Re:Write libraries instead of services, where possible
by hombre_fatal on Tuesday March 09, 2021 @03:11PM
(#26403513)
> Pay-once has the huge advantage that the barrier to entry is much lower. I'm pretty sure that it's much easier to sell a 50€ app than a 10€ subscription.
I think you've got it backwards. I can't think of many examples that suggest that this is true.
The iOS app store is a very hard place to sell an expensive $50 app, yet it's a very easy place to sell 7-day trials that turn into $10/month subscriptions. Immediate cash outlays are always harder to sell than pay-over-time deals for various reasons.
One reason being the customer's attempt to avoid the feeling of overspend: that you can always stop subscribing when you're done rather than getting "stuck" with the product, even if the one-time cost is a better deal. Another reason just being that you're asking for less money upfront which is always easier.
In my own experience, people will even stick with a pricier monthly billing option over the yearly billing option just to avoid the larger hit, even when they've been a customer for five years and know they'll still be subscribing a year from now.
I certainly appreciate how us HNers might prefer a one-time cost over a subscription, but I wouldn't try to generalize that to customer behavior.
I think you've got it backwards. I can't think of many examples that suggest that this is true.
The iOS app store is a very hard place to sell an expensive $50 app, yet it's a very easy place to sell 7-day trials that turn into $10/month subscriptions. Immediate cash outlays are always harder to sell than pay-over-time deals for various reasons.
One reason being the customer's attempt to avoid the feeling of overspend: that you can always stop subscribing when you're done rather than getting "stuck" with the product, even if the one-time cost is a better deal. Another reason just being that you're asking for less money upfront which is always easier.
In my own experience, people will even stick with a pricier monthly billing option over the yearly billing option just to avoid the larger hit, even when they've been a customer for five years and know they'll still be subscribing a year from now.
I certainly appreciate how us HNers might prefer a one-time cost over a subscription, but I wouldn't try to generalize that to customer behavior.