> On Nov 6, 2014, at 9:00 AM, sqwarqDev <sqwarq...@icloud.com> wrote:
> 
> I have a reasonably well-developed free OS X app (i.e., by well-developed I 
> mean I've got a stable user base), and I'm now wanting to add extra features 
> that require purchasing a licence. This seems a common model, but I can't 
> find any guidance on exactly how do I generate and test for valid licence 
> keys at run time? 


One answer, which I prefer, is to contract with a commercial e-commerce 
provider. I use eSellerate, a Digital River company, but others like Kagi are 
also available. They handle credit card, PayPal and similar processing and 
foreign currency exchange for you, and they normally produce the license keys 
and issue them for you. In the case of eSellerate, they provide OS X frameworks 
that you incorporate into your application to allow in-app purchase over the 
Internet and/or an Internet "Buy Now" button that you can incorporate in your 
website. You can choose from a variety of ways to have your application check 
the vailidity of a user's key, including online validity checks that are 
completely invisible unless the key is invalid or has been blackballed  (these 
systems seem to handle the user being offline occasionally just fine). They 
charge varying fees, perhaps something like 8% for an application with a modest 
customer base. I am delighted to pay this fee for the service I get -- I have 
no interest in figuring out how to implement a registration key issuing and 
monitoring framework myself.

You normally do have to write some code to integrate the e-commerce provider's 
software into your application, if you support in-app purchase. The eSellerate 
software comes with a very detailed programmer's guide and example code that 
makes the process reasonably easy.

-- 

Bill Cheeseman - b...@cheeseman.name

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