[OT] Mobile App - Should it be Paid or Free?

[Scott Rossi]

Hi Ender:

One popular approach at the moment is "freemium" -- make the app free but
include additional content that can be purchased/downloaded in-app.  Maybe
this is a possibility for you.

Depending on how much content you have, you might be able to produce
"light" and "full" versions of a book app, so potential customers can
preview before they buy.

I also think your "scenario 1" is reasonable.  It's useful to have
different paid and free apps -- you can use a free app to drive downloads
of a paid app.

Regards,

Scott Rossi
Creative Director
Tactile Media, UX/UI Design




On 4/3/13 10:05 AM, "Ender Nafi Elekçioğlu" <endernafi at gmail.com> wrote:

>Hello all,
>
>I marked the question as [OT] since it's not a technical one.
>Recently, we've finished an app, it's ready to be published
>but we're uncertain to sell or give it for free.
>Up to now, we were building business apps for corporates,
>so it wasn't an issue for us to sell or give free.
>
>So, this ground is new to us.
>
>A little detail:
>Two months ago we published an app for pre-school children much like an
>audiobook,
>pages with static pictures were flipping while a voice-over's speaking
>the story.
>And it was free.
>
>It's downloaded ~2000 copies in 7 weeks.
>{I know that this is low but our market is very small for now, as our app
>is in Turkish.
>Soon, we'll publish it in English, too.}
>
>Now, we finished the second one in this genre.
>This one has two significant enhancements compared to first one.
>* The eyes and mouths of the shapes {it's a birthday party for the
>geometrical shapes like circle, square, etc.}
>are blinking and opening / closing while they're talking.
>At the party, there are flying notes by the music and swinging stars on
>the branches of trees.
>So, it's more live, kinda like a cartoon.
>* It has a color book for the children to color the shapes which they've
>met in the story.
>You can find the base and not-fancy version of this drawing page here
>(http://cloud.keehuna.com/2J1a1n0B4035), if you want.
>
>
>~
>Scenario 1 as an answer:
>Don't sell it, give this one and succeeding 3 ~ 4 apps for free.
>Build a trust-relationship between you and your customers.
>Get experience with animations and stories and sounds etc.
>Maybe after a year or so and a couple of apps, you can start to sell the
>new ones.
>
>~
>
>Scenario 2 as an answer:
>Time is money, sell this one; it's a cool app and worth a buck.
>Otherwise, people will get used to obtain them free;
>then they won't want to pay for new ones.
>Besides, there's a saying as *I'm not rich enough to buy cheap things*.
>People value expensive things.
>Giving it free will depreciate this app.
>Sell this one, then give another one or two free, then sell another one,
>keep going like that...
>~
>
>
>
>Which way seems right to you, could you give any advice?
>Any insights much appreciated…
>
>
>Best,
>
>~ Ender Nafi
>
>~… together, we're smarter …~
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