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Now for the complete opposite.    I am also a consumer who uses Snowcovered but would prefer to buy products offered from a developer’s website.  Why you ask?

My typical module buying research is to review the details on Snowcovered which 99% of the time links to the developers website for further details.  While at the website I review the contact information, and determine whether the developer has any local support options.  This seems to be the best way to request new features.  More than likely if these are present there is also a method the developer uses to contact the users of his/her products, and I am seeing this more and more with newsletters, and email updates directly from them.  If there is a way to purchase directly from them I will do this, provided the support is there.
Snowcovered does offer me the ability to compare modules side by side for features, and I think it also keeps the prices competitive when there are modules with similar features.

Rodney,

Why did you move away from the subscription model?

For me, 95% sales come from OnyakTech.com with just 5% from SnowCovered.  I started with just SnowCovered years ago but found it impossible to provide subscriptions from SnowCovered so I used Catalook to provide this from OnyakTech.com.  SnowCovered has made changes to provide more support for subscriptions, but by that time I had already implemented sales on OnyakTech.com.  Catalook is also easier to use then Snowcovered and provides more business functionality like collection of state sales tax when required, automatic subscription renewal notifications, quotes, etc.

For Support, I provide the following...

1) SigmaPro on OnyakTech.com: This gives me instant email notifications of new requests, attach files, view a customers profile for access rights, complete history by customer, customer can view only their requests, links in email notifications directly to the request, etc,etc,etc. 

2) Call Centers 24x7.  They provide my customers with a 24 hour phone number (1-800-935-5407) with a real person on the other end.  No machines.  No Waiting.  They know my products, DotNetNuke and can support most calls.  This has proven to be an extremely worthwhile investment since I'm not always available and Call Centers 24x7 does an outstanding job.  Most importantly, if a customer needs critical support, Call Centers 24x7 will call my cell phone and then I can contact the customer right away from anywhere in the world. 

3) SigmaLive on OnyakTech.com as well as other web sites.  SigmaLive is a live chat tool for DotNetNuke.  I can handle multiple chats at one time, view the users DNN profile, see what sites they have come from, pages they have visited, view any past conversations (which has helped me a lot since I don't always remember everyone’s name and the modules they use), etc. etc. etc.  SigmaLIve also gives me the ability to post links on any other site for customers to initiate a new sales/support chat request from anywhere on the web. 

4) Through forums on OnyakTech.com

5) Support Requests on SnowCovered

6) Forums on several other DNN related sites.

Providing support through all of these channels may seem daunting, but the tools make it really easy.  I also feel it's required.  As seen in previous posts, some people like to use SnowCovered while others don't.  Some people prefer to call a phone number and talk to a live person while others just want to submit the requests electronically. 

I think the more sales agents and support channels you provide, the better it is for everyone.  But only if you have the tools and the people to support it.