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With only 15 minutes, I'm a lot less likely to buy an app. For instance, I recently purchased Alchemy Premium only because of the 24 hour return policy; I'm not
by lambda 16y ago
With only 15 minutes, I'm a lot less likely to buy an app. For instance, I recently purchased Alchemy Premium only because of the 24 hour return policy; I'm not willing to use the ad-supported version, so I tried out the pay version. It wasn't interesting enough to me that I would have kept it on my own, but my girlfriend got enough of a kick out of it when I showed it to her an hour or two later that I did decide to keep it. Had there been a 15 minute return policy, I would have returned it and never again gone back to it.
Another example would be 8pen. Interesting idea, so I decided to try it out. But it's something that takes enough learning you need more than 15 minutes to decide if it will be worth it and you'll be dedicated enough to learn it. Turns out that it didn't really click with me, so I returned it; but had it been a little more appealing, I might have kept it. Without just a 15 minute return window, I wouldn't have enough time to make an effective decision and would most likely not buy in the first place or just return it because of that.
I, for one, will be much less likely to buy apps with only a 15 minute window.
- enjo 16y agoFor every time you do that, there are users who download apps trying to accomplish one task. I've had several friends do exactly that. They'll download the app, use it do whatever they want, and refund it. This way at least you have to do whatever your doing quickly.
- lambda 16y agoWhat apps are there that are particularly useful for a single task? Most apps that I download I do so because they'll be useful in the future, not just once.
- dpcan 16y agoGames. If you just want to kill some time playing a new game, you can, then just refund.
- dannyr 16y agoHow about backing up your text messages, call history, etc so you transfer it to another phone? This is a one-time task. If it's 24 hours, I can easily finish the backup and get refund. If it's only 15 minutes, I won't have enough time.
- zmmmmm 16y agoThey'll download the app, use it do whatever they want, and refund it That is tempered by the fact that Google only allows the refund once - next time they need to do the same task they have to make a permanent purchase, and the app they used last time is in poll position to be the app they use (assuming it's any good).
- dannyr 16y agoI think this works both ways. With only a 15-minute window, less people will buy your app but there will be less cancellations. With a 24-hour window, more people will buy your app but there will be more cancellations. I don't have any data to back things up but it's possible that the number of downloads will be the same. And according to Google's stats, most refunds happen within 15 minutes. However, having a shorter refund window is more beneficial to developers in terms of handling their business and will reduce abuse.