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It was $4.99 for a very long time, and $9.99 before that. I guess people remember you as an expensive app even after you drop the price. http://appshopper.com

by smackfu 14y ago

It was $4.99 for a very long time, and $9.99 before that. I guess people remember you as an expensive app even after you drop the price. http://appshopper.com/news/instapaper-pro http://appshopper.com/news/instapaper-pro

tptacek 14y ago
I have a problem with the idea that $9.99 is expensive. I bought a croissant to go with my coffee this morning and ended up spending that. The idea that using hours that bill at $150-$200 (current stab at journeyman iOS dev rate) to build products that sell "pricey" at anything over $1.99 is a problem. Problem might be the wrong word. Con. Marco will be fine. Or he won't, I guess. That's not my problem with this line of pricing thinking.
- smackfu 14y ago
  It's the $10 croissant and coffee when all the other coffee shops are selling $3 ones. It better be a damn good croissant for the extra money.
  - tptacek 14y ago
    It probably is, but that's not why I paid for it; I paid for it because it's the coffee shop in my building and I'm not going to go out of my way to optimize over 5-6 dollars. If it was crappy coffee, it would not matter to me if it cost $0.50. I can get crappy coffee for free in the lobby of the parking garage I park at.
- jrajav 14y ago
  There may be problems with your line of pricing thinking, too. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4393817 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4393817
  - tptacek 14y ago
    Thanks for linking to that; it makes a better case for what I'm saying than I'm willing to spend the time making now. Stop encouraging people to burn $150/hr hours making things that are "pricey" if they cost more than a buck.
incision 14y ago
I consider Instapaper "expensive" because Pocket is free and, in my opinion, superior. 1: http://getpocket.com http://getpocket.com
- connortomas 14y ago
  Though this is oft-repeated: nothing is "free". Pocket plans to make money off you somehow, whether directly or indirectly. Instapaper is simply more up-front about how and when you will pay.
  - chimeracoder 14y ago
    > Instapaper is simply more up-front about how and when you will pay. Whatever Pocket ends up doing, nothing's preventing Instapaper from doing it too. They may not need to, but as we've seen in the past, you can't assume that that one-time purchase means you're now the customer again (and not the product).
  - incision 14y ago
    It's pretty disingenuous to equate the two that way. There's no reason to believe that Instapaper won't or doesn't already do everything that you're suggesting Pocket could do. As it stands: Pocket (Free), Instapaper ($3.99/$2.99) Pocket (No ads), Instapaper (ads) Pocket (Free API), Instapaper (Subscription fee for some API functions)
    - connortomas 14y ago
      The difference, as far as I see it, is that Pocket makes being free a selling point, whereas Instapaper users are used to paying for features. Instapaper can continue to exist without substantially shifting business models for the foreseeable future - Pocket can't. Unless I'm missing something?

by smackfu 14y ago

tptacek 14y ago

I have a problem with the idea that $9.99 is expensive. I bought a croissant to go with my coffee this morning and ended up spending that. The idea that using hours that bill at $150-$200 (current stab at journeyman iOS dev rate) to build products that sell "pricey" at anything over $1.99 is a problem. Problem might be the wrong word. Con. Marco will be fine. Or he won't, I guess. That's not my problem with this line of pricing thinking.

smackfu 14y ago
It's the $10 croissant and coffee when all the other coffee shops are selling $3 ones. It better be a damn good croissant for the extra money.
- tptacek 14y ago
  It probably is, but that's not why I paid for it; I paid for it because it's the coffee shop in my building and I'm not going to go out of my way to optimize over 5-6 dollars. If it was crappy coffee, it would not matter to me if it cost $0.50. I can get crappy coffee for free in the lobby of the parking garage I park at.
jrajav 14y ago
There may be problems with your line of pricing thinking, too. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4393817 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4393817
- tptacek 14y ago
  Thanks for linking to that; it makes a better case for what I'm saying than I'm willing to spend the time making now. Stop encouraging people to burn $150/hr hours making things that are "pricey" if they cost more than a buck.

incision 14y ago

I consider Instapaper "expensive" because Pocket is free and, in my opinion, superior. 1: http://getpocket.com http://getpocket.com

connortomas 14y ago
Though this is oft-repeated: nothing is "free". Pocket plans to make money off you somehow, whether directly or indirectly. Instapaper is simply more up-front about how and when you will pay.
- chimeracoder 14y ago
  > Instapaper is simply more up-front about how and when you will pay. Whatever Pocket ends up doing, nothing's preventing Instapaper from doing it too. They may not need to, but as we've seen in the past, you can't assume that that one-time purchase means you're now the customer again (and not the product).
- incision 14y ago
  It's pretty disingenuous to equate the two that way. There's no reason to believe that Instapaper won't or doesn't already do everything that you're suggesting Pocket could do. As it stands: Pocket (Free), Instapaper ($3.99/$2.99) Pocket (No ads), Instapaper (ads) Pocket (Free API), Instapaper (Subscription fee for some API functions)
  - connortomas 14y ago
    The difference, as far as I see it, is that Pocket makes being free a selling point, whereas Instapaper users are used to paying for features. Instapaper can continue to exist without substantially shifting business models for the foreseeable future - Pocket can't. Unless I'm missing something?