7 ms·

TapZilla (YC S10) Offers Daily Deals For Paid Mobile Apps

56 points by francisd 16y ago

barlo 16y ago
Interesting. This could be useful. The developer portion of the site seems kind devoid of hard info: http://tapzilla.com/advertise http://tapzilla.com/advertise The article says it costs the developer $1 per download. Who is actually paying the money that is credited back to the customer? Does the developer need to fund this (in addition to the $1 per download), or does TapZilla? If TapZilla is funding the customer credit with the developer's $1 per download, can this be used for apps that are more than 99 cents? And how is TapZilla making any money? If the developer is funding the customer credit, then the developer would need to pay TapZilla $1 + cost for each download? If so, is this prepaid or postpaid?
- francisd 16y ago
  The developer pays $1 + app cost, they in turn will receive 70% of the app cost from Apple. So the effective cost per user acquisition for a $0.99 app is $1.30.
  - barlo 16y ago
    Good point about 70% of the cost being returned by Apple, I forgot to include that. That makes things seem a lot more reasonable.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
hc5 16y ago
developer pays them $1.00 they pay users $0.99 per app they drive 1000 apps per day = $10/day?
- francisd 16y ago
  Not exactly: The developer pays $1 + app cost, they in turn will receive 70% of the app cost from Apple. So the effective cost per user acquisition for a $0.99 app is $1.30. 1000 apps installed per day = $1000/day
  - lachyg 16y ago
    How do you generate the coupons?
    - francisd 16y ago
      These coupon codes aren't the same as the ones from iTunes. These are generated by TapZilla and redeemed within the app itself so that it can inform us which user from our service downloaded the application.
ryanwaggoner 16y ago
Was there some informal pact by the stealth YC companies from the summer batch that they launch today?
- mlinsey 16y ago
  TapZilla, Optimizely, and CarWoo were all in different batches - Summer '10, Winter '10, and Summer '09 respectively.
sib 16y ago
Great service, have tried it during the closed beta period. Good way for devs to get early users.
rookie 16y ago
It mentions that they have plans for an Android version. That is a much more difficult area to venture into because of the 24 hour refund. - I get the discount on the app paid out then return the app. Free money! Overall I do like the idea, very useful.
- EdmondYue 16y ago
  Good point on the 24 hour refund and our Android strategy since the market mechanisms are so different. We're currently working on our Android story and looking at how to get the best distribution on the different Android AppStores that are out there right now.
padmanabhan01 16y ago
What about users without a paypal account? How will they get the money back? And what about the tax cost of 7 cents?
- EdmondYue 16y ago
  Right now we support both PayPal payment and iTunes card redemption. Users can save their payments towards a iTunes card which we will email it to them. Other redemption others are in the works. As for the tax, state laws vary and we don't collect information about the user's location. So far this hasn't been an issue with our users but we'll collect geo info if this becomes a concern.
gaborcselle 16y ago
It's really hard to grab users' attention in the App Store. If you have a great app but don't have a big brand associated with it, it's hard to crack the top 25 or even the top 50 in your category. As long as TapZilla can maintain high app quality in their daily deals, this can be a big deal for app developers.
sahillavingia 16y ago
Woah, this could actually help me a ton with getting my mediocrely-popular apps out there! Contacted.
- EdmondYue 16y ago
  Thanks for reaching out. I just sent you a bit more info on TapZilla
aarong 16y ago
Rock! Congrats Ed and Francis on the launch. FWIW, Ed and Francis are incredibly great guys...
scottchin 16y ago
Congrats on the launch! One thing I thought I'd mention (which might be a bit off topic) is that I recently contemplated the use of the "Zilla" suffix for a project name. But after doing a bit of research, it sounds like the owners of the Godzilla trademark are quite aggressive with when it comes to this. Particularly so if the logo/mascot is also some sort of reptilian creature. Just thought you might want to look into this now before your service grows (in case you haven't looked into it yet).
- EdmondYue 16y ago
  Thanks for the good will and advice. This has been an issue that we've looked into and we're trying to find out how other companies (IE. Shopzilla) has handled this issue in the past. Thanks again for the tip and appreciate the advice.
startupcto 16y ago
This is a really bad model. I could have launch the same service for just $0.50/download. How are you going to stop cut throat competitors like me? I hope PG did ask this question during the interview, so it should be easy to answer my inquisition.
- startupcto 16y ago
  To Whomever down voted, I am bringing up a very valid question and I'm not saying that I'm gonna do that, but if I was in PG's seat during the YC interview, that would be my question and I like to hear the founder's response because it is a valid concern and unfortunately a reality too.
  - happybuy 16y ago
    I'd say the barrier to entry for other startups would be the awareness and userbase that Tapzilla may manage to develop. For instance if Tapzilla can say to a developer that they have 20,000 users with an average 20% redemption rate then Tapzilla is going to be a lot more likely to be successful in selling their service to a developer than a new operation with only 50 users. To be able to do this successfully on a longterm basis Tapzilla will need to be able to get several case studies as evidence that, due to the freebies, a certain App went up the sales charts which then resulted in more visibility and more paid sales. Otherwise it could just be a losing proposition for developers.
    - startupcto 16y ago
      I agree that user base IS a barrier for entry but hardly unique to any business, startups. Almost, and not ALL, business plan that I've seen cite "ability to achieve massive user base" and "first player in the market" as barriers, I choke almost every single time reading that.
happybuy 16y ago
Interesting idea to get some visibility for app developers. Although for the app purchaser I think you may get some reluctance as they first have to pay for the app (using an iTunes account) and then get the refund through a different mechanism (Paypal). This may be a bit of barrier to usage for certain users. My startup (self-promoting link-whoring: http://www.happybuy.com/ http://www.happybuy.com/) also helps to find price-reduced iOS Apps and tweets the biggest bargain product of the day. It's an easier mechanism for app purchasers to understand but obviously it doesn't address the value equation for the developer like TapZilla does.

56 points by francisd 16y ago

barlo 16y ago

Interesting. This could be useful. The developer portion of the site seems kind devoid of hard info: http://tapzilla.com/advertise http://tapzilla.com/advertise The article says it costs the developer $1 per download. Who is actually paying the money that is credited back to the customer? Does the developer need to fund this (in addition to the $1 per download), or does TapZilla? If TapZilla is funding the customer credit with the developer's $1 per download, can this be used for apps that are more than 99 cents? And how is TapZilla making any money? If the developer is funding the customer credit, then the developer would need to pay TapZilla $1 + cost for each download? If so, is this prepaid or postpaid?

francisd 16y ago
The developer pays $1 + app cost, they in turn will receive 70% of the app cost from Apple. So the effective cost per user acquisition for a $0.99 app is $1.30.
- barlo 16y ago
  Good point about 70% of the cost being returned by Apple, I forgot to include that. That makes things seem a lot more reasonable.
deleted 16y ago
[deleted]

hc5 16y ago

developer pays them $1.00 they pay users $0.99 per app they drive 1000 apps per day = $10/day?

francisd 16y ago
Not exactly: The developer pays $1 + app cost, they in turn will receive 70% of the app cost from Apple. So the effective cost per user acquisition for a $0.99 app is $1.30. 1000 apps installed per day = $1000/day
- lachyg 16y ago
  How do you generate the coupons?
  - francisd 16y ago
    These coupon codes aren't the same as the ones from iTunes. These are generated by TapZilla and redeemed within the app itself so that it can inform us which user from our service downloaded the application.

ryanwaggoner 16y ago

Was there some informal pact by the stealth YC companies from the summer batch that they launch today?

mlinsey 16y ago
TapZilla, Optimizely, and CarWoo were all in different batches - Summer '10, Winter '10, and Summer '09 respectively.

sib 16y ago

Great service, have tried it during the closed beta period. Good way for devs to get early users.

rookie 16y ago

It mentions that they have plans for an Android version. That is a much more difficult area to venture into because of the 24 hour refund. - I get the discount on the app paid out then return the app. Free money! Overall I do like the idea, very useful.

EdmondYue 16y ago
Good point on the 24 hour refund and our Android strategy since the market mechanisms are so different. We're currently working on our Android story and looking at how to get the best distribution on the different Android AppStores that are out there right now.

padmanabhan01 16y ago

What about users without a paypal account? How will they get the money back? And what about the tax cost of 7 cents?

EdmondYue 16y ago
Right now we support both PayPal payment and iTunes card redemption. Users can save their payments towards a iTunes card which we will email it to them. Other redemption others are in the works. As for the tax, state laws vary and we don't collect information about the user's location. So far this hasn't been an issue with our users but we'll collect geo info if this becomes a concern.

gaborcselle 16y ago

It's really hard to grab users' attention in the App Store. If you have a great app but don't have a big brand associated with it, it's hard to crack the top 25 or even the top 50 in your category. As long as TapZilla can maintain high app quality in their daily deals, this can be a big deal for app developers.

sahillavingia 16y ago

Woah, this could actually help me a ton with getting my mediocrely-popular apps out there! Contacted.

EdmondYue 16y ago
Thanks for reaching out. I just sent you a bit more info on TapZilla

aarong 16y ago

Rock! Congrats Ed and Francis on the launch. FWIW, Ed and Francis are incredibly great guys...

scottchin 16y ago

Congrats on the launch! One thing I thought I'd mention (which might be a bit off topic) is that I recently contemplated the use of the "Zilla" suffix for a project name. But after doing a bit of research, it sounds like the owners of the Godzilla trademark are quite aggressive with when it comes to this. Particularly so if the logo/mascot is also some sort of reptilian creature. Just thought you might want to look into this now before your service grows (in case you haven't looked into it yet).

EdmondYue 16y ago
Thanks for the good will and advice. This has been an issue that we've looked into and we're trying to find out how other companies (IE. Shopzilla) has handled this issue in the past. Thanks again for the tip and appreciate the advice.

startupcto 16y ago

This is a really bad model. I could have launch the same service for just $0.50/download. How are you going to stop cut throat competitors like me? I hope PG did ask this question during the interview, so it should be easy to answer my inquisition.

startupcto 16y ago
To Whomever down voted, I am bringing up a very valid question and I'm not saying that I'm gonna do that, but if I was in PG's seat during the YC interview, that would be my question and I like to hear the founder's response because it is a valid concern and unfortunately a reality too.
- happybuy 16y ago
  I'd say the barrier to entry for other startups would be the awareness and userbase that Tapzilla may manage to develop. For instance if Tapzilla can say to a developer that they have 20,000 users with an average 20% redemption rate then Tapzilla is going to be a lot more likely to be successful in selling their service to a developer than a new operation with only 50 users. To be able to do this successfully on a longterm basis Tapzilla will need to be able to get several case studies as evidence that, due to the freebies, a certain App went up the sales charts which then resulted in more visibility and more paid sales. Otherwise it could just be a losing proposition for developers.
  - startupcto 16y ago
    I agree that user base IS a barrier for entry but hardly unique to any business, startups. Almost, and not ALL, business plan that I've seen cite "ability to achieve massive user base" and "first player in the market" as barriers, I choke almost every single time reading that.

happybuy 16y ago

Interesting idea to get some visibility for app developers. Although for the app purchaser I think you may get some reluctance as they first have to pay for the app (using an iTunes account) and then get the refund through a different mechanism (Paypal). This may be a bit of barrier to usage for certain users. My startup (self-promoting link-whoring: http://www.happybuy.com/ http://www.happybuy.com/) also helps to find price-reduced iOS Apps and tweets the biggest bargain product of the day. It's an easier mechanism for app purchasers to understand but obviously it doesn't address the value equation for the developer like TapZilla does.