[DrRambone]

Typically 7-30 USD for even for simple apps.
Coming from Apple/Android this was a real surprise.
Do RIM take a BIG cut and push up the prices?

[pkcable]

Perhaps they are charging you guys more, because for those of us in the US most apps are under 5 USD, and many are under 1! Plenty of free apps too. While there ARE a few that are higher priced the vast majority are under 5 USD. Perhaps there is some kind of Euro tax.

[lnichols]

Majority of the apps I've seen seem to be $1.99 or $0.99. Their are only a few that are high dollar that I have seen. Is it possible that your country is adding some nice taxes? Someone said in another thread that UK charges a 20% VAT on every app.

[KQ9]

What really kills me is the fact that all these apps are non native SDK ones and offer a tiny portion of what the playbook has to offer in regards to user interface and performance. My app buying situation now is buy on needed basis

[madoon]

believe it or not, these are cheaper than Blackberry phones apps.

playbook apps will get cheaper as the apps increase and so does competition.

it doesn't really mater, because event with these prices there was only be a few apps that i was tempted to buy.

[Spinal]

$30 USD for an app? I have yet to see one anywhere near that, the most expensive app i have seen was around $10. maybe cuz you're in stockholm you're getting a bit shafted.

[BuzzStarField]

What really kills me is the fact that all these apps are non native SDK ones and offer a tiny portion of what the playbook has to offer in regards to user interface and performance. My app buying situation now is buy on needed basis

My app selling for a dollar represents a several month's of hard work. It has a good user interface and great performance. I'm sorry, but I find it a tad insulting that you deem it to be worthless just because you don't find it useful.

[mandony]

Typically there is
30% for the app server
70% for the app maker
This is why Apple is making bazillllions of dollars profit on apps (and ipod downloads).
This is also a reason why RIM is slow to roll out 'native' (free) apps.

IMO - As far as an app for over $25, it must be something from the maker of a program on my PC, that allows use on my tablet too.

[BuzzStarField]

The developer sets the price as per predefined pricing tiers. Within each range, priices are incremented as follows:

Tiers increment by $1 USD from $0.99 to $19.99
Tiers increment by $10 USD tiers from $19.99 to $99.99
Tiers increment by $50 USD tiers from $99.99 to $599.99
Tiers increment by $100 USD tiers from $599.99 to $999.99

The developer gets 70% of the proceeds as noted by mandony.

Competition causes the vast majority of prices to be set at $1.99 or less regardless of functionality or effort put into them. The OP's experience is not my own experience. Perhaps he might name some of the "overpriced" app so that I can judge for myself.

[Philldoe]

OP is just posting a bunch of fud. nothing to see here. move along and lets get a mod to lock this BS up.

[madoon]

name some of the "overpriced" app so that I can judge for myself.

i'll give you example of an over priced app "GPS World Map", it is a map app that uses openstreetmaps, displays there maps but beyond the locate your self using GPS offer no features what so ever. there are several other apps that do the same thing using google's maps, all of them cost $0.99 and yet this one costs $4.99.

now i am not against expensive apps. i have no problem even at $100 apps, but these apps must reflect the amount of work put in them, or the value of such app to the user.

[BuzzStarField]

i'll give you example of an over priced app "GPS World Map", it is a map app that uses openstreetmaps, displays there maps but beyond the locate your self using GPS offer no features what so ever. there are several other apps that do the same thing using google's maps, all of them cost $0.99 and yet this one costs $4.99.

now i am not against expensive apps. i have no problem even at $100 apps, but these apps must reflect the amount of work put in them, or the value of such app to the user.

The author of this app has several others in app world. I would not want to accuse this author of any wrongdoing but one marketing strategy is to offer a new product at a premium price and salting the reviews with a couple of high ratings. It attracts the type of impulse buyer who equates premium price with premium quality. The strategy can work for a while, I suppose, but it's not going to be a winner over the long haul. I was tempted to buy this app but I am glad that I held off until a few more reviews appeared.

Even so, there are not that may apps in PB app world that are in the higher price category.

And in the real world, there is no correlation between the amount of work an author expends in the development phase and the the price his app can command in the market place. Digital stores have many examples of simple apps that have gone viral and end up earning phenomenal ROI. There are even more complete flops in this category of apps, as many here have pointed out with extreme prejudice. I don't think App World is any worse (or any better) than the competition in this respect.

[jventola]

I saw an interview with Dan Bricklin, of Visicalc fame--a real demigod. He has a note taking app for Ipad. He said by offering a full Word Processor for $9, Apple was signalling developers, "Unless you do more than this, don't charge more than this." Sometimes a bit of top down is helpful.

[Darlaten]

I dont want to sound insulting to anyone nor do I want this to be interpreted as being insulting towards those with limited funds - although I am sure that it will be misconstrued in that way.

But, I really do not get the criticism being raised against so-called "high priced" apps. From my perspective, you've just spent anywhere from $499 - $699 on a tablet; possibly up to $50 on a case; and possibly up to $50.00 for an extra or travel charger.

If you can afford to spend that much on a tablet, you can afford to spend $1.99, $4.99, or more for an app. And if you can't, then you have bigger problems to be concerned with.

I am honestly suprised when I see people posting "reviews" of apps that are .99 cents, $1.99, or $2.99 with the only criticism being that the app is too expensive or that it should be free.

So again, I reiterate my point - if you can afford a Playbook in the first place, you can afford to pay the small amount of money that the developers are asking for their apps. If you cant, then you shouldnt have bought the Playbook in the first place.

[dosto]

I would gladly spend 10, 20 or more $$ on a great app that I used every day. As a practical matter, I only use a handful of apps; spending $100 on apps for a $500+ tablet doesn't sound unreasonable to me. We do the same for our desktops/laptops.

Unfortunately, there aren't a handful of really great apps (at least for me) on the Playbook yet, which isn't entirely the app developers fault (come on RIM!).

[DrRambone]

It seems RIM charges 10x more for the apps bought from here...
Its not taxes, its something wrong with RIM's app market.

[dasDestruktion]

RIM doesn't set the prices, developers do.

Posted from my BlackBerry using BerryBlab

[esqlaw]

My app selling for a dollar represents a several month's of hard work. It has a good user interface and great performance. I'm sorry, but I find it a tad insulting that you deem it to be worthless just because you don't find it useful.

Someone has an ego. If its not useful... its not useful.

I love to support independent devs but this attitude is not gonna win anyone over.

[BBThemes]

If its not useful... its not useful.

just to add some balance, whats useful for some isnt for others and vice versa.

[BuzzStarField]

Someone has an ego. If its not useful... its not useful.

I love to support independent devs but this attitude is not gonna win anyone over.

Fair enough.

I should have known that when KQ9 said that "all these apps" are overpriced, he was not referring to mine. Instead of reacting in a personal way, I should have accepted his statement at face value. The problem is that I am just not smart enough to understand it:

"What really kills me is the fact that all these apps are non native SDK ones and offer a tiny portion of what the playbook has to offer in regards to user interface and performance. My app buying situation now is buy on needed basis"

Perhaps in the interest of supporting independent devs, you can explain this statement to us so that we can price our products appropriately.

[madoon]

Fair enough.

i honestly dont know what to say.
we dont have many developers, applications to begin with.
we complain there are no quality apps around.

and now!

the only stars app we have, has now become useless?
and $0.99 is too much money to ask?

its clear to me that people will pay millions for useless games.
but god forbid that they may gain extra knowledge. (which is apparently worthless these days.)

i would say perhaps your talents can be appreciated elsewhere.
but we need all the help we can get.

may i suggest you try your luck at a different app, or GAME.
maybe it will have a warmer reception, and bring you better fortunes.

[BuzzStarField]

its clear to me that people will pay millions for useless games.
but god forbid that they may gain extra knowledge. (which is apparently worthless these days.)

may i suggest you try your luck at a different app, or GAME.
maybe it will have a warmer reception, and bring you better fortunes.

Thanks for the advice but my alleged ego will not let me admit that I might have made a mistake. You are wrong when you say that games are useless. Good games are are an essential part of a healthy digital app store. But I do not know how to write a "good" game because I am just not into that particular genre. I don't even know what a "good" game looks like.

So I'll stick with what I know best. If I make a little money, that's great. But I am totally dependent on other programmers to attract people to the app store where they may, by chance, discover my offering.

In this respect, I agree absolutely with those who complain about the lack of really good apps in App World. But the whole premise of this thread is completely wrong. There are many reasons for the app deficit, but high prices is not one of them.

[lnichols]

Thank you for taking the time to educate me.

Don't let attitudes like this run you away. The Internet unfortunately has a way of making people think they are more important than they really are. We need all the developers that we can get. I don't see $0.99 as too much for an app. I personally have not bought your app but think I will as you are actively engaged here and seem to give a darn about things. As soon as the magnetometer api is available will you be adding it in?

[JRonin]

Thank you for taking the time to educate me.

On a side-note, I purchased your app and agree it's well done considering the limits you're working with. The reason I found your app was because I was looking for something similar to Star Walk on the iOS platform, which I tried on my brother's iPhone. I hope we can get similar features once the sdk makes the right APIs available to you.

[FF22]

Don't let attitudes like this run you away. The Internet unfortunately has a way of making people think they are more important than they really are. We need all the developers that we can get. I don't see $0.99 as too much for an app. I personally have not bought your app but think I will as you are actively engaged here and seem to give a darn about things. As soon as the magnetometer api is available will you be adding it in?

I believe that "What's Up" is a really well done app. The price is incredibly fair. What's unfortunate is that I live in Seattle and this "summer" has left little of a clear sky to view! (oh, and in case anyone misinterprets my statement (so easy on the Internet), Lesser Seattle wants me to announce that it is always like this - winter, spring, summer and fall - always gray - don't move here).