD on Demand link to offer your client a backup CD if this is appropriate.
This is a great add on that your customers will appreciate.