Essentially the same question, just worded differently. Because these are questions that we get asked from time to time we thought we’d take the opportunity to straighten out the question marks.
To start with, the fact that we can offer plugins for free is made possible by agreements we have in place with the service providers we have developed the plugins for. They pay us for our services, and you pay them for theirs.
It is worth mentioning that we, Krokedil, also have plugins we have developed that you buy from us. We will get back to those at the end of this article. For now our main focus is the plugins that you download for free.
The fictional company “Online Payment Provider Inc.” identifies the need to take a step into the WooCommerce market. For this they need a plugin that makes payments through their services possible in WooCommerce.
They reach out to us and we agree on the functions, details and technical aspects of the plugin. We also agree on a price for the development of the plugin, and it’s at this stage we decide on the payment details. Usually the deal is that the provider pays a certain sum for the initial development of the plugin and then pays a running fee to us that can be based on a number of variables. Which brings us back to the questions at the beginning of this article.
Even if you don’t pay anything to us at Krokedil, your payment provider will most likely charge you. Exactly how this looks is not for us to go into since each payment provider has their own agreements, but the most common is a running fee for each transaction, possibly combined with a set monthly fee. We also have developed plugins for other purposes than payment and these agreements might differ depending on the service.
When you have identified the plugin that will cover your needs, you need to get in touch with the provider of this service if you haven’t already. Whether it is for payment, shipping or something else. They will let you know what agreements are available and what the costs of these agreements are.
Our plugins are only tools for a service provider to be able to offer their services in your WooCommerce store. Actual payments, invoicing or bookings of shipments for instance are never made through us. Our plugins are merely the gateways between your WooCommerce store and their services. No transactions are made through Krokedil, hence no need for us to apply any transaction fees.
We at Krokedil offer documentation and support for more or less all the plugins we have developed. The exceptions are when the service providers have fully taken on this task themselves. But even in those cases we often offer at least some sort of documentation on how to get started. These services are a part of the plugin, so they are normally included in the agreement you have with your service provider for plugins that are free to download. No additional fees are added from our side.
If you are using a plugin we have developed, and have a valid license, you have access to our documentation and our support surrounding our plugins and their functions. This can however sometimes be a bit of a grey area. We only offer support directly related to the plugins we have developed. Early in the troubleshooting process there can be times where it’s harder to distinguish between if it’s a problem caused by the plugin or not. It can also be an issue on the side of the service provider. Or by a third party, such as another plugin or a theme. We always aim to identify the source of the issue as quickly as we can. We also do our best to be as clear as we can around this, which saves time for both you and us.
In some cases the service providers themselves offer the documentation and/or support. Either exclusively or as a complement to our services. Even though we’re fairly confident in saying that these services are also included in your agreement, you still need to check with them to make sure.
As promised earlier we’ll briefly touch upon the plugins that you have to buy from us to use. We have a few of those and the main thing they have in common is that they are adding features and functions to WooCommerce. You don’t need any of these plugins to be able to accept payments for instance. Maybe you need some of them to book shipping orders, but in those cases it’s with certain shipping service providers. You don’t have to buy a plugin from us to be able to book shipping orders altogether. You buy a plugin from us because it makes the everyday work with WooCommerce easier.
With the plugins we offer that you pay for, the price you see in our store is the price you pay. No hidden fees. You buy the license to use the plugin for one year at a time. That’s it. If you’ve bought a plugin, documentation and support are included in the price. As long as you have a valid license you are free to reach out to our support team and we will help you. Provided it’s an issue directly related to our plugin, as we also mentioned earlier in this article.
If our plugin is free to download, there are no additional fees from us.
If our plugin costs money to buy, that’s the price you pay. Usually through a monthly cost that is billed quarterly or yearly, depending on what you choose.
If there ever are any changes in this set up, this information will be easily accessible.
With this article we hope we managed to straighten out any of those question marks you might have had before.
