Thread by @arvidkahl

Google just slapped every Chrome Extension author in the face by removing payments while making it impossible to migrate existing customers without involving them (which you can't, as Google doesn't give you the email address).

This is platform risk.

developer.chrome.com/webstore/cws-p…

If you have built a bootstrapped or a lifestyle business on the Chrome Extension store and have used their payments API, you now have to scramble to integrate an alternative provider and hope that you can find a way to reach your users so they can continue their subscription.

This will cause churn, complaints, confusion, and ultimately so much work that some developers will rather scrap their projects than go through the motions.

This is a corporate decision that is hostile to small developers.

If you intend to build on someone's platform, consider what happens if they remove your revenue path. Be prepared to migrate to another service, and ALWAYS keep enough customer information around so that you know who is paying how much for what.

I recommend keeping backups of email addresses, plan levels, and feature package descriptions. Every month, pull some sort of full backup of your transactional data if you can.

Google just flipped the switch, leaving extension developers a few weeks to build crutches. I'm sad.