Hi all,
On my site people seeking to buy a specific service will post ads. These ads show all the details of the request except the contact information, which remains hidden. What would be the best way to sell the contact information to the providers of this service who view the ads? How can I deliver a phone number after payment? (and can Paypal be used for this?) Also, how can I make sure that the number is only sold once?
Thanks for your advice
Scary stuff from that link, Avactis
Are you saying that a Virtuemart download solution wouldn’t be much more secure than an email-based solution using Paypal IPN?
Thank you for your advice.
I’ll definitely look into Paypal IPN, however first I’ll see what I can do with Virtuemart. Security is certainly an issue here.
You are right http://secunia.com/advisories/search/?search=Virtuemart
If it were me, I would write a custom script that verified if the phone number was used (within a database), if not it would forward the request to PayPal with the necessary price (and phone number). Then once the payment is made PayPal would forward that request using IPN to the usual script which you could verify the payment, add the number + details into the database (to verify against in the future) and send any necessary emails. It wouldn’t be much work I expect, two basic PHP scripts, one verifying (and forwarding the details), the other (using PayPal’s template) to verify the purchase, add the details and send emails out. 
Altar, have you considered something like PayPal IPN? You could use a basic PHP / ASP / whatever script like the template they provide so once the payment goes through it will send the contact details (using PHP’s mail mechanism). It’s pretty easy to setup and it’ll automate the process.
PS: If you do email contact details, you have to be VERY careful, you’ll want to make them verify their email address because if you send it to the wrong account you could be held responsible under data protection laws - and email is not a very safe method to deliver sensitive information - just a warning.
I think you need shopping cart with down-loadable products support.
Your customers will purchase files and pay via paypal.
What you think?
Thank you for your answer.
Yes I think I need a cart. I was hoping for a simpler solution. I’m using Joomla and right now I’m checking out Virtuemart.
In fact I publish requests for private lessons and I’m trying to find the simplest way to sell and deliver the contact number to teachers. I didn’t think it would be complicated.
Secunia is vulnerability database, each line in the report is security hole.
You can compare different ecommerce software using Secunia vulnerability database tool.
As for Paypal IPN, what exactly ecommerce system you will use? Or you plan to create your own custom shopping cart for it?