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

[Randy Hengst]

I'm just catching up on this strand… a related question.

Given that it's tax season in the US, for folks who sell and give away apps… do the free apps count somewhere as a business expense?

be well,
randy
------
On Apr 3, 2013, at 1:36 PM, Scott Rossi wrote:

> 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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