5 ms·

Companies that can't survive on a 30% cut but can survive on a competing store's 12% cut will survive and flourish

anonymouse008 4y ago
That’s false. If your business is fine with 12% processing fees (specifically in tech and more so in IAP style apps) and not with 30% - something is very wrong. [Context] it is extremely odd to (ab)use the leverage of a 0 marginal cost business to be sensitive to a +/-18% payment processing fee - when the world basically runs on ~4% IRL. The business case if true and still viable should be unique and outside of a pure software play - which gets you squarely out of IAP.
- wellthisisgreat 4y ago
  Yeah exactly. I should be cheering for the option of paying less to Apple as a business, but realistically you will get sideloading, piracy and the “mobile users don’t spend money on apps” like it is “Android users don’t spend money on apps”
- britneybitch 4y ago
  Are you saying every non-iOS software company with a profit margin under 18% should go out of business?
  - anonymouse008 4y ago
    Rule of thumb: yes. Long story: it would be extremely odd to (ab)use the leverage of a 0 marginal cost business to be sensitive to a +/-18% payment processing fee - when the world basically runs on ~4% IRL.
rootusrootus 4y ago
Isn't it 15%? At least for companies in danger of not surviving, I mean.
rib3ye 4y ago
Before "app stores" there were retail stores, and the cut was worse because there was a publisher involved.
- tapoxi 4y ago
  But most apps, at least for me, were distributed as shareware. The developer got 100% of the cut because they sold it on their own website.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
- GeekyBear 4y ago
  There was a publisher, a distributor, and the retail outlet all taking their cuts. Then you also had to pay into a marketing fund for those big full color inserts in the Sunday paper if your software was sold at the big box retailers. You also had to eat the cost of returns of unsold inventory after you issued a new version.
  - t-writescode 4y ago
    It's true, Minecraft absolutely had like 4 layers of red tape Mojang had to go through to sell is program. Same with WinZip, WinRar, XSplit and many other applications. Or do they mostly just support PayPal, Square, Amazon Pay or direct credit card billing?
    - coev 4y ago
      Nobody paid for winrar
- _aavaa_ 4y ago
  This is just an Apple PR talking point. You know what existed between the retail stores and the App Store? The internet We didn’t magically jump from only buying things in stores to only buy things from an App Store. Companies could and still do sell through their own website and through other places.

That’s false. If your business is fine with 12% processing fees (specifically in tech and more so in IAP style apps) and not with 30% - something is very wrong. [Context] it is extremely odd to (ab)use the leverage of a 0 marginal cost business to be sensitive to a +/-18% payment processing fee - when the world basically runs on ~4% IRL. The business case if true and still viable should be unique and outside of a pure software play - which gets you squarely out of IAP.

wellthisisgreat 4y ago
Yeah exactly. I should be cheering for the option of paying less to Apple as a business, but realistically you will get sideloading, piracy and the “mobile users don’t spend money on apps” like it is “Android users don’t spend money on apps”
britneybitch 4y ago
Are you saying every non-iOS software company with a profit margin under 18% should go out of business?
- anonymouse008 4y ago
  Rule of thumb: yes. Long story: it would be extremely odd to (ab)use the leverage of a 0 marginal cost business to be sensitive to a +/-18% payment processing fee - when the world basically runs on ~4% IRL.

rootusrootus 4y ago

Isn't it 15%? At least for companies in danger of not surviving, I mean.

rib3ye 4y ago

Before "app stores" there were retail stores, and the cut was worse because there was a publisher involved.

tapoxi 4y ago
But most apps, at least for me, were distributed as shareware. The developer got 100% of the cut because they sold it on their own website.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
GeekyBear 4y ago
There was a publisher, a distributor, and the retail outlet all taking their cuts. Then you also had to pay into a marketing fund for those big full color inserts in the Sunday paper if your software was sold at the big box retailers. You also had to eat the cost of returns of unsold inventory after you issued a new version.
- t-writescode 4y ago
  It's true, Minecraft absolutely had like 4 layers of red tape Mojang had to go through to sell is program. Same with WinZip, WinRar, XSplit and many other applications. Or do they mostly just support PayPal, Square, Amazon Pay or direct credit card billing?
  - coev 4y ago
    Nobody paid for winrar
_aavaa_ 4y ago
This is just an Apple PR talking point. You know what existed between the retail stores and the App Store? The internet We didn’t magically jump from only buying things in stores to only buy things from an App Store. Companies could and still do sell through their own website and through other places.