:: SOMETIMES USEFULDavid from AppCubby sent us a note about his latest blog post today. This entry gives the results of his pricing experiment that we wrote about last month where he set all of his apps to be $0.99 and provided the ability for people to donate if they thought they were worth more. This update doesn't look to good for that pricing model. Unfortunately he doesn't give any real sales numbers, just aggregated results, but there are still some nuggets of good info in here:
- During the 7 days of the experiment they only got $75 in donations
- Initially, volume made up for the lost revenue from the reduced prices (probably due to the increased press, he notes)
- After that started to wain, volume still stayed way up over the previous week, but revenue started to fall below the previous weeks numbers.
- There was an increase the last day or so, as is typical, people rush to buy before the end of a sale.
It's hard to call this experiment a failure when it was so short. I'm not sure enough time was given for the donation aspect to gain a foothold. But, the result for AppCubby is that they have redoubled their efforts make the best software available and sell it at a price that is fair. All of the AppCubby apps have raised back up to $9.99 and will stay there. And we wish them all the luck in the world!
"To have people say that my products are an absolute steal at $0.99 and that I SHOULD be charging more was a wake up call. As the saying goes, if no one is complaining about your price you're charging too little."
If you're interested in the circle of hell that is app store pricing, check out the blog post, it's a good read for any developer or potential developer.
[ via The Experiment - AppCubby Blog ]
App Cubby developer David Barnard contacted us today to let us know he's a little frustrated with the pricing in the app store. As prices trend toward $0.99, many developers are feeling the crunch. And while he thinks the app store itself is pretty sound, he wants to try a different pricing option.
On the subject app store pricing, and $0.99 apps in particular, David had this to say:
We're not complaining at the existence of $0.99 apps. We're frustrated that artificial market forces are driving down the price of apps, which in turn drives down the perceived value of the products we have invested significant time and money to create. Marketing can help, but it’s throwing good money after bad if the market discourages charging a fair price for an app.
The new method he's going to try is to price all of his apps at $0.99 -- and if you think they are worth more, head on over to his donation page and tip him what you think they are worth.
It's in interesting direction to take. All of the App Cubby apps are fantastic and worth well more than $0.99. But will people pay more? I hope so. Will Apple kick him out of the iTunes App Store for doing this? Doubtful -- really not that much different than e-book sellers or other apps with extra costs or subscriptions after the app sale.
If you are interested in iTunes App Store pricing, the blog over at App Cubby has some great thoughts on the matter. Highly recommended reading. [ AppCubby Blog ]
We wish David luck with this experiment. I hope it goes well. Take a look at the AppCubby apps, they are all very easy to recommend at $0.99. And maybe, if you like them, head on over and donate something extra.