Unexpected $4.50 NING Application Fee

[David Shaw]

Hello,

I have members pay for a subscription to my NING site with one option being to pay $90 for a year subscription. The payment is processed through Stripe. However I just went into Stripe and noticed an unexpected "NING application fee" of $4.50 per subscriber in addition to the Stripe $2.91 credit card processing fee (which I did anticipate). How do I turn off the NING application fee? It came as a big surprise to see this NING fee for my subscribers on top of the monthly fee I already pay for NING services.

Thanks,

David

[This Is bully]

You can't it's why I have them cash app me then I allow them on the site or page they want to see. You get all the money no fees

[⚡JFarrow⌁]

interested in how you do this..

[This Is bully]

I keep the group or page private when they want to read or enter the group they cash app me the funds and i let them inn.

[Alex Ning Support]

Hello David,

It's true, we take a 5% fee of each transaction, plus Stripe or PayPal takes their fees.

We decided to take percentages instead of charging a membership fee for using our E-commerce because that makes it easier for our creators to start. So when they have low income, they don't need to pay, for example, $19.95/month as we have on the old platform.

Regards,

Alex

Ning Team

[David Shaw]

Hi Alex,

It seems odd to me that you would charge me for a NING plan for the site (which is very limited in what you offer - for example, there is no build in Wiki app, Instagram activity feed, etc) and then also charge me when members subscribe using your eCommerce solution. The value you provide doesn't yet match the amount you charge.

[Anastasia_Ning_Support]

Hello David!

Having a percentage of your sales on top of the base subscription is not an uncommon thing - Shopify, Weebly, and Squarespace, for example, those are all well-known e-commerce solutions that also have a cut along with the fixed subscription fee. 

In terms of functionality - we have launched our e-commerce system not that long ago as a response to the high demand from the prospective customers. Also, it is not an integration from an existing company, this e-commerce was built by our developers, so along with the fact that this is relatively new functionality, we yet to have a cash flow comparing to the above-mentioned companies that would allow us to lower the percentage.

I would also like to point out that NING was initially created as a social platform in the first place, and did not target active businesses that needed to sell their goods or services, so e-commerce on our platform is a way to monetize an existing community and help the creators to profit from their work. 

Best regards,

The NING Team