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Redirecting buyers to my file download exposes my file URL, causes download errors

« Return to Redirection after payment

If you have a file hosted remotely on your server that you wish to offer as a download, you should be using the Single File Download setting (instead of Redirection) with our Remotely Hosted Downloads feature available on digital-product subscription plans of $20/mo and up.

We also do not recommend simply Redirecting buyers to a static download page on your own site, as that exposes the URL of your site's download page to the buyer, who could share it with others, who could then visit your page directly to download without paying you first. Our built-in download delivery feature issues each buyer their own, unique download link that expires after the number of Attempts and (optional) Hours you allow in the product's settings.

Redirection is not intended for file downloads. It is designed to redirect buyers after payment to an actual Web page where premium online content is provided, such as a pay-per-view embedded video or text article, or a secret members-only section of a site, or a registration page on your own system, etc. Because of this purpose and the way Redirecton technically has to work, the landing page URL is necessarily exposed in the buyer's browser. Since the buyer's browser is expecting to be redirected to an actual Web page rather than a file, it can cause problems with file downloads, and it exposes your file to theft if the buyer shares that URL with others who could then hit it directly to download for free.  This is not a problem with Redirection to a page URL, as that allows for custom scripting in your landing page that could block direct visits without going through E-junkie to get there.