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My day one Mac Appstore sales
18 points by luke5dm on April 14, 2012 | hide | past | favorite | 32 comments
There aren't too many data points about the mac Appstore, so I decided to let you all know just how lucrative it is to make a great app.

My app: http://www.typeli.com Appstore: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/typeli/id503079958?ls=1&mt=12

Day 1 sales: 11 (USA 7, Germany 2, Japan 1, Singapore 1)

which translates into 10.5 * 11 = $115.5

What's most interesting however is the relative performance as compared to other apps. I checked the top grossing list for Productivity apps multiple times yesterday, and was very surprised to outperform some apps that Apple features on its website. Typeli fluctuated in the region between 108th and 150th place.

What do you think? Is it really that bad out there or am I missing something?



My experience with an app in the Productivity category is similar to yours.

The Mac App Store is definitely not a miracle channel on its own, it needs to be complemented by other marketing. What that is depends greatly on the app and the team, I guess (which is another way of saying that I suck at marketing). Some apps like Sparrow seem to be doing consistently well on the MAS thanks to a successful launch hype on tech blogs and social networks, but not everyone can do that.

Btw, your app looks really great at least on the typeli.com site. I think the price is a bit steep, though. For me, 15 USD is too much for an impulse purchase when I have no idea whether I'm actually going to use the app.

If you don't want to lower the price, maybe you could do a half-price launch promo? That seems to be a popular thing (but I have no idea how well it actually works).


Thanks! From your experience what's the ceiling for impulse purchases? I'm thinking $8.99?


As owner of > 500 purchased apps on Mac App Store and iOS App Store, and careful observation of buying trends at various price points, I'd say $4.99 is the impulse ceiling.

For iOS apps I am familiar with and use regularly, I have paid as much as $49.99; Mac apps, as much as $299.

This app, to me, in its current incarnation and marketing, looks like $4.99 "launch price" and $9.99 tops once it's finished (it doesn't look finished). There are notably (sorry) better editors for less money.

    Writeroom $9.99
    iA Writer $8.99 (iOS $0.99)
    Byword $9.99 (iOS $2.99)
    OmmWriter Dāna II $4.99
Perspective:

    Pages $19.99
Given the competition and its marketing, I'd recommend undercutting the other guys by as much as 1/2, and discounting your launch pricing further.

// Disclaimer: utterly speculative opinion, YM will V

EDIT: While researching these, I discovered "Marked", and saw it offers GitHub technical markdown preview. I purchased it for $3.99, because I hadn't spent money on coffee today.


I would have to agree with @Terretta. A launch price is probably your best bet while your user base grows, praises and criticisms flow in (along with reviews), a few updates to the program happen and you finally settle on a price that can sustain further development and feed your family.

All of this is moot if $14.99 is indeed your launch price.


I see that you've already lowered the price to $8.99 without enough time to get some second opinions here:

>> Special Launch Week Pricing!!! << Grab it now while it lasts.

So now I have to ask, what of the 10 or so people that purchased the app just yesterday for $14.99?? Are you refunding their money?


I think I don't have a way of automatically refunding my customers. The folks who got it have to ask Apple for a refund if they wanna re-purchase at the new lower price.


IMHO $3.99 is the ceiling for an impulse purchase. I would consider going higher if it fulfilled certain criteria for me but by then, it's no longer an "impulse" buy.


Clickable

http://www.typeli.com

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/typeli/id503079958?ls=1&m...


I'll edit it in the post. What's the syntax for links?


You did it right. HN allows you to submit a URL or Text, but not both. It's customary around here that someone replies with the clickable link.

Nice job on the app by the way. If you add the ability to doodle a free-form drawing I might consider purchasing it. My notes tend to contain illustrations.


http://news.ycombinator.com/formatdoc

  Urls become links, except in the text field of a submission.


there isn't any.


Also, you need an obvious spot on typeli.com that states exactly what your app does and who it is for, perhaps what particular problem it is the answer to. It was not obvious to me.


You could probably do better creating an app that solves a new problem. People who need notes/reminder apps already have enough of them.

Also, $15 is very steep.


> Also, $15 is very steep.

My counterpoint to this...

Don't start off engaging in the race towards all apps' pricing going to zero. Because it will. Someone is going to clone your app and make it a $1, or free. There's more than enough time for those shenanigans, so you might as well price it somewhere where some people might think it is steep and you think is fair. You can always bring it down as a "limited time sale", but it will be hard to raise it if you price it too low to start.


I guess I was one of 11. I like the app's style, but after using it a little more - I doubt I will use it very often. It's very clean, but it could use a little more context. From your original post I got the impression that you were trying to create a single app (without multiple docs) that could be a repository for all notes. In the end - I think it's clean, but lacking purpose.


Hey, sry I didn't see your response before. Thanks for trying out the app. Could you please elaborate on what you mean by "more context"? Thanks.


Yeah - if you look at onenote as an example their are pages & tabs that can be labeled. This makes it very easy to switch to the right page/workspace.

The pages in your app require scrolling through to get to the right page.


very interesting convo. i think your app looks promising. apologies in advance for any "i know best" tone in these remarks, but here are some thoughts:

1. $14.99 was indeed way too high to get impulse buys (the question of what you deserve being separate from the question of what you'll actually get);

2. i agree with the earlier comments about the need to market more energetically;

3. however, slight disagreement with those who said that the central issue is "what problem does it solve?" that's very rational and all, but people love aesthetic beauty and simplicity, and your app looks gorgeous. so I'd play up that aspect of it.

4. that being said, i agree with 'tawhaki': people have to know what it IS first.

5. most important, though: strong agreement with 'terretta' that the app just doesn't look finished yet. haven't tried it myself, but if the one review on the App Store is correct (viz. no preferences, no window resizing, no font or font size options), then maybe you released it a bit too early?

BEST of luck to you. like I said, this app looks well designed and I think it has promise.


Would you consider changing the font of the headers on your website? They look really weird on my iPad--like half the letters bold weird. I tried sending you an email of what I'm seeing, but the contact button didn't work on iPad either. Also, when I zoom in, the web page momentarily covers itself with the background wood.

Congratulations on your success so far!


Thanks for letting me know. I'm looking into it.


Thanks, here are some screenshots I took.

The bold/not bold problem is worst when zoomed out, like on the words 'organizing' and 'interface'.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8010387/Photo%20Apr%2014%2C%209%2016...

And this is what happens when I zoom in:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8010387/Photo%20Apr%2014%2C%209%2057...


Awesome! Thanks for taking the screenshots. If you would like to get Typeli, send me your email (http://www.typeli.com/support.html) and I'll send you a promo code so you can get it for free.

The zooming issue I obviously understand and will try to fix. For bold/not bold however, I'm not really seeing it?


It depends on the zoom level, but in the screenshot look at the the two 'i's in organizing. The one on the left is bolder than the other. My roommate sees it on the iPad, too. It looks fine in Chrome on my laptop, though.


also, I did send you the promo code so if you didn't get it... let me know


Both errors fixed.


Your Contact page has a Help link at the bottom that isn't a link - doesn't do anything. That link doesn't appear on the other pages. Help would be a useful page.


What other kinds of "marketing" have you done for the app? Do you think those 11 buyers were random app store surfers, or did they come in via a link?


Hard to say but it's probably all from outside links. Few websites picked up the app + I posted on facebook, hackernews.

Beside submitting the app to macappstorm and techcrunch I haven't done any marketing.


I visited your website. I read it all. I still have no idea what exactly your app actually is. This is... problematic, to say the least.


I don't get it either. The top of site should surely have.. "Typeli is a... "


That's a good point. I added that (I will need to make it look better) but yes, I agree it adds a lot.




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