Thomas Cutler, president & CEO of TR Cutler, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., agrees. In his article Print Manufacturers and Large Distributors Mortgage Future eCommerce Profits, he points out that various set-up and transaction fees can be costly and, "As sales increase, costs increase."
His article goes on the explore what can happen if the ASP goes out of business, and strongly recommends due diligence when selecting an e-commerce provider. Since the ASP owns the technology, it would behoove distributors to make certain that they maintain ownership of their data. "After all that fee-based revenue has been paid," wrote Cutler, "[distributors] could be left without access to their customer data." (Copies of Cutler's article can be requested via e-mail at trcutler@aol.com).