How much to charge for your Web App?

Re:How much to charge for your Web App? by patio11 on Sunday January 10, 2010 @06:39AM (#1042955)

I understand how someone typing a blog post on their $2,000 Mac while listening to music on their $300 iPod could perhaps think that we are moving into a new age of micropayments because he paid $1 for a fart app on the the $600 iPhone in the pocket of his $100 jeans, but I don't agree with him.

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Re:How much to charge for your Web App? by ohashi on Sunday January 10, 2010 @07:24AM (#1042982)

But those are physical products and these are virtual services. In the user's mind there is (or starting to be?) a huge distinction between the two. I am not saying it's right or wrong, but would you agree you see a distinction?

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Re:How much to charge for your Web App? by potatolicious on Sunday January 10, 2010 @07:34AM (#1042994)

"In the user's mind there is (or starting to be?) a huge distinction between the two."

Actually, I'd venture to say that the distinction between the two is shrinking, and will continue to do so in the future.

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Re:How much to charge for your Web App? by ohashi on Sunday January 10, 2010 @08:55AM (#1043063)

Why do you think that?

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Re:How much to charge for your Web App? by jackowayed on Sunday January 10, 2010 @12:15PM (#1043306)

Because if you go back, say, 20 years, no one would pay anything that wasn't physical. It just didn't make sense to people back then. There was no reason to.

Now computers are so ubiquitous and powerful that people pay for "virtual" things all the time. They pay to download that song off of iTunes. They pay to download that iPhone app. Hell, they pay for "land" in Second Life and "money" in Farmville.

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Re:How much to charge for your Web App? by ohashi on Sunday January 10, 2010 @02:38PM (#1043517)

That doesn't mean they see real products and virtual products as equal. It is simply acknowledging that virtual products exist.

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Re:How much to charge for your Web App? by jackowayed on Sunday January 10, 2010 @02:44PM (#1043526)

I wasn't saying they see them as equal. I'm saying they see them as more equal than they did when virtual products were seen as totally worthless.

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Re:How much to charge for your Web App? by ohashi on Sunday January 10, 2010 @09:34PM (#1044163)

I see your point, I would counter that users almost expect everything for free these days and getting them to pay is harder than it was before, but easier than originally?

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Re:How much to charge for your Web App? by gills on Sunday January 10, 2010 @05:13PM (#1043767)

heh...your description of the emo mac dude gave me a laugh, thanks.

I'm curious how the same individual might value a subscription to "trendy $100 jeans...as a service", both in utility and price? I think it's been tried with luxury handbags for about $50/month, but I'm too lazy to look up what happened to that business (and my battery is at 3% so I can't look right now).

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Re:How much to charge for your Web App? by aaronbrethorst on Sunday January 10, 2010 @07:21PM (#1043960)

For starters, $100 jeans are on the low-to-mid-range end of the denim market.

$20'ish - el cheapo house brands at Target, Walmart, etc.

<$50'ish - Gap, Levi Strauss

<$100'ish - Lucky

<$200'ish - Diesel, Seven for All Mankind

~$500 - Prada, etc.

If you think about what Avelle provides (LHaaS), it's a way for women to accessorize themselves for a big night out in a way far outside of their typical budget. That super-trendy, $1000 Fendi bag won't lend itself well to everyday usage for most people. Those $200 jeans, on the other hand, cannot and will not be worn for that Big Event.

Imagine you're going to a cocktail party with a bunch of big-time politicos. If you're a woman, you might rent that Fendi bag from Avelle. No one in their right mind would say to themselves, 'hey, I'll go rent some trendy jeans for tonight's black tie event.'

A serious online competitor to those god-awful tux rental shops could be cool, though.

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Re:How much to charge for your Web App? by whatusername on Sunday January 10, 2010 @05:46PM (#1043818)

http://www.bagborroworsteal.com

Seems to have been re-branded as Avelle.

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