Selling programs

[Kami]

I have thrown together a few small PPC apps that I'm thinking of trying to sell for maybe $10 a piece. I'm curious, has anyone done this before? I'm thinking about posting it on ebay, and anyone who chooses to buy it, I would then give them a link where they could download the files. However, I've never even used ebay so I don't have much experience to go by. I've also heard that there are Palm stores designed specifically for buy/sell of small PDA apps. Is there anything like that for PPC? Any advice is appreciated!

Thanks guys!

[gibson042]

I'm not sure if it's exactly what you're looking for, but Handango (http://www.handango.com/home.jsp?siteId=1) and PocketGear (http://www.pocketgear.com/) are both great places to sell your software. They charge a small amount for the service, but I'm guessing you'd be much better off with them than with ebay, both because their cut is less than ebay's (I think) and because of their huge customer bases with exclusive focus on mobile applications. Good luck!

[surur]

I understand both software stores charge 50% to 60% of the fee, very far from a "small amount". I suggest your own website and paypal instead.

In my opinion $10 for a small utility may be too much, unless its really great. $5 will get you a lot of impulse buys.

Surur

[gibson042]

Wow, my memory was ridiculously off. A comparison from last July (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=267090#267090):


I'll tell you in my case

Handango 55%
PocketGear 25%
PayPal 30%

We have about the same, with a bit more for PocketGear / Smartphone.NET (except that we use Kagi instead of PayPal, with also very low fee). Handango brings us the most sales.

Note that both stores charge a combination of percentages and flat fees, so their cut varies with such things as app price, number of apps, sales volume, and maybe even things like promotions. You should definitely offer them up on a website of your own, but don't overlook the increased sales from high visibility sites.

P.S. Surur is definitely right about impulse buys at $5.

[Kami]

In my opinion $10 for a small utility may be too much, unless its really great. $5 will get you a lot of impulse buys.

Surur

Good advice. Thanks!