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The most ridiculous example of this is Tesla's offering of in-app Autopilot upgrades. At $10k, imagine what Apple's cut is, for absolutely no value added.

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It's interesting that this seems more shocking even though it's not much different than Apple collecting 30% on one thousand $10 purchases.

It's because Apple's actual costs are pretty much fixed (storage, bandwidth, ...) so clearly on a low price / many customer scenario it seems fairer.

That's why a per usage pricing would be fairer. And yes, the app having one thousand $10 purchases would pay way more than the app having a single $10000 purchase, but that's the point.

But for Spotify or other apps that sell content Apple is not providing storage, bandwidth, or anything else. They do provide payment processing, but it's common for that to be a small percentage of purchase price already (e.g. ~1-2% for credit cards).

> But for Spotify or other apps that sell content Apple is not providing storage, bandwidth, or anything else.

Indeed, I missed that layer when answering you. That's makes it even worse and unfair.

> They do provide payment processing, but it's common for that to be a small percentage of purchase price already (e.g. ~1-2% for credit cards).

And working with Visa doesn't stop you from offering Mastercard or Paypal or others. Apple mandates you use them.

>e.g. ~1-2% for credit cards

It's capped in the EU - 0.3% for credit card, 0.2% for debit ones. That fee includes all the risks of chargebacks and fraud processing.

Buying a physical good or an upgrade to a physical good isn’t an “in-app” purchase. I don’t think Apple is taking a cut here — it’s probably just Apple Pay.

Apple Pay IS Apple. In app purchases are also subject to their % cut.

I think you don’t understand what you’re talking about. If I buy a kiddie pool from the Shopify app with Apple Pay, it is not subject to the App Store in-app purchase terms. Similarly, if I book a massage through Yelp and it supported Apple Pay, there would be no App Store fee. Apple’s cut is for digital goods whose consumption is facilitated through your app.

In app purchases from the Apple store are subject to the cut to Apple. Apple pay is separate and though the consumer does not pay the transaction cost (Like VISA/etc), Apple is still taking a cut.

> Apple currently takes a 30% commission from the total price of paid apps and in-app purchases from the App Store. For some small app makers, the new policy could cut the amount that they pay Apple in half.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/18/apple-will-cut-app-store-fee...

Apple does not take a cut of this. It's charged to your existing payment method on file. It's closer to a physical good, since it's an enhancement for an actual physical good.

Perhaps we should be selling dummy physical goods with our software then. E.g. software $1, coffee mug $100.

The mug has your personal QR code on it! It's unique!

Some of the big loot box mobile games in fact use this model to pull in more revenue - they sell soundtracks or other goods at marked-up prices that happen to include in-game bonuses you'd otherwise be giving Apple 30% for.

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