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They have provided a convenient breakdown for their invoices:

3% payment processing

27% monopoly rent

Other payments processors charge 30c + 3%, so it would be interesting to see how it would work here for smaller payments

5c + 5% is also standard for smaller payments.

It's pretty straightforward, assuming that you have the standard charge amount correct. (I don't know)

Between the two approaches, the costs break even when 30c = .27*cost.

Apple's 27% exceeds the 30c whenver the purchase costs less than $1.11. 27% of .99 is 26.73c.

So, this is a strong case Apple has calculated the other processor's charges for all app sales of .99 or less. It seems they are trying to charge more than normal processors for all micro-transactions.

For developers making up to $1m a year:

3% payment processing

12% cost of channel

Reply on news.ycombinator.com