[BuzzStarField]

yup, its always good to browse around. For example, I just found the Crackberry app last evening. Not sure how I never saw it before.

Im gonna look extra hard tonight to find gtalk & gmail lol

Good luck with that. I think that browser-types may be in the minority or maybe people just don't visit the Education category thinking that it for the geeks and kids.

[ron-in-cb]

First, I want to thank you for thinking of buying my app. But at risk of offending you, I would truly like to hear from other crackberry addicts if it is reasonable that all apps, no matter how complex, should sell for a "reasonable" price of $0.99. To me, this type of reasoning is a huge disincentive for independent developers like myself to write quality apps for the PlayBook.

I have no problems with paying more for an app than 99 cents. I'd be fine with paying $10 for some apps and perhaps more, but then again I'm a programmer and know the work that can go into an application. It surprises me that so many people seem to think that all apps should be 99 cents and anything higher is too much. 99 cents is not an awful lot of compensation for the work that can go into an app especially if it is a niche app that is not likely to generate a high volume of sales. I guess it is the itunes effect at work shaping general public perception as to what is appropriate pricing for an app store/world/market.

[manofice1]

What's the reasoning to have a paid app in BB appworld and it's free in the app store for ios? Is it harder to make apps/games on the playbook? This is a serious question, not trying to start anything.

[Rob Robertson]

What's the reasoning to have a paid app in BB appworld and it's free in the app store for ios? Is it harder to make apps/games on the playbook? This is a serious question, not trying to start anything.

I'm no developer but I think it might have to do with the number of users, number of competing apps and the potential income for 'in-game content'.

For example, you have a high quality ninja action game on iOS. There are dozens upon dozens of ninja action games on iOS. It might make sense to make your game free to attract more users and then offer them in-game content like a better sword for $0.99. If 10 million iPhone users download your app but only 5% of them buy the sword, you've made $500,000. In the highly competitive world of iOS gaming perhaps it is difficult to get 500,000 people to pay $1 for your app outright.

On the other hand, you look at App World on PlayBook and see Samurai 2 and not much else, so no need to give your app away for free. Also there are less than a million PlayBooks in the wild. So you have a smaller market that is hungry for apps. It only makes sense to charge more for PlayBook apps than iOS apps considering the time you put into developing that app.

[Roscopcoletrain]

I'm no developer but I think it might have to do with the number of users, number of competing apps and the potential income for 'in-game content'.

For example, you have a high quality ninja action game on iOS. There are dozens upon dozens of ninja action games on iOS. It might make sense to make your game free to attract more users and then offer them in-game content like a better sword for $0.99. If 10 million iPhone users download your app but only 5% of them buy the sword, you've made $500,000. In the highly competitive world of iOS gaming perhaps it is difficult to get 500,000 people to pay $1 for your app outright.

On the other hand, you look at App World on PlayBook and see Samurai 2 and not much else, so no need to give your app away for free. Also there are less than a million PlayBooks in the wild. So you have a smaller market that is hungry for apps. It only makes sense to charge more for PlayBook apps than iOS apps considering the time you put into developing that app.

well said. I still think the "gotta price it high" thinking can hurt sales too though.

and purchased

[BuzzStarField]

What's the reasoning to have a paid app in BB appworld and it's free in the app store for ios? Is it harder to make apps/games on the playbook? This is a serious question, not trying to start anything.

Pricing is an individual decision based on criteria known only to the developer. One thing is for certain though; as much as a dev would like to do so, prices cannot be set based on the amount of work involved in creating the apps. The price is more likely based on what the market will bear in each market place. Volumes are comparatively huge in ios so prices are driven lower. If the app can't compete with the average prices, the dev may choose to give it away in hopes of getting some attention.

In BB App World things are a bit different due to the lower volumes. If the app is popular the dev might try to raise the price a bit to compensate for the lower volume. On the other hand, if the app has not yet gained traction, the dev may offer it for free or at low cost in order to build a following.

The bottom line is that pricing is complicated and is nowhere near an exact science. As a consumer, you are free to make the decision to buy or not. That's why I don't see any point in complaining about high prices. If the price was really too high, the dev would be forced to lower it because of poor sales.

Of course, all of this logical reasoning goes out the window in the current PlayBook market. Very few independent developers are selling enough units to make a reasonable return at any price. I can only charge a buck because if I charged any higher, my sales would be near zero. RIM will have to sell a lot more PBs before I have the luxury of being able to make rational pricing decisions.

[KermEd]

I'm curious if other app developers have seen a surge in app sales with the recent $199 discounts on PlayBooks.

Personally, my free app has seen double the normal downloads the past 3 days, and e-Mmaneul+ has also seen all-time high in per day sales.

All 5 of my AppWorld ones are showing about 2x the downloads. I only have one for sale though (rest are free) so I can't say much about that part.

[yllus]

Lemma would probably be a good barometer for this; I'll go back and find the dates that the PlayBook went on sale, and then graph that against downloads of the app. Will update later this evening with the results!

[llllBULLSEYE]

Also remember a lot of people are still waiting for their playbook to arrive from orders they made last week I have a lot of friends and family members still waiting. probably have 500k+ extra playbook users within this week to next week.

[BuzzStarField]

Also remember a lot of people are still waiting for their playbook to arrive from orders they made last week I have a lot of friends and family members still waiting. probably have 500k+ extra playbook users within this week to next week.

You certainly have a lot of friends and family members! Please ask them to consider buying my app and I'll give you a cut of the profits. (Sorry - I just couldn't resist the opportunity to plug my app to so many potential new PB users.)

[_StephenBB81]

A quick question: For me, visibility in App world seems to be a big problem. Do you actually scan the categories from time-to-time or do you mainly get your cues from the "featured" page in App World?

Never scan, I search for a task I am looking for an app to complete,
or I find an app due to a crackberry review and go check it out. App world is only loaded with a purpose, I don't have the desire to go app shopping on a whim

[homer1475]

Never scan, I search for a task I am looking for an app to complete,
or I find an app due to a crackberry review and go check it out. App world is only loaded with a purpose, I don't have the desire to go app shopping on a whim

I'm with you on this one. Although every once in a great while, while I'm bored I'll cruise app world and find something worth buying. Typically I'll do a search for a specific app or go to the page directly when linked from CB.

I think on the BB your dealing with a different mind set then the typical 20 something's on android and iproducts. Most of us don't need apps for basic functionality that comes native, and usually aren't your typical "gamer" type crowd.

Most of us that own PB's also own BB's and the mindset that you don't need an app for that carries over. That might change since with the "fire" sale on the PB more and more people(not just the core BB owners) are buying it, since its now set at a reasonable price and are sold out everywhere.

[jetstreamblue]

Thought I'd update this post with more info on interesting observations...

1) Sales peaked to all-time records during the Black Friday long weekend. They've settled somewhat since then, but still doing about 2x better than prior to start of sales.

2) A few posts back, peter9477 mentioned that he didn't hit 1000 sales over 4.5 months. I'm pretty much in the same boat. e-Mmaneul+ Bible Reader is the top rated app in the Religion category, but did not go over 1000 sales as of last month. That gives you some idea of volumes on App World (albeit for a niche category, I'm sure the top games categories do much better).

3) Prices -- I've priced the same app at $1.99 and $0.99. You'll be surprised that it has very little impact on sales volume.

4) I recently released a free version of e-Mmanuel+ as a Christmas gift. Almost 300 downloads in the first day. So, if you want volume, free will do it.

Well, just some interesting tidbits for those who may care. Just my own experience, I'm sure it's not representative of all apps/devs.

[CodeNaked]

I haven't seen any uptick in sales. SouthernTouch Spades is averaging about 3 sales a day on the PlayBook. As far as pricing goes, we're selling the PlayBook version at $0.99, versus $1.99 for the iPad version. We've got 18 excellent reviews and a 4.5+ rating, so I'm not sure what we need to do that would make this business model viable.

Thanks,

Darwin Pinder
Southern Touch Technologies
Buy SouthernTouch Spades - Download SouthernTouch Spades - Buy Games from BlackBerry App World

[BuzzStarField]

I haven't seen any uptick in sales. SouthernTouch Spades is averaging about 3 sales a day on the PlayBook. As far as pricing goes, we're selling the PlayBook version at $0.99, versus $1.99 for the iPad version. We've got 18 excellent reviews and a 4.5+ rating, so I'm not sure what we need to do that would make this business model viable.

Thanks,

Darwin Pinder
Southern Touch Technologies
Buy SouthernTouch Spades - Download SouthernTouch Spades - Buy Games from BlackBerry App World

I feel your pain. It's generally not possible to make money selling apps exclusively on PB. Unless you're one of the big names, you'll have to wait patiently like the rest of us independents. I'm doing better than most but two weeks ago, I was in the 3 sales per day range. However for the last week or so, I have been hitting 20 copies per day on average.

Volumes are nowhere near where I would like. I am in the game for three reasons:
1. I like what I do and I think that PB users want my app (even if they don't realize it yet.)
2. Things will improve! I am getting ready for BBX phones and RIM is finally doing something about their massive fragmentation problem. New native tools are either currently available or will arrive soon. At least in this area, RIM is doing the things that are necessary to succeed.
3. I think that getting in at the bottom and experimenting with my marketing plan will put me in a better position when this thing finally takes off.

So I hope you stick with us at least until next February. BTW Visibility is a huge problem in App World and the flood of eBooks and other junk apps is making it very difficult for users to discover our apps. I don't think many of them take the time to scan the categories for interesting items.

You might try a couple of things that might help. First nominate yourself to be featured in the front page carousel. Secondly, take a look at some of the apps that seem to be permanently affixed to the top selling list and see if you can't build better versions of them. For example, the most popular solitaire game is a not worth the price even if it is only a buck. (Can you tell that I really need a solitaire game that is worthy of the device?)

[regnaston]

Thought I'd update this post with more info on interesting observations...

1) Sales peaked to all-time records during the Black Friday long weekend. They've settled somewhat since then, but still doing about 2x better than prior to start of sales.

2) A few posts back, peter9477 mentioned that he didn't hit 1000 sales over 4.5 months. I'm pretty much in the same boat. e-Mmaneul+ Bible Reader is the top rated app in the Religion category, but did not go over 1000 sales as of last month. That gives you some idea of volumes on App World (albeit for a niche category, I'm sure the top games categories do much better).

3) Prices -- I've priced the same app at $1.99 and $0.99. You'll be surprised that it has very little impact on sales volume.

4) I recently released a free version of e-Mmanuel+ as a Christmas gift. Almost 300 downloads in the first day. So, if you want volume, free will do it.

Well, just some interesting tidbits for those who may care. Just my own experience, I'm sure it's not representative of all apps/devs.

I am a pastor so I downloaded your free bible app.. if I like it I will buy the paid version...

I personally think there should be free versions (but limited) of every app so people can try them out. I dont like buying something (even if only .99) and find out I wasted the .99

Yes you may call me cheap


edit: just a quick observation.. screen looks and feels very user friendly on your app BUT that Christmas theme background had to go .. could not read on it

[regnaston]

OK.. I liked you e-mmanuel bible app enough to purchase it ..(I like the basic Black theme the best)