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Re:Ask HN: Stats on freemium services by e1ven on Monday February 02, 2009 @10:51AM (#462410)
I can absolutely see your point, but I tend to see them as two branches of one tree- You're inviting people into your service for free, and then trying to sell them a higher quality version.

The difference is that one transaction is a one-off sale, and the other is a subscription.

Re:Ask HN: Stats on freemium services by teej on Monday February 02, 2009 @04:01PM (#462867)
It's more then that though. People subscribe to web applications for completely different reasons than people whom purchase virtual goods. The demographics, spending patterns, motivations to spend, lifetime value, upsell opportunities and a million other things of the customers differ. Comparing money spent on entertainment and money spent on tools isn't a good idea.