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One of the toughest things we've had to do in recent months, is come up with a strategy to help stores prevent fraud, when using our Stripe integration. Why we're doing this, and not Stripe, will become clearer as the post goes on.

CVC Verification

The first, and simplest thing we do, is ask your customers to put the CVC code in when checking out. Stripe takes that code and matches it up with the credit card number. If the CVC check fails, Stripe should decline the purchase. The issue is they don't decline it by default. You, as the account holder, need to check the box in your dashboard to make sure this happens. To make sure you decline any card where the CC number doesn't match the CVC, go into your Stripe account, click your name in the top right hand corner, click Account Settings, then in general, scroll down to where you see "Decline: Charges that fail CVC verification". It's extremely unfortunate that this isn't on by default. It seems completely and totally logical to us that it should be on, but for some reason, Stripe doesn't think so, and we've asked them on multiple occasions. Update: Good news, everyone! For new Stripe customers, the default setting for this has now been reversed and will decline on a failed CVC. However, if you're already using Stripe, you should double check your settings there to ensure this is enabled.

Zip Code Verification

The next thing we've done, is add a zip code verification to the checkout. The billing zip or postal code associated with the card your customer is trying to use, must be entered, and verified. If it doesn't match the card, it gets declined. But again, this doesn't happen by default. So if you'd like the card to be declined if the billing zip code is wrong, check the box in your Stripe dashboard. If you don't want it to decline, leave it unchecked. Either way we're still asking for it on checkout.

Order Flagging Rules

While this isn't really preventative, since it's taking place after the purchase has already happened, we have a flow going here, and we don't want to screw that up. So, the last thing we'd like to tell you about is Flagging Rules.

With Flagging Rules, you can specify a multitude of rules by clicking the gear icon on the top left of your Sales area and then clicking "Manage Flagging Rules". When a new order breaks one of those rules, it will get highlighted red in your sales dashboard. Now, once again, this won't prevent an order, it will just alert you to an order that broke your rule, and allow you to research it. Then if you choose to refund them prior to fulfilling it, you can do that from your Stripe or PayPal dashboards.

Obviously this Flagging Rules feature can be used for other things, beyond fraud detection, but this is it's main responsibility, and focus. Maybe in the future we'll add other rules that will make it even more useful for different tasks, but for now, this is it's only purpose.

As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.

We just released a beta version of our new Gift Cards feature. It's available to everyone right now, by going to the app store and installing "Gift Cards". This feature is extremely powerful, and if you plan on using it, you should read the help doc very thoroughly, before attempting.

Here's an overview, just to whet your appetite:

Product Gift Cards

The first and most common way to use this feature, is by creating a standard gift card. For example, you can put a $25 gift card up in your store, and customers can buy that card for $25, and they'll get an email with a gift card code. It works just like normal gift cards work, with some Limited Run style and flare, tossed in there.

We tell you how much is left on the card. Now that's nice. We also let you sell gift cards, for less than they're worth. Meaning, you could sell a $25 gift card, for $20. You can even do a name your own value gift card. So if a customer wanted to be super cool, they could choose to buy a $13.37 gift card.

The second way to use this feature is a percentage based gift card. O.o huh? That's right. You can create a card that gives the customer a percentage you specify, off their next purchase. You might be thinking, "Uhm, that sounds dangerous." Well it is. This is why we let you put a limit on the value of that percentage. For instance, you can give someone 50% off their next order, up to $10. So if they placed a $15 order, they'd get $7.50 off. But if they placed a $40 order, they'd only get $10 off. We also let you restrict them to certain categories, and the amount of items in the cart. The next thing you might be thinking is, "When the hell am I going to do that???" Here's where you need to use your imagination. A great example of how to use this feature, would be to bundle a percentage based discount, with another product. Oh by the way, you can bundle gift cards with other products! For instance, "Preorder the new BAND ALBUM, and get 5% off your next purchase!". Now that could be an exciting sale. The list of how to use this type of gift card is endless. But remember, this isn't a toy.

Private Gift Cards

The last way you can use gift cards is in private. This means you can create a gift card from the Apps > Gift Cards menu, and completely bypass the storefront by sending it directly to your customer. This comes in very handy when you want to reward a loyal customer or apologize for a delivery person.

Once again, please make sure you read the help doc. It explains all the ins and outs, of how this feature works. Also remember, this is a beta, so if you see something, say something. Thanks!

We just released a pretty awesome addition to our Multiple Managers feature. In the past, you could only add full access managers. But now, we've added two additional types for people with access:

Observers

This is the most limited access type. An Observer has read-only access to the entire dashboard and can perform exports from any area. But, they can't make any changes to the store. For instance, they can't go in and launch you're nicely setup preorder, a week ahead of schedule. That's nice.

Shippers

A Shipper has read-only access to the entire dashboard, like an Observer, but they also have full access to the shipping related screens and features. So a Shipper can see your sales, print shipping documents, export from anywhere, mark orders as shipped, etc. This is great for that kid you hire to ship your stuff, while you chill on the couch and watch Twilight Zone reruns.

We hope this helps everyone manage their store easier. And as always, if you have any questions, please feel free to message us.

We have a bunch of cool features to announce. We're calling this the Happy Holidays Collection. Let's get to it!

Endicia for Mac

A while back, we emailed everyone and said we were testing a new Endicia for Mac integration. We're happy to say that the testing went incredible, and store owners are saying it's completely changed the way they ship orders.

"Just floored through 20+ orders in the time it normally takes to do 5-7. This rules."
- Topshelf Records

So since it's fairly obvious this feature is in tip top shape, we've released it to everyone! You can now find it in our App Store.

Printing Invoices

Just in time for the end of the year, we now have a way for store owners to print Limited Run Billing Invoices that will contain a summary of the selected month's charges and payments.

To do that, go to Settings > View Balance > Print Invoice (at the top).

StoreFeeder Integration

In the US, our Endicia for Mac integration is the right move. But what about our friends across the pond in the UK? Well we have an awesome new integration that should solve all your shipping woes, as well. It's called StoreFeeder. StoreFeeder is going to help you buy and print postage at record speed. It's also going to manage your physical storage. Especially when combined with our next new feature.

Product SKUs

With this new app, you can now add SKUs to variations. This is a pretty cool addition because it helps with so many interesting things. For instance, a unique SKU is one of the most important parts of good bookkeeping. Check out your Sales CSV Export after adding a SKU to a variation.

Improved Order Filtering

And lastly, in the sales overview area of your dashboard, you can now click on any total, free, or paid order count for an entire month, week, or even a single day, and see just those orders. This is perfect when you've just released a free download to fans and want to quickly see only the paid orders for a time period.

Thanks to all who have continued to use Limited Run throughout the years. We're really looking forward to 2015. There are so many incredible features we want to add. And as always, follow us on Twitter to find out about them as soon as we release them.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are coming up quick, so we decided to tackle a few needed Discount App features. Let's start with the simplest, and work toward the most amazingly cool.

The Zero Discount

In the past we stopped people from making a discount, that actually didn't give a customer a discount. This was to avoid screw ups and confusion, related to screw ups. But after much thought and pondering, we actually found a use for the Zero Discount. Let's say you made a discount called FREESTICKER, and told customers to put that in and you'll toss in a sticker. Well, in the past, this wasn't possible. You'd have to ask customers to leave a note. Blahhhh, that's dumb. Now with the Zero Discount, you can make a discount just for record keeping and fan/customer engagement!

Now you might be saying, "Hey, this isn't a new feature! It's just you correcting a platform limitation!" Well damn, take it easy. We were just whetting our appetites.

Scheduled Start and Stop

Here's an important one that's going to help a lot. Now you can schedule a discount code to start and stop at a certain date and time. Extremely important if you're running a Black Friday sale that starts at Midnight. Who can stay up till Midnight, nowadays? That's crazy time. Even if you could, you're going to need sleep so you can pack up all those orders you're going to get!

Feeling a little better about this update to the Discount App?

Discount By Product Category

Heyo!!! This is a huge feature. As you can probably guess, this new feature will allow you to apply discounts to one or more product categories. So maybe you'd like to keep a "Sale" category around all the time, and have a discount applied to everything that's in it. Then you can just go into products, and add the product to the "Sale" category, and bingo! The item can have a discount applied to it! Sounds pretty awesome right? Well it's even more powerful than you think.

A feature we've gotten so many requests for, can also be done with product category discounts. What if you had 50 products in your store, but only want to make a single product be available for discounts? In the past you'd need to mark every other one "Ineligible For Discounts". Blahhhhh, that's dumb too. Now you can create a category, hide it from your store, apply a discount to that category, and stick a single item in it! It's an incredible feature, that we're super happy with.

Be honest, you're impressed right?

Any questions, just send us a message!