Software Impulse Purchase Pricing: What's Your Threshold?

[Jason Dunn]

In the retail world, there's something called an "impulse purchase" - these are the items of candy or little low-cost items located near the cash register in stores, where, when you see them, you just react by grabbing the item you want (gum, candy, etc.) without really thinking about whether or not you truly need it. So here's my question for you as it relates to Pocket PC software, because it's something I'm curious about. And for those keeping track, this was posted today in the Sunday time slot, so I'm reposting it at the correct date and time.

[Macguy59]

$10 or under for me. But then again I was not willing to pay more then $10 for a PPC app. I will probably use the same limit now that I am a smartphone user.

[sublime]

TextMaker was my worst impulse buy ever. It's a great program, don't get me wrong, but useless for me. I only bought it because one million other people bought it, and I didn't have enough time to think it over.

Bloody bleeping impulse buys!

[JohnnyFlash]

TextMaker was my worst impulse buy ever. It's a great program, don't get me wrong, but useless for me. I only bought it because one million other people bought it, and I didn't have enough time to think it over.

Bloody bleeping impulse buys!

I did the same thing, haven't even loaded it up yet...but couldn't pass up a deal like that! And actually I had loaded a demo of that a while back, so normally I download a demo first and don't buy on impulse.

[buckyg]

My rule usually is "Must try the demo first". Lately, I have made a few impulse purchases, usually below the 5-7 US dollar range. Even those are usually ones that I've seen feedback on, such as from the fine folks who post here. I have made a few 1-2 USD "what the heck" purchases.

So far, so good, I have not been bitten. There have been a few that I have not liked as well as I had hoped. But they worked, they just weren't my thing.

I think of all the $10-20 PC programs I have purchased that said they would work on my machine, based on the required specs but did not...

[jmarkevich]

I always grab a trial version, but that doesn't rule out impulse buying... If I like something a lot, I'd then consider impulse buying below $10.

Of course it depends what it is. If it should be free, then I won't pay $10 :)

[Thinkingmandavid]

I usually like to try a demo before I purchase to see if it will actually meet my needs and if it lives up to the claims from the developer.
Textmaker I did buy impulsively because I knew the chances of getting at that price again were very slim. 11.11 is easy to spend and not hard on the pocket book so I figured why not. I had never tried it before and pocket word has been doing fine for me, but I also figure sometime in the future I may find it needful.

[JTWise]

I am living proof that pricing PocketPC software at low price points can generate impulse sales from people that normally might not buy your program. I have been a sucker for many of these price reduction deals. Cases in point:

- Chopper Alley price reduction to $4.95. I had played the demo and it was neat and all but not worth my money. But at $5, who cares. Maybe I have played it 5 times since I bought it. But it was worth every penny to reward a developer for trying the low price point/high volume approach.
- Textmaker. I demoed this program and decided that I would not use it enough to justify $50. But for $11.11, I couldn't resist. Only time will tell if I even use it.
- Flexwallet special a few months back for $4.95. I already owned an old version of eWallet on my Ipaq, but for the price you can't beat it.
- Anthelion special for $10. I LOVED THIS DEMO, but I don't play enough games on the PPC to justify $20. But at $10 I didn't think twice. I even picked up Gamebox Solitaire for my wife as an impulse buy for $5.
- Pocket Informant for $15. I have always wanted a PIM other than Outlook and tried the demo a while back. But this weeks deal was too good to be true.

Moral of the story, I generally will not spend more than $20 on PPC software very often (Mapopolis being the glaring exception). I try the demo for just about everything that seems interesting as soon as it is released. If the price is reasonable, I might buy it after playing a few minutes. If the price is too high in my opinion, I wil keep it on the backburner and think about it for later on. Once the software goes on special, they get me every time. I am a sucker for a good deal.

I also vote with my wallet for this type of pricing. A developer will make the same amount of money if they sell 1 license for $1,000 or 1,000 licenses for $1. Pricing at the impulse level makes titles more available to the PPC masses.

[yawanag]

I'm with those who want a Trial first. I've got software that I purchased on impulse, still might be using it, but when I run low on memory - something has to go.

I have some of these impulses waiting in the wings (My Documents Folder) for when I purchase the XDA II.

I always say I'm through buying Software, period, and then I leave this site and go right to Handango. Now does that make sense?

[bkerrins]

As a general rule, I'm pretty cheap. Anything over $15, not likely to see my money. But along with the cost, it's the memory space that's killing me when selecting a new application. I don't want to use a sleeve for additional memory. When I finally do buy a new PDA (MDA II probably) then it will have a built in memory slot and a sleeve will be a non-issue. But memory will still be limited. The best PDA I've seen has 128MB internal and anything more than 256M for a card is getting really expensive. I think I'm leaning more and more towards a tablet to fit my needs. The size is an issue, but full functionality and 20G or more of memory should make up for that.

[Jeff Rutledge]

I voted Any Price as I used to get everything and anything that looked interesting. Then I added up what I'd spent and reeled it back. Now I'll spend $10 without much thought, but anything above that gets a good amount of scrutiny.

[Mike Temporale]

I don't impulse buy software or tech stuff. I have been burned a number of years ago on this, and now I make sure I think about the cost vs. the usage and impact this item will have.

I guess that's why I haven't purchased many applications for my iPaq. I have the essentials like SPB PocketPlus, Sprite Backup, etc... Just not many extras.

[Jason Dunn]

My impulse buy trigger point for PPC software is $5 - if it's under $5, I'll buy it if I think it's even remotely cool. ;-)

[PetiteFlower]

Me too but I'll demo it first anyway, to make sure it WORKS and also that I'll actually use it :)