What are your plans on pricing and the app store?

butterbean

Just trying to get an idea of what peeps on here are planning on doing with their apps... are you going to charge 99c, offer them free up front, and then charge later?

I heard (not sure if it's true) that you could offer it free, and if you get enough downloads, switch over from free to paid app, and your download count doesn't reset, so you could potentially be in the top paid apps if you get enough downloads for your free version.... is this true?

I think I plan on charging 99C per game. Also, you can offer a demo version of your game too that peeps can download free right?

quantumsheep

I'll be charging just $99c for my games.

I've read on various forums that iphone developers are shying away from doing 'lite' versions of games, or offering games for free, as the feedback they get is just horrible.

Something to do with it being free, therefore anyone being able to download and rate the game.

If it's a paid for app, then only people that found the title interesting or intriguing enough to buy can rate it, it has some value and it seems people are more 'kind' towards them.

Weird, I know! :O

QS

JGary321

1.99 here

SDMG

Butterbean21 i think apple will reset your downloads the minute your changing your app from free to paid )
The only advantage could be that enough people have downloaded your app and spread the word about your excellent 5+ game

I will sell my games for 99C

scitunes

If you put up a game for free your competitors/rivals can download your game just to trash it and give it a low rating. If they have to pay for it before giving it a low rating then you are less likely to be the victim of that type of activity. That may explain why people are moving away from offering free versions.

CodeMonkey

Unfortunately, people can now request a refund, which you have to pay the full price back to the buyer. i.e. You lose the 30% that Apple took.

It just doesn't happen often.

butterbean

That's ridiculous that they offer refunds, how long does the person have between having purchased the game and requesting a refund?

The games I'm creating are going to be quick, short platformers, designed for gaming on the go, so if someone buys my game, finishes it, they can request a refund? For lack of better words, this sucks!

quantumsheep

That is seriously disturbing news CodeMonkey.

Do you have a link to that information?

Cheers,

QS

butterbean

Yes very, I could see the refund thing being abused unfairly

Read this article in the link below....

This is very unfair and makes me want to think twice about doing this.... Apple says that if the purchaser of the game wants a refund, that the developer has to pay APPLE back the commission since apple wants to keep commission. This is absurd.

I wonder what the statistics are of people requesting a refund on a game or app.... I would think if anything, they'd do it out of principal if they thought they were getting a great game, and it was shovelware. Nonetheless, this is very unfair treatment to developers, and Apple is clearly looking out for themselves and not their contributors.

Hmmm.... wonder how the other app stores are coming along with the google phone and palm pre?

ttp://www.techcrunch.com/2009/03/25/apples-iphone-app-refund-policies-could-bankrupt-developers/

CodeMonkey

I thought I read it somewhere. Though according to the terms and conditions all sales are final. Maybe it was only for the 3.0 transition. Maybe I'm just fanning flames. Maybe I'm still half asleep and typing nonsense.

CodeMonkey flings a banana peel your way.

CodeMonkey

http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2009/03/app-store-refunds-will-not-bankrupt-developers.ars

to ease your minds.

Basically, make sure your games are tested thoroughly and that they work perfectly before submitting.

butterbean

Well that's good news.... what a relief....

With that being said, how are people testing their iphone games and apps for debugging?

quantumsheep

When I go to sleep, the fairies come out and test the game for me.

I never sleep, mind...

QS