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My app Twitter Archive Eraser (https://martani.github.io/Twitter-Archive-Eraser https://martani.github.io/Twitter-Archive-Eraser) used to be free, then I added

My app Twitter Archive Eraser (https://martani.github.io/Twitter-Archive-Eraser https://martani.github.io/Twitter-Archive-Eraser) used to be free, then I added a donation button and people, while barely donated, used to say that this is something they would have paid for! I worked on a paid tier (learnt a tremendous amount about actually selling an app, integration with payment processors, licensing, more legal stuff than I wanted to etc.) Almost from the get go, it started making +$3k/mo. With more changes and offering a Mac version along a Windows version, it averages around +$7k/mo of revenue consistently. I'm the only person on it and have a full time job. Barely need to make code changes and it requires minimal effort for customer support.

krishna0512 6y ago
Hi I am currently working on releasing the paid version of my app (online voice memo). I was wondering about any resources you have to learn about licensing and legal stuff, or any common caveats that you ran into.
- abc126589 6y ago
  It depends on your situation but if you are in the US I'd create an LLC and do business with that. It takes a few minutes if you use services that file for you. Second will be dealing with sales tax and it's a nightmare. If you sell to customers in Europe you need to pay VAT to different countries at different rates. Same goes for US states that tax very differently. We moved recently to paddle.com which acts as a reseller and so they take care of all sales tax collection and remittance (they are the one selling the app after all). We moved away from PayPal and so far it's been very smooth.
  - john_moscow 6y ago
    I second this. If you sell worldwide, there isn't any reason for you to handle the taxes and payment methods on your own. Actually, there's a whole bunch of companies that would do that for a relatively small cut (about 5% give or take). From the top of my head: 2Checkout, Bluesnap, DigitalRiver, FastSpring. I don't know much about Paddle, but they spammed me quite aggressively using the email from a leaked LinkedIn dump, so I'm not sure how much I would trust them.
  - ryanwaggoner 6y ago
    You can also do what I do and just ignore those foreign taxes, on both practical and philosophical grounds. On a practical level, no foreign government is going to bother you until your sales are in the millions, at least. They don’t have the ability to know your sales in the first place, and you’re way too small to bother trying to go after. Especially since there’s no real enforcement mechanism for, say, France to try and collect $200 from some random American online software business. Philosophically, I vehemently disagree with the premise that a foreign jurisdiction can tax my business because their citizens choose to visit my website and buy things. Should German websites pay a 200% tax if citizens of Eritrea buy things from their website, just because Eritrea passes a law that says that? I have zero representation or connection to these jurisdictions, and if they want tax money or to stop their citizens from using my website, that’s between the citizens and their government. Until there’s some enforcement mechanism, I’ll just keep ignoring them like I always have.
    - abc126589 6y ago
      How about sales taxes in the US. Do you keep records to when you hit tax nexus and start collecting it then? Manually or using some service? I'd be interested in learning how you approached this problem.
anaxag0ras 6y ago
How did you find your early users?
- abc126589 6y ago
  The app was developed for use for myself. Then I put it online for other to use for free. The advantage (and probably missing part in the original description) is that the app was free for +5 years before I added a paid tier. So we already had a decent user base.
heed 6y ago
I really like the UI - is this an Electron app, or what is the stack you use?
- abc126589 6y ago
  Indeed. The original version was C#/WPF and worked on windows only. I got so many requests for a Mac version and knew it was decent demand. So I switched to electron: 1 code base works for Mac and windows plus has automatic updates for when bug fixes are released etc. And sure enough Mac users account for 30% for the revenue today. Another advantage is that it runs completely on the user's computer. So I have no database or back-end to maintain. There is only a small server to generate licenses + handle some analytics the app emits both built on ASP.NET. The only data I store is in a Microsoft Azure table. I pay around $2 a month for all azure costs.
  - Datsundere 6y ago
    how does a license server work? did you build it yourself?
    - abc126589 6y ago
      It's in-house. A license has some info tied to the user (which ultimately has to be the Twitter user connected via Twitter). Then all that is signed with a private key ECDSA. The app has the public key and can verify the signature. Many libraries are available for handling cryptographic signatures. So basically a license is public info, the app enforces that the logged in user must match the user in the license.
- abc126589 6y ago
  Forgot to mention that it's an Angular app running on electron.
jsf01 6y ago
Really great idea! Just a small note though your pricing page doesn’t work on a mobile device. It just renders a bunch of checkmarks without context
stevekemp 6y ago
I've setup a few applications to which people say "I'd pay for this", but when I've added all the payment integration(s) those users disappear. So congratulations for finding a niche which did actually result in paying users.
jcun4128 6y ago
Dang congrats that is a solid monthly income and solo wow.
chrisjarvis 6y ago
good for you but its sad this is a viable business. Imagine being a working adult and getting in trouble for something you thought was funny as a high school freshman.
- stehefan 6y ago
  You still can, this app just helps you with batch-deletion of content you've created. Single posts can just be deleted ;-)
phasetransition 6y ago
Not that it matters, given the clear demand for the product, but there's a typo in the "Performance" section of the link. The body copy "performance" is "performace" Congrats on a product successful from the beginning!
lance_klusener 6y ago
Now a twitter user, and hence a basic question - 1. This app lets user select a bunch of their tweets and delete them? Question - Does something like this exist for Facebook?
remram 6y ago
Sorry about the late comment (hackernewsletter) but I found the pricing page a bit confusing, since you mention both "one-time payment" and license valid for one year". Do I have to pay every year to keep using the app?

krishna0512 6y ago

Hi I am currently working on releasing the paid version of my app (online voice memo). I was wondering about any resources you have to learn about licensing and legal stuff, or any common caveats that you ran into.

abc126589 6y ago
It depends on your situation but if you are in the US I'd create an LLC and do business with that. It takes a few minutes if you use services that file for you. Second will be dealing with sales tax and it's a nightmare. If you sell to customers in Europe you need to pay VAT to different countries at different rates. Same goes for US states that tax very differently. We moved recently to paddle.com which acts as a reseller and so they take care of all sales tax collection and remittance (they are the one selling the app after all). We moved away from PayPal and so far it's been very smooth.
- john_moscow 6y ago
  I second this. If you sell worldwide, there isn't any reason for you to handle the taxes and payment methods on your own. Actually, there's a whole bunch of companies that would do that for a relatively small cut (about 5% give or take). From the top of my head: 2Checkout, Bluesnap, DigitalRiver, FastSpring. I don't know much about Paddle, but they spammed me quite aggressively using the email from a leaked LinkedIn dump, so I'm not sure how much I would trust them.
- ryanwaggoner 6y ago
  You can also do what I do and just ignore those foreign taxes, on both practical and philosophical grounds. On a practical level, no foreign government is going to bother you until your sales are in the millions, at least. They don’t have the ability to know your sales in the first place, and you’re way too small to bother trying to go after. Especially since there’s no real enforcement mechanism for, say, France to try and collect $200 from some random American online software business. Philosophically, I vehemently disagree with the premise that a foreign jurisdiction can tax my business because their citizens choose to visit my website and buy things. Should German websites pay a 200% tax if citizens of Eritrea buy things from their website, just because Eritrea passes a law that says that? I have zero representation or connection to these jurisdictions, and if they want tax money or to stop their citizens from using my website, that’s between the citizens and their government. Until there’s some enforcement mechanism, I’ll just keep ignoring them like I always have.
  - abc126589 6y ago
    How about sales taxes in the US. Do you keep records to when you hit tax nexus and start collecting it then? Manually or using some service? I'd be interested in learning how you approached this problem.

anaxag0ras 6y ago

How did you find your early users?

abc126589 6y ago
The app was developed for use for myself. Then I put it online for other to use for free. The advantage (and probably missing part in the original description) is that the app was free for +5 years before I added a paid tier. So we already had a decent user base.

heed 6y ago

I really like the UI - is this an Electron app, or what is the stack you use?

abc126589 6y ago
Indeed. The original version was C#/WPF and worked on windows only. I got so many requests for a Mac version and knew it was decent demand. So I switched to electron: 1 code base works for Mac and windows plus has automatic updates for when bug fixes are released etc. And sure enough Mac users account for 30% for the revenue today. Another advantage is that it runs completely on the user's computer. So I have no database or back-end to maintain. There is only a small server to generate licenses + handle some analytics the app emits both built on ASP.NET. The only data I store is in a Microsoft Azure table. I pay around $2 a month for all azure costs.
- Datsundere 6y ago
  how does a license server work? did you build it yourself?
  - abc126589 6y ago
    It's in-house. A license has some info tied to the user (which ultimately has to be the Twitter user connected via Twitter). Then all that is signed with a private key ECDSA. The app has the public key and can verify the signature. Many libraries are available for handling cryptographic signatures. So basically a license is public info, the app enforces that the logged in user must match the user in the license.
abc126589 6y ago
Forgot to mention that it's an Angular app running on electron.

jsf01 6y ago

Really great idea! Just a small note though your pricing page doesn’t work on a mobile device. It just renders a bunch of checkmarks without context

stevekemp 6y ago

I've setup a few applications to which people say "I'd pay for this", but when I've added all the payment integration(s) those users disappear. So congratulations for finding a niche which did actually result in paying users.

jcun4128 6y ago

Dang congrats that is a solid monthly income and solo wow.

chrisjarvis 6y ago

good for you but its sad this is a viable business. Imagine being a working adult and getting in trouble for something you thought was funny as a high school freshman.

stehefan 6y ago
You still can, this app just helps you with batch-deletion of content you've created. Single posts can just be deleted ;-)

phasetransition 6y ago

Not that it matters, given the clear demand for the product, but there's a typo in the "Performance" section of the link. The body copy "performance" is "performace" Congrats on a product successful from the beginning!

lance_klusener 6y ago

Now a twitter user, and hence a basic question - 1. This app lets user select a bunch of their tweets and delete them? Question - Does something like this exist for Facebook?

remram 6y ago

Sorry about the late comment (hackernewsletter) but I found the pricing page a bit confusing, since you mention both "one-time payment" and license valid for one year". Do I have to pay every year to keep using the app?