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Over the last couple of years, my income has gone up a lot, from "barely scraping by, >50% of my income spent on rent" to "comfortable, can make any small purch

Over the last couple of years, my income has gone up a lot, from "barely scraping by, >50% of my income spent on rent" to "comfortable, can make any small purchases I like without worrying". This has led to a huge change in my attitude to buying things like app, books, games, movies. If it's a small company/author who cares about their product/book etc. and charges a reasonable amount, I want to pay for what I'm using. Before, I pirated, searched for zero cost stuff, because it was either that or reduce the quality of the food I ate. Now, I can support the people that make the amazing things I use, and I want to support them. I don't think I'm especially unusual in this regard. I guess the difference is that now, a $5 app purchase is close to zero in its affects on my bank account, a $20 app purchase needs only a few seconds consideration. However, if I see a $1-$10 a month subscription for simple app with very little cloud functionality, that's still a hard no from me because it seems like blatant greed.

dvcrn 6y ago
I am with you on that. I buy apps if they provide value to me. If it has a one-time purchase option next to a subscription, even if it is $30 - $50, I pick the one-time purchase. If it's a journaling app, a calendar app, a habit tracker or a drawing app and it wants me to pay monthly, it's a hard 'no' for me as well unless it has a cloud component that I feel justifies the price. There is mostly nothing in it that justifies paying monthly, it's just an offline app. "But developers need a salary too" - yes, then price your app accordingly and charge for upgrades. Subscriptions make me feel if I stop paying I lose the app and can't access my data any longer. That, and subscriptions pile up. If I subscribe to one app it's not a big deal, but if I subscribe to 10-20 apps and they all cost monthly, it adds financial stress on me and stuff I 'have to keep in my head'.
- dkersten 6y ago
  Subscriptions also add cognitive load. If I pay upfront and later stop using the app, oh well. If I pay a subscription and stop using the app, I have to remember to unsubscribe.
- cercatrova 6y ago
  That's fine. You are entitled to buy what you want as a consumer, just as a seller is entitled to sell to whom they want. Typically vendors should sell to their target market, and not everyone is in their target market.

dvcrn 6y ago

I am with you on that. I buy apps if they provide value to me. If it has a one-time purchase option next to a subscription, even if it is $30 - $50, I pick the one-time purchase. If it's a journaling app, a calendar app, a habit tracker or a drawing app and it wants me to pay monthly, it's a hard 'no' for me as well unless it has a cloud component that I feel justifies the price. There is mostly nothing in it that justifies paying monthly, it's just an offline app. "But developers need a salary too" - yes, then price your app accordingly and charge for upgrades. Subscriptions make me feel if I stop paying I lose the app and can't access my data any longer. That, and subscriptions pile up. If I subscribe to one app it's not a big deal, but if I subscribe to 10-20 apps and they all cost monthly, it adds financial stress on me and stuff I 'have to keep in my head'.

dkersten 6y ago
Subscriptions also add cognitive load. If I pay upfront and later stop using the app, oh well. If I pay a subscription and stop using the app, I have to remember to unsubscribe.
cercatrova 6y ago
That's fine. You are entitled to buy what you want as a consumer, just as a seller is entitled to sell to whom they want. Typically vendors should sell to their target market, and not everyone is in their target market.