If you use Paddle to sell, did any of you get this?

Dev Discussion
1

I recently got this from Paddle, but I feel that it’s going a little to far, in terms of privacy. Have any of you had to submit such information? They already have my ID, verified bank account, tax information, now this! Submitting all this info to a third party company, which I’m not comfortable doing. Is this normal practice in the UK?

I know some of you use Gumroad, are you happy with their service? Are they also requiring things such as this? Any other suggestions where I could sell my software?

Thanks in advance.

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Paddle identity verification checks

Hello,

To maintain compliance with regulatory standards and ensure the utmost security for all our customers, we conduct periodic reviews of our accounts. This helps keep our records accurate and up to date.

In this routine process, we randomly select accounts for a quick re-verification, and your account has been selected.

We kindly request you to complete the re-verification of your account within the next 14 days. To initiate the verification process, simply click on the button below. You will be redirected to an Onfido page where, after accepting Terms & Conditions, you will be able to complete the identity verification on your smartphone by scanning a QR code.

Please be advised that if the verification process is not completed within the given 14-day window, we will temporarily hold your payout until the verification is successfully finalised.

[Start your identity check]

The checks should only take about 5-10 minutes. Please see below for instructions on how to perform the check.

What do you need to do?

  1. Click on the link in an email sent to you by Onfido
  2. Fill out personal information such as name and DOB
  3. Take a photo of your passport or driving license to upload
  4. Take a selfie via the the platform

For more information about account verification, visit our FAQs.

Tips for document upload:

  • Take a photo of the original document, not a scan
  • Ensure your document is supported by Onfido

Tips for selfie video:

  • Remove glasses
  • Stand/sit in front of a plain background in a well-lit room
  • Move hair away from your face
  • Remove any hats or scarves

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions or issues!

The Paddle Verification Team
Paddle.com, Judd House, 18-29 Mora Street, London EC1V 8BT

Seller Handbook Terms of Use

All Rights Reserved.

2

Can’t comment on Paddle. But Gumroad changed their fee structure. I used to be on a smaller fee plan based on number of sales. Now it’s a flat 10% of sale price for everyone. Which I wasn’t happy about as it cuts into your returns a lot. Which matters with brics, as the market is small.

I have looked at other options. Even selling myself, but decided for now to stay, and take the hit. As managing global tax etc then isn’t my problem :joy:.

Lemon Squeezy was an option and they will migrate customers and sales from Gunroad. But I’ve seen a few road bumps are happening there.

3

Wow! – Passport, Driver’s License - it appears they don’t trust who you say you are - If someone’s trying to steal your identity/credit cards/bank account then I guess that could be warranted but only if you instigate the request. I wouldn’t just give them everythng carte blanche :wink:

Bill
BricsDesign

4

Thanks @PeteSharp

5

My feelings exactly, now looking for an alternative

6

Wow 10% is a huge cut! I’m going to look a what Lemonsqueezy

1 Like
7

Looks like Lemon Squeezy has the same pricing model as Paddle

1 Like
8

I’ve had a Lemon Squeezy account since day one of their launch. And they sure have developed a substantial service in that time.

They will migrate me from Gumroad for free too. At the moment, they do it manually, but they are apparently working on an automation for it.

In time I will likely move to them.

10

Yes, I got this also in the past.

I would like you to remember that Paddle and you have a contract. Paddle resells your products. They are sending money to your bank account and take over taxation.

They are all kinds of criminal cases like money laundering and selling stolen digital products I can think of which could happen. Of course Paddle wants to know who you are, and that the given information during registration is correct.

3 Likes
11

So you guess you’ll find other resellers just trusting and not controlling your actual documents? You also won’t find a bank which doesn’t perform KYC.

12

I also had this from Paddle and completed it. When you are paying 18 different rates of VAT tax to 28 countries, you can’t mess about.That’s why I use Paddle.

3 Likes
13

Just for the record, Paddle already has a copy of my drivers license, my social security number, I file a 1099 form which has my name and associated tax records for the US. That should be enough! That proves that I’m legit, and the US revenue service taxes me on this income. I just have a big issue providing this again and then some to yet another third party private company.
Lemon Squeezy seems to provide very similar services,they are not UK based, so maybe their requirements won’t be so intrusive.
Thanks for sharing your perspectives and experiences.

1 Like
14

Ah sorry, I’ve overlooked that, my fault. Well, then I would ask them why you have to share this information again. I’m interested in their answer.

In my case, they didn’t have this kind of information beforehand.

15

I’ll ask them again, will let you know what they say.

1 Like
16

Seems like they are using a 3rd party service for this. We have something similar here in NZ but it’s Govt based called RealMe.

We will probably see more of this sort of thing happening.

17

This seems particularly phishy to me. I’d want to approach Paddle itself (and be sure it is them) to ask what is happening. There’s a lot of information going out there.

I’d want to know the name of their data controller (every company should have one) plus proof of their official title.

As Ricardo says, they are asking for way too much info. Data protection: The Data Protection Act - GOV.UK

1 Like
18

Thanks @Chiefsub68,

I did exactly what you mentioned here as couple of weeks ago, and I still don’t have the matter resolved.

They’ve been very vague about who/what gov agency is requesting this verification, and said that the data could no be erased from Onfido, which is a violation of the GDPR and the UK Data Protection Act, to name a few.

I emailed them again last night and am waiting for a response.

19

I got this a few months ago. Thought it was a little sketchy at first so I logged into Paddle myself to see if some sort of notification was there and it was.

20

Did you go thru the process?

21

I did because I recognized Onfido from one of my certification platforms. I of course understand that if you haven’t seen this before, it would be very sketchy.

2 Likes